violet hues

[NormanSelvaraju]

1. In what area is critique to be sought?
Technique - Was my aperture too large?
Framing - Something a little unsettling. How can I improve?
Post Processing - Used DRI. Blended 2 images for different exposures for water and sky.

2. What one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I wanted to capture the colours of the sky during the golden hour, Just before sunrise and also catch the stillness of the water.

3. Under what circumstance is the picture taken?
38s f7.1 ISO100
1st trip to Punggol Park. Had a very short window of time. No much cloud movement nor colours of the sky to work with. only came away with 4 shots in total and only 2 worth keeping.

4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture.
my constant challenge is framing. And in this case, I am pretty sure it can be improved. I would like to get the advice of the others from CS to help me along this journey of learning.

 

[d2xpeter]

wa, like this!
silky smooth water

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

wa, like this!
silky smooth water

Thank you very much!

 

[briansio]

Composition:
The image seems to be a little off-balance to the right, and the lead line from the left side seems leading to nowhere,maybe lower the height of your camera, so that both the bridge and its reflection can share half of the image top and bottom.

Subject wise, i was unsure, which subject is your main aim, if it's the sky and reflection, the bridge is taking too much spotlight, if it's the bridge then the seems to be a little less

Color:
Color wise, it seems like it's a bit more towards dusk than comparing to dawn, as i felt the tree is a bit too dark, especially when u say compose with two shot DRI. Maybe a tad hue slider to the right, will somehow tweak it better.


Sidenote:
have u tried shooting from different angle from different side of the bridge? just my two cents

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

Briansio-


Thanks for the very nicely analyses critique. Totally appreciate it. I have to agree with you that that framing is off and could be much better.

Like you said, moving more to my left and going lower will result in a shot that has the bridge better placed as a leading line and the whole scene more symmetrical.

I left the line of trees dark so that there won't be a distraction from the rich colours of the bridge and the sky. But I understand where you are coming from.

As for the composition, you say the bridge and the sky/reflection are vying for attention, how do I address this issue?
Some people say that a photo of the sky/reflection alone without a foreground anchor is incomplete.
What would you advise in this case?

 

[briansio]

I've attached a image to what i think, the circle area in the photo is somehow i felt distracting part. and since i not sure how the location looked like, i probably can't tell u how i will shoot it. but nonetheless i think if the trees at the left hand side have taller tree, the composition will probably be more complete.

 

[NormanSelvaraju]

I've attached a image to what i think, the circle area in the photo is somehow i felt distracting part. and since i not sure how the location looked like, i probably can't tell u how i will shoot it. but nonetheless i think if the trees at the left hand side have taller tree, the composition will probably be more complete.

Thanks briansio for the clear explanation appreciate the extra work done to help me understand. Before you highlighted it, I didn't even realize that the right side tree line was a distraction. But you are absolutely right. Shall keep these things in mind when I shoot again.

Cheers!