Re: Re: lesson 11 – digital darkroom

#19496
Duncan Rawlinson
Keymaster

This is a very nice scenic shot.

It has quite a few good design elements in the shot, but there is still some room for improvement.

One of the great things about the photograph is that it’s story is very clear. There is no doubt in your audience’s mind as to what the main subject of the photograph is. Secondly, you’ve managed to work with a well defined blue color palette. This has helped you organise your space very well.

One design element I would consider changing is the balanced feel to the photograph. The boat is located almost directly in the center of the frame and your horizon line is also almost perfectly centered.

By using informal balance (i.e. abiding by the rule of thirds) you could have incorporated some interesting ideas into this shot. For instance, usually when dealing with shots like this you’ll want to use the more interesting of the layers to take up your 2/3rds while the less interesting layer will take up 1/3rd. For example, if you have interesting clouds you might want to allow your sky to take up the majority of the composition. If on the other hand, you have really interesting ripples in the water you might want that to take up the majority of the composition. There are also other elements that need to be considered. For instance, in you case you wouldn’t want to amputate the tip of the sail. Therefore you are probably left with the option of including the sky as the object that will take up 2/3rds of your composition. Sometimes foreground objects like this limit your choices (which is fine), so it’s about knowing how to work around these limitations to ensure you don’t’ compromise the overall image.

The shot is great. I just want to see you get a little more daring with your framing!