Sunrise over Flamborough Head

benlee

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19 Aug 2010 - 9:03 AM

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Unfortunately there is nothing in the foreground that captures and holds the interest.

The colours and the line of reflection is nice but perhaps if you could have found a piece of foliage or a rock to place in the foreground I think that would have boosted the quality of the image.

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pamelajean (Critique Team)

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19 Aug 2010 - 4:58 PM

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Hello, Phill. I think the colours are lovely, such a beautiful time of day, nobody on the beach, quiet and serene.
If you have a thirds grid on your camera, you could not only have got your horizon straight (it tilts a bit to the right), but could also have captured one third sky and two thirds land on the vertical quite easily. With a sky that isn't very dramatic, like this one, this composition would be ideal. If the sky were more dramatic, you might like to have two thirds sky and one third land. Sometimes, if the reflections are good, half and half looks fine, too. You have placed the sun so that it is slightly offset rather than dead centre, which is good, but if you could also try to place this on the line of thirds, it usually looks better (I may try a mod later). The drawback with shooting the sun is the burn-out that you get, the sun and its reflection are just white with no colour or detail. A polarizer may have helped, but timing is often the best option, choosing a time when the sun's strength gives the colour, but is not glaring. With a sunrise, it would mean getting up earlier. I agree with what has been said about foreground interest. It needs a focal point.
Pamela.

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Jestertheclown

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19 Aug 2010 - 10:00 PM

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Hi Phil,

I'll just echo what pamelajean has said, particularly about the horizon. Crooked ones are one of my pet hates and you have an additional problem here in that, although the horizon in the mod is now straight, the land on it and the edge of the sea in front of it, both slope away to the right which tends to throw the eye out anyway.
That aside, and there's nothing you could do about it, I think it's a great shot.

Bren.

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Davesumner (e2 Member)

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20 Aug 2010 - 4:31 AM

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Hi Phill,

You may notice from my profile that I live in Australia but I do know Flamborough Head and Bridlington very well. I used to live in East Yorks.

Anyway, the guys above are right and I think the biggest issue here is the lack of foreground interest. Have a look at this sunrise image
Click Here which has the reeds to give foreground interest, this is what they are getting at above. A piece of driftwood, a rock or seaweed would all make good foreground interest as would a person, a dog or anything really. In this case I would think a set of footsteps in the wet sand might have worked as well.

Remeber the composition needs to stick to the rule of thirds usually and horizon lines MUST be straight.

Otherwise you've done a great job of taking the shot and you have to be commended for getting up early and having a go.

Hope I've helped

DaVeS

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cassiecat

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20 Aug 2010 - 4:51 AM

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looks like youve received some good advice. like the colors and think the crop of the 1st mod works well, with the crop dont feel the need as much for more fg interest.lesley

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paulbroad

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20 Aug 2010 - 11:43 AM

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Already largly said. Horizon is a little out and you needed some kind of main focal point - someone walking the dog for example, as a silhouette. Rules of composition are there to be broken, and I don't mind what you have done, but the sun itself, and reflections are a bit burnt out. It is often better to leave the sun itself out of images once it achieves full brightness.

Paul

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Tooth (Critique Team)

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24 Aug 2010 - 1:08 AM

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An interesting discussion, and I think Focusman's crop and straighten has the best effect for me. The crop because it loses a lot of the quite bland foreground and emphasises the strong vertical shaft of light. And the lack of straightening because actually in these shots there is a more important thing than horizons, which can often be complicated by sloping landmasses....it's the vertical reflection. A vertical reflection ALWAYS has to be perfectly plumb (give or take a tiny bit to account for rippling in the water). If you straighten a "horizon" and the vertical reflections go off plumb it will always look wrong. If you make matching points on a reflection vertical and doing that makes the horizon appear crooked, then it's a trick of the eye which you can either accept or it will keep annoying your eye..

Hope that makes some sense

Stephen

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