Spotters Vigil

[PeterD]

This image is taken at Farlington Marshes, to the north of Langstone Harbour, Portsmouth, UK.

Farlington Marshes is a Nature Reserve that attracts most of the waders and other birds especially at high tide. People visit in all weathers to observe the wildlife on the site. A particularly good time to visit is about 1 hour before high tide as this is the time birds will fly in from all parts of the harbour.

The image below was taken on a cold and threatening day. It represents the dedication and determination of those that come here to spot wildlife.

Comments etc are most welcome

 

[Neurospark]

Hi PeterD,

Would be good if we can view your pic. Link is broken i think... Cheers!

 

[xxdoggyxx]

Hi PeterD,

Would be good if we can view your pic. Link is broken i think... Cheers!

Pic is up again!

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

I like the pic!
A tighter crop would be preferred, for me.

 

[candycaine]

A couple of comments:

As mentioned, I would have liked a tighter crop- a pano crop would be fine.

More importantly, the composition is a waste given that it has potential. I would have liked the photographer to be positioned about 1/3-way from the right hand side of the photograph as opposed to how you shot it, where the photographer is on the left-hand side, reason being, the camera is pointing to the left. Right now, the camera does not have enough "breathing room", and the scene seems prematurely disrupted.

I think you could have gone wider and left the photographer more room too- I think the use of space to the left of the cameraman in the photo would have created a lot of dramatic tension.

 

[Eworms]

I like this photo esp the sky...
But there might be too much black space at the bottom.

 

[ClemC]

:thumbsup:
A square crop to remove the right side (plus remove a bit more of the bottom) could work well.. give it a try.. The threatening sky is beautiful and the man with his bino is poiting to the left.. so attention will natually wonder to the left instead of the right..

 

[kwttan]

TS, did you use high ISO for this picture? I notice the cloud is grainy.
Anyway, agreed with rests, a tighter crop and position the man on the right following rule of 1/3 should work better for this picture.

 

[PeterD]

Thank you all for your comments and I have to agree with them all. The main points that I have picked up from this thread are:
1. Too much black foreground.
2. The position of the spotter should have been to the right of the image.
3. Thr 1/3 rule should be applied (This would reduce the foreground issue at 1.
4. Noise in the clouds. Yes this was taken with the E3 at ISO 800. I hope I have managed to reduce this.

Looking at the original image, I found I had enough to incorporate the comments. Please can you let me have your comments regarding the re-crop.

Thank you all for your VERY helpful comments. I am sorry it has taken me this long to reply but I have had to concentrate on my dog Blade who passed away last night after a week of great struggles.

 

[Neurospark]

Hi PeterD,

I'm so sorry to hear about Blade. May your dog find peace in the fact that the suffering has finally come to an end. I admire your commitment towards the care of your dog. Anyway, I finally saw your picture. Its great... Esp your revised one... Love the clouds and the silhouette effect... keep it up!

 

[kwttan]

Peter, sorry to hear your lost, my deepest condolence. :cry:

 

[PeterD]

Hi PeterD,

I'm so sorry to hear about Blade. May your dog find peace in the fact that the suffering has finally come to an end. I admire your commitment towards the care of your dog. Anyway, I finally saw your picture. Its great... Esp your revised one... Love the clouds and the silhouette effect... keep it up!

Thank you for your comments and kind condolence:bheart:. The image improvement was solely down to the comments made within this forum which I also greatly appreciate:thumbsup:. From these, I have learnt more to improve my compositions.

Peter, sorry to hear your lost, my deepest condolence. :cry:

Thank you for your kind condolence. Blade was only 8 years old and he was my true friend and companion. God made all the creatures on earth and I hope he has somewhere special for Blade.:bheart: