'Drop' @ Keppal Bay

[hungrymonster]

Hi everyone,
I am a newbie here. Have only started photography since march 2009.. Please pardon me for my 'greenhorn' in photography. I really hope to get some feedback on this particular photo that I have taken at Keppal bay. Its a monument with a background of yachts.

22mm, f/5.6, 1/4, ISO800, Sony Alpha 350

1. In what area is critique to be sought?

Composure and Editing.
So far, I have only did a bit of cropping. Have no idea how I should edit the photo.

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

I would like to achieve on how to make this photo looks more perfect. All I want to is to make the monument look 'stand' out with the background.

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

Have taken it at the 'magical hour' at Keppal Bay. At that time, all I want to do is to capture that moment (where the sky started to darken and the monument started to 'shine' in a different colour) down.

4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

This is my so-called 1st try in taking this kind of photo and its one of my favourite photos. I really liked this photo a lot as its my 1st try. Haven taken much photos though since I have just started.

 

[mfongym]

IMHO, if you want to make the subject standout from the rest, you need to have simple background. The background of yachts & people is not helping you because they are distracting. A few suggestions that may help to achieve what you try to do:

a. Shoot from low angle to make the monument looks bigger or more grand.

b. Use large aperture to blurr the background. Eg. f2.8 if your lens allows you to do so.

c. Try to exclude the people standing behind so that it is less distracting. I'm not sure if low angle could help you to achieve that cos I'm not there to see for myself.

d. Zoom in closer, exclude the tent of the left.

Just my thought, not sure if it would work for you.

Happy shooting and have fun.

 

[Yapster]

1. In what area is critique to be sought?

Composure and Editing.
So far, I have only did a bit of cropping. Have no idea how I should edit the photo.

Personally, in terms of composition, the isolation of the monument is not enough. I shall further explain in (2).
As for editing, it is very subjective, so no comments.

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

I would like to achieve on how to make this photo looks more perfect. All I want to is to make the monument look 'stand' out with the background.

As per my comment in (1), i feel, for the monument to stand out, you may like to consider to go near (shorter focal length) and low to isolate the monument and make it the main subject with the sky as the background.

However, this depends whether if you are able to go near and close or not. Seems like it is a pool surrounding the monument. Not sure if you can go low and use the zoom for a longer reach will help, as i was not there before.

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

Have taken it at the 'magical hour' at Keppal Bay. At that time, all I want to do is to capture that moment (where the sky started to darken and the monument started to 'shine' in a different colour) down.

The timing seems ok to me. But, if i am not wrong, the sun is setting on the left end. It may be even better to capture the red and orange of the sky before you get the blues. Maybe you would like to try shooting from another angle next time you are there.

4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

This is my so-called 1st try in taking this kind of photo and its one of my favourite photos. I really liked this photo a lot as its my 1st try. Haven taken much photos though since I have just started.

Keep reading, viewing other's work and trying. You will see how you'll improve and by then, maybe your appreciation and expectation of your own work will be higher.

 

[night86mare]

what do you intend to show here?

you said, a monument with a bg of yachts. i see a monument with a bg of : building, banner, hdb, yachts somewhere in the mess, and a number of what seems to be photographers as well.

maybe trying another angle at another time, or booting all the photographers into the sea might help.. :bsmilie:

to be brutally honest though, i'm not even sure if you can take anything aesthetically pleasing here. it looks like a challenging, cluttered scene. usually in such a case i'd probably refrain from shooting.

 

[hungrymonster]

Lots of thanks.. will try getting a shot again with a lower focal length..

Anyway.. what i want to show in the photo is the monument (the droplet looking monument)... :sweat: haven really get the hang in just focusing the monument and blurring the background.. :embrass:

but thanks for all your honest opinion...