A fine afternoon on Singapore shore

[jellyfishy]

This shot was taken with the following settings with my D3k, 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens:
1/1600s, f3.5, iso 400, 18mm, +2.3EV, white balance daylight.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?

One of things I'm not so satisfied with this shot is the shadow of a tree nearby casted on the lower half of the frame. And, the branch on the beach looks quite distracting.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?

Better composition. I would like to soften the background or make the vessles on the horizon blur. I'm not sure if it would look better if the 2 flag posts are positioned just slight off centre of the frame.


3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)

A sunny afternoon @ East Coast.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

Your upmost truthful comments are much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for all constructive comments

 

[sheepshagger]

ur composition is technically correct and cannot be faulted, however that also means that is very normal. perhaps an exploration of different angles would help, i.e. just snapping the numbers or logo on the sail with a portion of the beach/sea to allow the viewer to "guess" and hence be attracted to wanna see more of the picture AKA engage the viewer.

in ur picture, the focus isn't very clear on what u're trying to capture. is it the mood?(afternoon sun not a very good ally IMHO) is it the fallen sail? did something happen to the sail? is it those floating flags? the ships behind? i think u need to "lead" the viewer so that i won't need to guess... u basically have abt 1-3 secs to capture the viewer's attention i reckon.

 

[peterpan1975]

Good try, but what was the main subject you are showing? the Sky was bright, you might want to step down somemore. The branchs as what u say very distracting. ISO abit too high, try 100 instance of 400. For better control, maybe you can use the sunny 16 rules. The result will be very different. But on the whole having fun is more important.

 

[soons]

Pardon me.. but a fine afternoon suppose to result in a more vibrant colours right...? The colours look a little de-saturated. Perhpes a CPL filter can help??
((A noob here, so do not take my thoughts too seriously...))

 

[Shen siung]

I feel a bit over expose... Is it just me?

 

[leeweelee80]

I feel a bit over expose... Is it just me?

Same feeling, the skies is losing details

 

[gammatian]

I feel a bit over expose... Is it just me?

Yea, it seems so. Think the sun was too strong. I think having a CPL will help lots.

Why is your EV compensation so high? EV could be 0, I guess.

If it's strong sunlight, the lowest ISO will do.

Maybe you could also tweak your WB Daylight. I think tweaking it warmer could help bring out the colours. It seems very cool.

Just started being active again in this forum, so just my $0.02 worth.

 

[zh3ng]

Just a thought,

It's titled "A fine afternoon on Singapore shore", but the main subject is a fallen sail. I had a melancholy feel despite the sunny scene when I see the foreground

 

[catchlights]

it is correct you need to +EV for scene have a lot of light color area, however it overall overexposed now. check histogram for exposure.

any particular reason you need to shoot at wide open aperture? and high ISO? if no, stick to f8~f11 and lowest ISO for general landscape photos.

composition is a little boring, nor here nor there, see which element you want to emphasize, sky or land? and make it bigger in the image.

you shoot the sail square front and the both end of the sail is touching the edge, it more like a record shot of the sail, can try go close up, shot from one side, make part of the sail as foreground, a leading line, lead viewer's attention to the sun, sand and sea.

btw. this is not sunny day, is light cloud, if it is a sunny day, you will see harsh shadow of the tree casting on the beach, this is also explain the light blue tint in the photos and why your white is not white

 

[Shen siung]

I agree it is a bit 'no where here or there'
Maybe you can try make the wind surfing thingy your main object, close up a bit to take ant different angle.

Just my very quick thought.

 

[jellyfishy]

Wow, thx guys for all your contributions. I have learned alot from what all you guys have shared.

any particular reason you need to shoot at wide open aperture? and high ISO? if no, stick to f8~f11 and lowest ISO for general landscape photos

The reason I used +2.3EV was because I was under the shade of a tree nearby, other shots that I used +1 the beach area was underexposed.
I shot this 2nd day after I got my cam, so was still trying to get my hands on.
I will try to stick to the rule of 8 next time.

It's titled "A fine afternoon on Singapore shore", but the main subject is a fallen sail. I had a melancholy feel despite the sunny scene when I see the foreground

I have to admit that I'm not good at giving captions as the the content doesn't suit its title, will try to work on that.:think:

I agree it is a bit 'no where here or there'
Maybe you can try make the wind surfing thingy your main object, close up a bit to take ant different angle

noted, I wil try to do a better job next time.

Once again, thank you everyone for your comments. Very informative and really appreciate them.

 

[daredevil123]

I feel a bit over expose... Is it just me?

"a bit" is an understatement.

Looks like a normal snapshot to me. No forethought went into this shot.

 

[catchlights]

Wow, thx guys for all your contributions. I have learned alot from what all you guys have shared.


The reason I used +2.3EV was because I was under the shade of a tree nearby, other shots that I used +1 the beach area was underexposed.
I shot this 2nd day after I got my cam, so was still trying to get my hands on.
I will try to stick to the rule of 8 next time.



I have to admit that I'm not good at giving captions as the the content doesn't suit its title, will try to work on that.:think:


noted, I wil try to do a better job next time.

Once again, thank you everyone for your comments. Very informative and really appreciate them.

it is not only about the caption, is understanding about daylight exposure.
Photography Basic Daylight Exposure

 

[night86mare]

do you not find that the picture is overexposed? the simplest indicator is the sky, all detail is lost there.. unless you have not calibrated your monitor or something..

next, the question is, what do you intend to show with that foreground?

 

[jellyfishy]

it is not only about the caption, is understanding about daylight exposure.
Photography Basic Daylight Exposure

Thx. Will read up more on this

do you not find that the picture is overexposed? the simplest indicator is the sky, all detail is lost there.. unless you have not calibrated your monitor or something..

next, the question is, what do you intend to show with that foreground?

Ya, checked it with the highlight function, all the details are lost, though it looked ok on my LCD screen.
Still have alot to learn from you guys.