A boat

This is such a lovely image that I'm loathe to do anything to it! The colours are glorious, the placement of the boat just about perfect and that hint of reddish light on the stern of the boat sets it off perfectly. Removing the distant streaks of light from a fishing boat was the right thing to do - this image is about this one boat, here, now. Nothing else should detract from that or take the attention away. It's a perfect moment in time, and I think you've taken it beautifully. However, since you have put it into the critique gallery there's one or two very minor things that I've done in my mod. Although the colours you have here are soft and gentle, almost dreamlike in a way, part of me wanted to give it a slightly stronger feel in terms of contrast. That band of foamy water is very similar to the colour of the boat's hull, and [i]possibly[/i] doesn't allow enough separation to let the boat stand out in its own right. A little dodging and burning on the midtones and highlights (at a very low opacity) of the hull give that area a little more depth. I agree with Paul and Mike about the boat needing [i]something[/i], so by dodging and burning on it I hope I've given it more of a sense of solidity without taking away that dreamlike quality too much. A added a touch more space at the top of your image, just to allow the horizon line to sit on the lower third horizontal line. Not a requirement, by any means, and it's a guideline rather than any kind of rule. However, sometimes it does work - particularly with an image that has a very strong linear feeling like this one. I did clone out your copyright watermark - although I understand why you added it, it's not necessary in the critique gallery and can detract from the overall image when trying to guage feedback. The other thing I did was to just clone one or two bright stars that were on the very edges of your image. While they were hardly noticeable, a couple of them did begin to pull my eyes upwards towards (and out of) the frame and that's definitely not what you want with this image. There is so much to linger over and enjoy with the soft colours as they fade into one another, the delight of that solitary boat and the absence of anyone at all ... well, I want my eye to stay within the image, not wander out of it. So there you have it - one very lengthy explanation for a couple of tiny tweaks :) Adjusting the tonal range a touch wasn't necessary at all, it's just another interpretation and a very personal one at that. This is the kind of image I'd hang on my wall and enjoy every day. Tanya

This is such a lovely image that I'm loathe to do anything to it! The colours are glorious, the placement of the boat just about perfect and that hint of reddish light on the stern of the boat sets it off perfectly.

Removing the distant streaks of light from a fishing boat was the right thing to do - this image is about this one boat, here, now. Nothing else should detract from that or take the attention away. It's a perfect moment in time, and I think you've taken it beautifully.

However, since you have put it into the critique gallery there's one or two very minor things that I've done in my mod.

Although the colours you have here are soft and gentle, almost dreamlike in a way, part of me wanted to give it a slightly stronger feel in terms of contrast. That band of foamy water is very similar to the colour of the boat's hull, and possibly doesn't allow enough separation to let the boat stand out in its own right.

A little dodging and burning on the midtones and highlights (at a very low opacity) of the hull give that area a little more depth. I agree with Paul and Mike about the boat needing something, so by dodging and burning on it I hope I've given it more of a sense of solidity without taking away that dreamlike quality too much.

A added a touch more space at the top of your image, just to allow the horizon line to sit on the lower third horizontal line. Not a requirement, by any means, and it's a guideline rather than any kind of rule. However, sometimes it does work - particularly with an image that has a very strong linear feeling like this one.

I did clone out your copyright watermark - although I understand why you added it, it's not necessary in the critique gallery and can detract from the overall image when trying to guage feedback.

The other thing I did was to just clone one or two bright stars that were on the very edges of your image. While they were hardly noticeable, a couple of them did begin to pull my eyes upwards towards (and out of) the frame and that's definitely not what you want with this image. There is so much to linger over and enjoy with the soft colours as they fade into one another, the delight of that solitary boat and the absence of anyone at all ... well, I want my eye to stay within the image, not wander out of it.

So there you have it - one very lengthy explanation for a couple of tiny tweaks Adjusting the tonal range a touch wasn't necessary at all, it's just another interpretation and a very personal one at that.

This is the kind of image I'd hang on my wall and enjoy every day.

Tanya