A Golden Hope


nabelrock

New Member
Jun 4, 2010
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A Golden Hope

5211230054_512cd5f130_b.jpg

Hi everyone, this is my first post in the Critique Corner. Please feel free to comment on anything. :)

1. In what area is critique to be sought?

I'd appreciate any C&Cs on composition, exposure, and anything on the overall picture. Seeking for any tips/suggestions that could make my shooting improve.


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

My main subject is the silhoutte of the fisherman in the boat. When I look at him, I get this feeling that he's tired of his daily routine, hoping to someday that he could break out from this "hamster wheel" and have a prosperous life. The bright sun gives me a feeling that there's hope for him, hence the title "A Golden Hope". :)


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

This was taken between 7-8am at a beach where fishing is a main source of income for most of the residents, everyone was up early to go about their daily routines. Everyone was busy and you can see different emotions on their faces. Sun was shining and some great clouds overhead. Sun backlits the subject, giving it a pretty solid silhoutte. Somehow, you could picture his emotions just by how his silhoutte looks like. On the other hand, he may just be reaching for something or anything haha :D


4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

Blown highlights on the sun. Composition too tight. Better without the two empty boats.


Thanks everyone for passing by! :D
 

As a newb, I thought that the two empty boats are very properly placed. Otherwise, there would be too much negative space. It seems you are concentrating on the sun as the horizon occupies 2/3 of the picture. Nice photo. :thumbsup:
 

I like the sihoulette but I prefer to have less subjects in frame. :)
 

I like it :) Nice one!

As above, I would have preferred 1 less boat. But the boat placement did indeed help with reducing negative spaces, and frames the lone fisherman within the 2 boats, sort of like an arc.

Nice one again.
 

nb here, i love the sihoulette of the fisherman and the 2 lone boats on help to bring out the loneliness of the picture. not sure what is on the left of the picture but i guess it might be gd to move the picture a little to show 3/4 of the empty boat on the left. 2c worth its a nice shot nontheless
 

a big THANKS everyone! seems like we're all divided as to how many boats will look better hehe.

Btw, to the left of the scene are lots more of boats, so the boat on the left is a tad bit cut off to exclude the other boats which I think will make the overall picture messy. Anyway thanks again! :)
 

Yup i agree. The photo would be close to perfection if there is only one boat. That makes that subject very clear.

Nice shot anyway:)
 

beautiful colors/clouds! although it would have been hard to recompose the boats LOL!

but what i noticed was the name "a golden hope".

if you've gotten a cleaner background, with only the man kneeling in the boat (that looks like he's praying), it would be more powerfully synced with the title.
 

thanks again everyone, I noticed something just now, if you look hard enough on the right side of the image, in the dark area, there's another boat there!! lol
 

LOL. yes. there's another boat there. OMG you were there and didn't notice it? haha!
 

LOL. yes. there's another boat there. OMG you were there and didn't notice it? haha!
there were a lot of boats there and I took a lot of shots that time, after viewing at home I already forgot about what was actually there hahaha
 

Hi nabelrock, may i ask how do you push the yellowish-gold light out form the sky? post-process?

I want to achieve this this kind of setting, but has been figuring how-to.

If possible, hope you share the setting with me.

Thanks. xD
Juz a newbie learning too. ^^
 

Hi nabelrock, may i ask how do you push the yellowish-gold light out form the sky? post-process?

I want to achieve this this kind of setting, but has been figuring how-to.

If possible, hope you share the setting with me.

Thanks. xD
Juz a newbie learning too. ^^
hmmmm this was shot at 1/640, F13, and ISO 200, RAW, during post I didn't really touch the colors, just increased the blacks a bit to make the silhouttes solid, then some cropping, sharpenning, and lens correction.

Colors are really from the sun/clouds(probably), but it might help if you use Spot Metering, then meter on a relatively bright spot, that's what I did here... not so sure I'm just a newbie myself hehe
 

hmmmm this was shot at 1/640, F13, and ISO 200, RAW, during post I didn't really touch the colors, just increased the blacks a bit to make the silhouttes solid, then some cropping, sharpenning, and lens correction.

Colors are really from the sun/clouds(probably), but it might help if you use Spot Metering, then meter on a relatively bright spot, that's what I did here... not so sure I'm just a newbie myself hehe

Hmm. Thanks anyway. xD Gonna try it out soon.

Thanks :D
 

I wouldn't say this is a great photo. Exposure-wise, it is fine for me, and you were lucky to have a great sky colour. The blown highlights don't take away from the photo as much as the composition does.

Also, is there any way you could have shot lower than ISO200, or is that your camera's base ISO?

Composition-wise, it would have been much better if the other boats were not there, and the fisherman's boat was higher in the frame (ie. closer to the horizon). You could have use a wider crop to retain the vastness of the ocean, which would contribute to your theme further.
 

Nice photo! i think the number of boats is fine. Only thing i can pick out is the floating debris on top the middle boat, maybe i'm just OCD but i would have PP-ed it away. would have been nice if the bottom right were abit brighter, but thats alright i guess.