I really dig the use of brown tones, the textures from gritty to glassy, the compostional elements. Everything above make this shot surreal, mysterious, and perfect.
* Greetings from the Critique Club * It figures I would get a fantastic shot like this to critique! Finished 34th out of 829 with a final score of 6.756. That's REALLY something to be proud of in the field of Best of 2005 challenge entries. Congratulations.
First Impression: Well, I scored this a 9 during the challenge. My first impression was WOW and that it certainly had strong emotional appeal.
That being said and upon closer inspection (and after reading the other comments given), I will do my best to provide some constructive feedback. [Next time it might help the CC if you also left some photographer comments regarding your intentions, post-processing steps, etc. - Thanks!]
Composition: I think this is probably the strongest point of the image. You've got the foreground and background covered beautifully with plenty of things to keep the viewer engaged, yet never allowing him/her to take his/her eyes out of the frame. The landscape in and of itself is exceptionally interesting and you captured it well.
Subject: It's tough to go wrong with a seascape, but tougher still to pull it off well - and you do. There were several comments about the apparent lack of seagulls (vs the title) and I have to admit it crossed my mind during the challenge as well, but then I noticed them on top of the far rock. Not sure if voters knocked anything off for this (I didn't), but worth noting.
Technical (Color, focus, and light): The unusual color tones really make this shot stand out, and while there were some differences of opinion regarding your choices here, I think it was a masterful stroke. By going against the "normal" hues, you made this beautiful scene stand out even more. The dark tones really added to the mood of the piece too, giving it much more emotional appeal. Your lighting control is fantastic. My only minor nit (and I mean tiny) was with the focus/DOF. It seemed to me (and a couple of other commenters) that it was slightly off. Of course, this didn't seem to hurt your score too much. :-)
To grow its vote?: Not sure what else you could have done here outside of slightly sharper focus and including more visible birds. Again, your score was exceptionally good in an unusually large, very competitive challenge.
Summary: From reviewing your profile & portfolio, I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know... You're an accomplished photographer already and have a great eye for composition. You obviously have the technical savvy to pull off a winning shot (and will soon have the ribbons to prove it I'm sure!) - I think it's just a matter of getting everything to click at the the right time in the right place. :-)
Congratulations on your great capture of Cannon Beach. It is a place I know very well and you have photographed it exceptionally good with this fine sepia.
nice job, long exposure?? great light, great texture, great dof, blacks need work, whites need a bit of tweeking, great comp, interesting color, overall have a print available
I think I would have voted this higher if there'd been more shadow detail in the rocks (esp. the big cliff on the left). It doesn't really look as if it was that dark outside (just judging from the sky and the reflections in the sand), and I guess that impression clashes too much with the overall darkness of the scene.
Great contrast in this shot, but I think the sepia colouring is a bit too strong. Also would be nice if there were actually some seagulls in the shot :)
But.. where are the seagulls?! That's not a very good playground if they aren't there! Maybe it's because the nuclear holocaust wiped them all out when it created this scary sepia light.
Wow. you must have been confused when you submitted this crapola. it was supposed to be "Best of 2005", not "Enter Whatever Shit I Found at the Bottom of the Recycle Bin in 2005".
THIS is SPECTACULAR!! The colors are so rich! The contrasts are so perfect. This couldn't be any more perfect in my opinion. I think this better go stratight to my favorites folder! 10
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