Siloso Beach

[refraXion]

Hello. This photograph was taken with the aim of practising composition (I'm not exactly the most creative person so I have loads to learn) and post-processing (colour adjustments and sharpening).

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I have tried to follow the rule of thirds by allowing the sky to occupy approximately two-thirds of the photograph. A little water at the left side to add a little variety..? And the largest coconut tree on the left to sorta frame it.

As for post-processing, I played around with Curves and the Unsharp Mask. Is the sharpening overdone?

Thanks!

 

[jenson]

for composition, i think the beach is too empty.. lack foreground and subject interest. beach is a lifely place.. so do try to make it lifely. maybe can try to include more of the sea..

exposure wise is great. attractive sky you have there.

 

[catchlights]

yes, rule of thirds is the basic of composition.

but every photo do have a subject, what is your subject in your photo here?

how do you put more weight on the subject in this photo?

how do you direct view attention to the subject in this photo?

 

[pictureperfect]

The sky appears to be a little too satuated imo.

my 2cents =)

 

[night86mare]

composition and composition alone

too stark, too bare

you have a background for this wide angle, where is your foreground?

unless the background is interesting enough, get a foreground

 

[refraXion]

thank you all for the constructive advice!

what if it were a photograph just to show the scenery or landscape of the beach and not so much to highlight any particular person/activity going on? would a lack of a "subject" per se be justified?

also, less ppl means i can get my volleyball court after taking the photo

but yes, will definitely keep in mind to have a subject in future shots to make the picture more purposeful! being a beginner, i'm kinda afraid to capture ppl up close in my shots cuz i'm worried they'll get offended if i take their pictures without their consent... any tips on that?

 

[night86mare]

what if it were a photograph just to show the scenery or landscape of the beach and not so much to highlight any particular person/activity going on? would a lack of a "subject" per se be justified?

well if you just want to take a snapshot then you won't have to care about subjects.

but every photograph, be it macro, landscape, portrait, scenery, abstract benefits greatly from there being a subject per se. it is an anchor to hold the viewer's attention. and when you do that, the aesthetics improve by leaps and bounds to people.

 

[Fragnatic]

the subject might not be a person or object.
u can try to frame it in such a way that the main subject could be a coconut tree on siloso beach

 

[fw007]

Contrary to the comments so far, I really like this picture a lot.

It's very hard to expose sand correctly and get a good feel for the texture, but I think your processing has made it very nice, and I can almost feel as if I'm right on Siloso Beach. The colours of the sky are also very nicely done--the clouds are not overexposed, and the whole picture is slightly in zone 6/7 and the clouds in 8--gives me the feeling that it's a really bright, sunny and pleasant day.

As for composition, the only slightly distracting thing is the yellow thing on the left (lifeguard or first-aid box or something?), and even then I only noticed it when I looked at the picture for a fifth time.

The sky is actually occupying about half the picture--but I like it in this case because giving the sky 2/3 would have meant giving the sand too little, but I really like the texture of the sand a lot in this picture. Rules are meant to be broken (rather than to be too pedantic about), and I think giving the sky/sand about equal space in the picture, as you have done, is nice because giving any less sky means chopping the trees off, and the sand is really nice in this picture.

I think this is also a very nice case in point of negative space--there seems to be no subject, but I can feel the expanse of the sandy beach, and a sense of tranquility because there is nobody on the beach! At least not immediately (almost all the people in the background), so it gives me a really peaceful feeling.

You've broken all the traditional rules of composition--split horizon, no apparent subject. But the picture is very nicely level (no slanted/tilted horizon)--a common mistake, and I think you've broken all the rules to very good effect here.

Really nice picture!

 

[dw8888]

I think this picture can make into postcard.

 

[refraXion]

Thanks to night86mare for opening me up to the importance of having a subject; to Fragnatic for your suggestion on how to improve it, and; to fw007 and dw8888 for your kind words of appreciation! Though what fw007 mentioned about breaking the rules, I have to admit they weren't a conscious attempt to do so. I'm still trying to learn the ropes, so it's by chance that I "broke the rules" and turned out this way. Many thanks anyway!