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Archive 2013 · Convergence (+Edit)

JimFox
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Convergence (+Edit)

This is from Little Corona in Southern California taken last week. This area I have walked past a 100 times and I always would comment that this could be a cool area to shoot if the tide was the right level. So finally on this day, it was a receding tide that left all the rocks wet and glistening, and instead of walking by to a favorite location, I stopped and shot here. I have a few more shots that I think will turn out good, but this is my first one processed.

One thing I did a little different here is I left all of the sail boats in the shot. There usually isn't that many actually, and while they are small on this web version, I think that they will add a small element that can help balance the shot. At least I am hoping...

All comments are welcome,

Jim

****** Edit ****** 2nd photo is with the sailboats removed

Edited on Dec 13, 2013 at 06:40 PM · View previous versions

Dec 11, 2013 at 06:42 PM

JimKied
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Convergence (+Edit)

I really like this one. The colors very restful and peaceful. And the sailboats don't bother me at all. I could sit there and just soak it all in. Probably with a good brew....

Love the sharpness throughout the image. Did you focus stack?

Dec 11, 2013 at 07:17 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Convergence (+Edit)

JimKied wrote:
I really like this one. The colors very restful and peaceful. And the sailboats don't bother me at all. I could sit there and just soak it all in. Probably with a good brew....

Love the sharpness throughout the image. Did you focus stack?

Thanks Jim, I am glad you liked it. It was a very nice time indeed to be out at the beach. As for the sharpness, no focus stacking for me. While I know that is one of the latest big things, for me, it's just the old Hyperfocal distance. This was shot at f10. It also helps to have a sharp lens that is being used, and this was shot with a Nikon 14-24mm.

Jim

Dec 11, 2013 at 07:40 PM

deepjay
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Convergence (+Edit)

Jim,
Great shot. However, the sailboats remind me of shots I took years ago hoping the flying birds would add interest--but they always looked like dust spots.
I don't know that they spoil the shot, but I think it would be better without them. Also, they add a little weight to the right hand side that interrupts the balance.
David

Dec 11, 2013 at 07:47 PM

AMaji
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Convergence (+Edit)

Lovely image Jim. I like the way the lines converge... and now I know why you named the image that. I like the sharpness and the sailboats add to the image, give it a feel of place. However, I think the colors are a little subdued and a little bit of it may help.

Dec 11, 2013 at 08:55 PM

Scott Kroeker
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Convergence (+Edit)

Excellent photo Jim! I am on the fence about the boats as well. I think the image would be more impactful with out them as I like surreal zen like scenes. The boats IMO are too small to really add to the image.

Dec 11, 2013 at 09:06 PM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Convergence (+Edit)

Very nice elements you are working with here. Good composition as well. It doesn't matter too much with or without the sail boats. They don't seem to give much effect here. I like the composition as said before but whatever the reason, I feel that the image seems kind of flat. Perhaps because the color of pale pink is covering most area? Kind of monotonic! IMO, to remedy the flatness, you can give more contrast in the foreground toward the bottom edge.. That would render a somewhat more depth feeling.

Do you find any specific difference between Nikkor 16-35 mm that you used before and Nikkor 14-24 mm of your new toy?

Cheers!

Kee

Dec 12, 2013 at 12:02 AM

kellyakinsart
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Convergence (+Edit)

Beautiful Jim. I like the subtle warm glow and I like the fast shutter for the water on this one.
I also like the sailboats.

Kelly

Dec 12, 2013 at 12:06 AM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Convergence (+Edit)

I should change my statement here. Upon looking at your photo again, those sail boats are distractions to the "Convergence".
As to the "Convergence".. where do they converge to?
Also why did you use that high ISO? Didn't use the tripod?

Dec 12, 2013 at 12:13 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Convergence (+Edit)

deepjay wrote:
Jim,
Great shot. However, the sailboats remind me of shots I took years ago hoping the flying birds would add interest--but they always looked like dust spots.
I don't know that they spoil the shot, but I think it would be better without them. Also, they add a little weight to the right hand side that interrupts the balance.
David

Thanks David. I am glad you like the shot and I appreciate your thoughts about the sailboats. I think I will print this one up tomorrow and see what it looks like bigger before I give the sailboats the axe...

