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Taken on recent trip to Blackpool. We were really lucky with the weather on our only full day there, the clouds were fabulous! The tide was out when took this and had left many pools behind, which were creating some lovely reflections.
0.6 ND grad used.
| Brand: | Sony |
| Camera: | Sony A580 |
| Lens: | DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA |
| Recording media: | JPEG (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 17 Mar 2012 - 10:58 AM |
| Focal Length: | 24mm |
| Lens Max Aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Aperture: | f/16.0 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/40sec |
| Exposure Comp: | +1 |
| ISO: | 100 |
| Exposure Mode: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Flash: | Off, Did not fire |
| Title: | Blackpool Reflections |
| Username: | 
DalesLass |
| Uploaded: | 29 Mar 2012 - 2:39 PM |
| Tags: | Landscape / travel |
| VS Mode Rating |
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| Votes: | Voting Disabled |
 | Critique Wanted |
| Modifications Welcome (Upload a Modification) |
Comments
Nicely constructed panoramic, and good to see grads being used, though it has resulted in the tower being too dark. The problem for me, is the light is actually quite dull. Better when the sun is out, as it lifts the colours - especially the late afternoon sun as it lights the tower well.
The exposure is pretty good overall, and the strip of sand anchors the bottom of the shot.
Also, all the action is on the left of frame, so some right hand side could go, leaving the building with the mast 1/3 of the way in, to balance the tower.
You could even make a b+w conversion and emphasise the clouds to give more drama.
A good effort though.
Nick
Hi Judith,
Good capture, there is something about pool reflections that can work really well, especialy rockpool reflections (which this isn't). It's a good idea to use a ND grad but be careful not to use to much as water reflections are usually darker than the sky. A polarising filter is another filter that could be used to remove the glare and enhance the reflections but you need to be careful because it could also greatly reduce the reflection if you set it wrong, it's a case of finding a happy medium. Also a tripod with low-level shooting capability will help balance the shot by maybe allowing more sky to be captured in the reflection.
Judith all that said there is still more to be had from your image. In the mod I have added more sky and with selective exposure adjustments lightened the background and darkend the pool. Added vibrance and a touch of saturation to certain areas and lastly sharpened.
I think this is a very good shot as well as being the first in your pf, well done.
Take care
Martin
Hi Nick, thanks for your feed back. I do finds grads a problem when 'things' protrude into the sky! I appreciate that there is more in LHS but with the clouds billowing to R thought it fairly balanced. I' will have a go with it as a mono too.
Regards, Jude
Hi Martin, I take on board what you say about polarisers and in fact recently ordered one. Sadly the slim version I want is out of stock but hopefully I'll have it in a week or so. I'll be interesting to see what results I get from it. I do like your moderated version and will find it very helpful when editing other images from the trip. Indeed, my images in general. I think I tend to air on the side of caution when editing but it seem that isn't always the way to go!
Welcome to EPZ Judith, - hope you enjoy the site.
This is an attractive first upload. I like the panoramic presentation. As has been pointed out, better light may have given you a better image in terms of colour and contrast, but as martin points out, - you can do a lot with it as it is.
Your settings look good, as does the exposure. Good tip re the polarizer, but also keep in mind that they work best only then the polarizer is at 90 degrees to the direction of light, - so they dont do what you want under all circumstances. But do get one!
Ive loaded two mods, no cropping. First is not unlike martins, - Ive made the sky a touch more threatening; replaced the cool bluish tone with a slightly warmer tone (colour balance); and mod2, is a duo toned conversion, - this suits a shot lie this quite well.
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Enjoy,
regards
Willie
I like the composition in this one and personally I agree that the clouds do balance the image nicely on the right hand side. An ND grad was a good idea with those clouds but ... it has darkened the tower a bit. What would have been ideal would have been a beam of light making that tower really stand out, or a friend with a reeeaaallly powerful flash to do that for you, or you could post process it. The only bugbear for me is that the foreground is a little light and although I kind of like the tonality in the foreground I believe it could do with a little more 'punch'. If it was mine I would try making the bottom third of the image darker with a grad in Photoshop and maybe just brightening the centre portion of the image a tad (the sand and the buildings). That I think (without actually trying it) would lift the picture a little. Having said that it's an image I like and everything is in its rightful place and it was certainly nice to view. Last time I did something like this I sank into a patch of soft sand and got wet feet and a result about half as good as this one 
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