General C&C

Star Lord

Hi guys, first C&C here, but don't let that hold you back, I can take it!
These are actually old photos, but they are among my favourite shots. They were taken with my 35mm Nikon F55, haven't got much chance to test out my D40x yet.

Sunset over water:


To the sea:


Boats at dawn:

Couldn't get any further back with this one, due to a building behind me, and I wanted to catch the light shining on the boats, as it had a wonderful colour to it. This was just a few minutes after the "To the sea" photo.

No editing done to them save to optomise them.

YogiBear

I love the "To the sea" shot!! It has really good reflections on the sand/out-tide. I'm a contrast-junkie so I would use contrast/curves.. and give it more colour using selective colour & saturation.. Brilliant shot!!
Damn that ugly trawler in the sunset shot.. but a fisherman may be inclined to prefer that shot.

Thirdfox

I'll have to be brief but out of the three the first one stood out to me (due to the fantastic colours). However I do not really like the composition - is there a particular story you want to convey with the placing of the boat? To me it first appears to be something coming in from the right (as it is too dark to see that it is a boat). I would have loved to seen that shot without the boat in the foreground (but then does it become a "plain" sunset image? ) Hence me asking you - did you try to actively convey a message with the placement of the boat?

Oh and enjoy your D40x (I love my D40 )

edit: oh and just noticed the street light in the picture - looks really out of place (unless you were going for a modern/classical juxtaposition kind of look?)

The colours in the 1st one are great but the composition is a bit awkward.I don't mind the boat at all,it actually looks quite good facing the sea but the huge metal poles coming out of it detract from the overall photo.It would be fairly hard to clone them out now but I think you may have got a better shot if you had took a few steps to the right and just got the main portion of the boat with a lower angle.Actually I think it would make a great image if you just cropped out the left hand side up to where the land starts and then cloned out the 2 remaining poles.I have no complaints with the second one,again very nice colours and the pier and the beach create great lines all pointing towards the sea which makes this such a great shot.I'm sorry but the third one doesn't work for me,although the sun shining on the boats created a nice spectacle I don't think you've made full use of it.There was no room behind you so there wasn't much you could do,but a better angle may have helped.At the moment there's no perspective,you've just shot the boats side on.There may have been a more interesting angle to the left or right.You've got a great eye for it though so make use of the d40

AnimalRights

To the sea I like too.

Mellor

It might be the screen im on here, but the last has a sort of yellow tinge to it, maybe.
I think it might work better with that fixed, or even in a high contrast B&W

Star Lord

Thanks for the C&C

With the first pic, the boat being there was intentional, as I liked the silhouette of it against the water. It was a wrecked boat that had been dragged up onto the slipway. Time was of the essence in that shot too, as that sunset was disappearing, and fast! You can see that from these other shots which were taken just after the first, and from the C&C you may prefer some of these shots, however you can see the impact of the sunset diminishing in them too. As you may notice there are a few water droplets on the lens too, as it was spitting rain, but I hadn't wanted to do any work on the shots in Photoshop, although I had thought about cloning them out, along with the lights.

And on the third shot, the yellow tinge on the boats was simply the colour of the rising sun on them, and was the reason for the shot, along with the worn and weather beaten textures of the paint and wood on the boats, although I would have liked to been able to get more of the boats in.

The first shot would be my favourite of your second bunch.It's a small bit grainy again but not that noticable.The grain in the second one diminishes the picture unfortunately.The first is preferable to the third as the van and the lights don't fit in with the shot.I'm of the opinion that the sunset would look a lot better with the boat in front of it(minus the metal poles)as it sets it apart from the usual sunset photo,so I had a go at it myself(I hope you don't mind)The cloning was a bit rushed though

Star Lord

Ah, excellent!!! No I don't mind at all, I'm grateful that you took the time to try to point it out to me! Definately improves the picture with the metal frame out of the way!
And you did a much better job cloning it out than I would have done!!!

*note to self, learn to do this kinda thing*

faceman

Great colour in the snaps Damo. Try experimenting by taking shots where the horizon isnt in the centre of frame.