Jim

Dec 12, 2013 at 03:03 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Convergence (+Edit)

AMaji wrote:
Lovely image Jim. I like the way the lines converge... and now I know why you named the image that. I like the sharpness and the sailboats add to the image, give it a feel of place. However, I think the colors are a little subdued and a little bit of it may help.

Hey Maji,

I appreciate the input and I am glad you like the composition. As for the color, it seems fine to me, at least to my vision of the shot, but I will know better when I print it tomorrow.

Thanks,

Jim

Dec 12, 2013 at 03:04 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Convergence (+Edit)

Scott Kroeker wrote:
Excellent photo Jim! I am on the fence about the boats as well. I think the image would be more impactful with out them as I like surreal zen like scenes. The boats IMO are too small to really add to the image.

Ha ha... thanks Scott. I am glad you like it, and I did have a similar thought as I contemplated the boats, that it would end up giving it a bit more of a zen feel...

Jim

Dec 12, 2013 at 03:06 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Convergence (+Edit)

Kee Woo Rhee wrote:
I should change my statement here. Upon looking at your photo again, those sail boats are distractions to the "Convergence".
As to the "Convergence".. where do they converge to?
Also why did you use that high ISO? Didn't use the tripod?

Hey Kee,

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

As to a tripod.... of course I used a tripod.... really no other way to shoot in my book...

As to the high ISO, it was all to get a high enough shutter speed to freeze the water motion. In this case, I had just set up this composition, so it was a quick dial in to make sure the shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the water. After this surge of waves came in, I actually dialed the ISO though down to 400 (from 640). As the shutter speed on this shot was 1/400th which is nice, but I try for water freezing to have it at about 1/200 to 1/250th of a sec. One nice thing with our newer cameras like the D800 is that ISO 800 even almost as good as ISO 100. I certainly don't see any noise in the shot. So the ISO as you know is a tool to be used.

As for the difference between the 14-24mm and the 16-35mm. I think the 14-24mm is a bit sharper all the way across than my 16-35mm. I did buy the filter adapter from Fotodiox so that I can use both a polarizer and a ND grad on the 14-24mm. So it does equal them out in those terms just about. Only thing missing from the Fotodiox side is I wish they made a Reverse ND Grad, those are so helpful with sunsets.

As for your suggestion to adding more contrast in the foreground, I appreciate the suggestion, but the foreground rocks look great to my eye, perhaps you need to check your monitor? I did purposely leave the color on the subdued side, but for me I think anymore contrast would ruin the shot.

Thanks,

Jim

Dec 12, 2013 at 03:20 AM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Convergence (+Edit)

JimFox wrote:
Hey Kee,

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

As to a tripod.... of course I used a tripod.... really no other way to shoot in my book...

As to the high ISO, it was all to get a high enough shutter speed to freeze the water motion. In this case, I had just set up this composition, so it was a quick dial in to make sure the shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the water. After this surge of waves came in, I actually dialed the ISO though down to 400 (from 640). As the shutter speed on this shot...Show more →

First of all, congratulation for your 14-24mm acquisition. I also do have Fotodiox filter system which I use when needed. Even though D800 is such a wonderful camera, with abundant lighting condition, use of ISO 640 was odd to me just to freeze the water movement. Perhaps taking the ND filter off will increase the shutter speed. Ah, you used ND grad? I didn't know Fotodiox has ND grad filter. My first impression is that the image lacks the sharpness it deserves.

My computer monitor seems very fine. Just that I wanted to comment that the DOF could be improved somewhat with gradually improving the contrast toward the bottom edge. But as long as you are happy with your image, that is all it matters.

Thanks for your response.

Kee

Dec 12, 2013 at 10:05 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Convergence (+Edit)

Hey Kee,

Nothing you are saying is really making sense....

First you said I needed to add contrast to the shot because of a "monotonic" feel to the shot...

