Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

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Archive 2012 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

gilligan911
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p.1 #1 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

I took this a few weeks ago with an old film camera I had lying around. Nothing fancy - Canon 50/1.8 using Kodak 400 ISO at about 2.2 I think (I never remember to record aperture/shutter settings ... digital has made me lazy).

At first I thought, meh, but I keep coming back to it. Sometimes I like it and other times I think it is a throw away.

What do I like about it? The depth of field and the grain.

What don't I like? No matter what I do I don't think I can get the horizon/beach level.

What are your thoughts?

Redcliffe Beach by gilligan911, on Flickr

Feb 10, 2012 at 10:56 PM

sbeme

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p.1 #2 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

Appealing color.
The worlds most expensive photo is certainly no better than this.
A bit too much foreground blur at the bottom for me.
Didnt measure it, but the horizon issue looks less like a leveling issue and more like some slight distortion with the edges subtly curving down. Doesnt bother me.
Scott

Feb 10, 2012 at 11:29 PM

Bob Jarman
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p.1 #3 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

I overlaid a grid and the selected the beach and water separately, using Edit->Transform->Skew to align the top edge with a grid line.

Although the areas are level with grid, I still get a sense of not being horizontal, and, as Scott suggests, I think it might be caused by distortion of the OOF foreground area. Notice if that area is cropped things, at least to me, appear reasonably square.

Also, too much grain for my taste, for whatever that is worth

Regards,

Bob

<edit>

Another approach using the Distortion adjustment in ACR...

2013 © Bob Jarman

Skewed Results

2013 © Bob Jarman

Cropping foregorund.

2013 © Bob Jarman

Feb 11, 2012 at 02:35 AM

AuntiPode
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p.1 #4 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

Doesn't work for me. High noise. Poor light means drab water. Bob's crop has a nice layer cake feel going for it, but that's about it.

Feb 11, 2012 at 09:56 AM

cgardner
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p.1 #5 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

What I'd suggest for this one is a very literal application of the "rule of thirds" to make the sky, water, and beach all equal widths, to the extent possible, turning it into more of an abstract impressionist interpretation of the balance of land / sea / sky...

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Printed about 30" wide and viewed from across the room all you'd see is the color bands, as if a child had drawn land, sea and sky. Then on closer inspection you'd see the detail in the sand, sea, and sky — all random — an finally notice the one thing out of place: the ship on the horizon.

What will make all that work is balancing the three elements with the crop.

The horizon is level in the shot you posted. The beach isn't because beaches slope. The fact the waves are breaking at the opposite angle exaggerate the slope of the beach in the opposite direction. But that works in a good way here. The horizon is the constant in the background to the subtle ying/yang battle of sea vs. land in the foreground.

Feb 11, 2012 at 01:38 PM

gilligan911
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p.1 #6 · Not sure if this one works - beach landscape

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Confirms my initial reaction that this image is best left behind.

Scott, if i were Gursky I would have cloned out the ship on the horizon

cheers,
Glen.

Feb 12, 2012 at 02:37 AM

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