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This is a shot of the sunset last night at St. Kilda beach.

Which crop do you like and why?

The Full Capture






Crop 1








Crop 2


Any other comments/suggestions are welcome.

IMO- crop 2 - although ide reduce the amount of cloudy sky , to help add 'balance' by putting the horizon line back on the G.Mean.
Also this adds more importance to your left/right subjects and panoramic feel...

Deano, this is a fantastic shot!!
Although, It's a shame you couldn't position yourself a bit closer to cut some of the foreground out.
Personally I like 'Crop 2' but kinda like this...



Are you going to print it up? Would look nice on the wall.

The wide format of crop1 looks more proportionally correct compared to the extra wide crop 2, although crop 2 has a more surrealistic effect

Excellent capture.

Deano I love the #2, #3 crop. I agree some more of the dark foreground needs to be added back in.

It's a shame though it was taken at this spot as I feel if this was taken with say for instance some wet rocky areas with a long exposure to create a nice silky effect to the ocean this would have been killer!

I actually prefer the 1st crop. Normally I would be a fan of the second one but in this case I like No.1. When I compare the 2 crops the 1st one seems to have a better feel, the image draws me toward it much more than No.2.

I guess crop can be a very personal choice. Although there are rules, there's always opinions. BTW what is the red glow in the rocks?

The red glow on the rock is probably lens flare. Personally I think too much of the foreground sand is kind of bland and boring.

i like a combo of crop 1 and 2, similar to waspo's.

Nice capture

... Obsolete ...

kipper wrote:The red glow on the rock is probably lens flare. Personally I think too much of the foreground sand is kind of bland and boring.

It looks like a red swan making a victory lap to me...

Crop 1 for me Dean, bloody great shot!!

I like the 3rd crop the most. It has isolated the two subjects, the sun and the lighthouse. And what an unusual lighthouse it is. That adds extra interest. The colours, the clouds the contrast of the image all mould well together. IT's a great pic and would look great printed.

Sorry my friend,

But I feel that you missed the story right from the 'off'. Judicious cropping may have been a useful tool had the frame held the information necessary but for me that did not happen.

The drama is all in the wonderful sky and you did not include enough of it in the frame. The horizon with the sun burst is a sensational counter-point to the cold and forbidding sky. I'd have tilted up until the buoy near the promontory with the lighthouse was just about kissing the edge of frame and included a vast expanse of 'weather' - but that's just me.

There's nothing too dramatic or rewarding in grader-tyre tracks on a dirty shoreline when one can have all the variation and excitement of nature.

Cheers,

Thanks all for the feedback.

To provide the context, this series was taken as we were walking along the St Kilda foreshore from the "post ceremony drinks" to the reception venue for a wedding I was a guest at (on a Friday?!)
I couldn't really put too much effort in as it was my duty at the time to provide sympathy to my wife who was wearing fabulous shoes which it appears were not designed for actual walking. If that sounds like a cop-out then I have made myself understood.

What it did show me is that I need to get down to that part of town again at sunset to really put some effort into a shot like this.

As for the crop I was looking to make the best with what I had. I ideally wanted the curve of the beach in the foreground to lead the eye to the lighthouse and on to the sunset but it really doesn't quite work like that. I think I'll end up with something more like Waspo suggested.

Here is the other candidate.


With this one I tried to get some separation of the palm tree and lighthouse but had to position like this (from where I was) as the palm tree is hiding a lamp post. Frustrating because given 10 minutes I could have moved around to better frame this and the other one.

As for the suggestion of more sky, I agree. Unfortunately the sky above what you see was not very interesting and spoilt the mood. It looked like this..


I also got these two which I think have potential. I'll have a play when I have some more time.






Thanks again for the feedback.

Cheers
Dean

Very dramatic series. Ahh Port Phillip Bay - how I miss it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I love the elements in these pictures.

The colour differential, the sun burst, the forboding sky and the sheeting rain. I tend towards waspo's crop.

G'day mate,
Out of the first bunch I like the pano crop which removes the foreground sand... Seems to distract my eye...

Of the second group, that last one is terrific, brooding, moody stormy feel...

These are terrific