Kee Woo Rhee wrote:
... I feel that the image seems kind of flat. Perhaps because the color of pale pink is covering most area? Kind of monotonic! IMO, to remedy the flatness, you can give more contrast in the foreground toward the bottom edge.. That would render a somewhat more depth feeling...

Kee

But now you are saying I need to add contrast to make the shot sharp

Kee Woo Rhee wrote:
...Just that I wanted to comment that the DOF could be improved somewhat with gradually improving the contrast toward the bottom edge....

Kee

So which is it??

I am not sure where this passive aggressive behavior from you towards me comes from, except that I know your feelings got hurt because I have made suggestions to you on your photos in the past. You asked for suggestions, but in the end you really only wanted "nice suggestions" as you have stated in several of your recent threads. It seems that you had taken my suggestions as not being nice which is why I stopped making suggestions on your photos.

This shot is sharp, in fact another person in the thread commented on the sharpness of the shot. But I do know one of the things that I had commented to you on your shots was how soft some of them were. So now, you are just going to give to me the same suggestions I gave you even when they don't apply to my photos?? Why then, if not for spite??

Your comment about my not needing ISO 640 makes no sense either, I explained to you why I used it. It's like you are just trying to make things up to be critical about.

All I can suggest is that perhaps you just skip by my photos in the future.

Jim

Dec 12, 2013 at 03:23 PM

Justin Grimm
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Convergence (+Edit)

I like it Jim. The conditions are decent, but the best aspect of the shot is definitely the composition. Almost every cervice of rock and finger of water if pointing directly to the sun. Nice job with that, and a very fitting title

When I crop a bit less then half the sky out it really makes the convergence more obvious to me, so that might be an option.

More contrast isnt really a good way to increase sharpness for web Kee. It will look overly crunchy, and probably wont reflect what the full size image actually looks like. Doing that will affect the difference between light and dark pixels, but wont really bring out more detail. A quick selectively painted-in highpass or smart sharpen layer with small radius, after the file has been resized correctly, will do that much better.

Dec 12, 2013 at 04:02 PM

Derek Weston
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Convergence (+Edit)

Like the contrast between the peaceful background with calm(ish) seas, sailboats and a sunset vs the the waves crashing against sharp rocks in the foreground.

fwiw, image looks extremely sharp to me.

Dec 12, 2013 at 04:07 PM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Convergence (+Edit)

JimFox wrote:
Hey Kee,

Nothing you are saying is really making sense....

First you said I needed to add contrast to the shot because of a "monotonic" feel to the shot...

But now you are saying I need to add contrast to make the shot sharp

So which is it??

I am not sure where this passive aggressive behavior from you towards me comes from, except that I know your feelings got hurt because I have made suggestions to you on your photos in the past. You asked for suggestions, but in the end you really only wanted "nice suggestions" as you have stated in several of...Show more →

Jim,

I think you are over reacting. I am just trying to read and learn by being more analytical and critical rather than just saying that looks good, or something like that. Everybody has different feelings about photos and different expectations which are also depending on the level of the photos. I certainly expect the top level from you and that could be the reason why and how I responded. If I made you feel hurt or frustrated, then just ignore what I mentioned on this photo of yours. It has nothing to do with what you said on my images before. I am just learning and learning everyday, you know.

Regards,

Kee

Dec 12, 2013 at 04:59 PM

Steve Perry
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Convergence (+Edit)

Hey Jim - you're right - it's a great place for a shot! Love the look of the light,

If I had to make a call on the sailboats I'd probably lose 'em - but that's just me. I like photos that appear as wild and remote as possible, so I get rid of man made elements when I can. (well, unless I'm using one for a subject, like a cabin or something

)

Dec 12, 2013 at 06:58 PM

ckcarr
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Convergence (+Edit)

Nice one Jim!

I do agree with Steve, I'd lose the sailboats. But I'm that way too, don't like anything man made normally, unless it has a historical significance - like an Anasazi ruin. As far as sharp, I can see the seagulls way off in the distance. Can't get much sharper than that.

Dec 12, 2013 at 08:56 PM

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