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Hi all and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
One of my favourite places to visit is the penguin colony in Boulders Beach in Simon's Town (the iconic Simon's Town Lighthouse can be seen in the distance) in the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape province of South Africa, where the first breeding pair decided to settle in 1982. The colony has grown to about 3000 pairs due to the prohibition of commercial fishing in the area, increasing the supply of their food source and being in a sheltered area, partially enclosed by granite boulders believed to be 540 million years old. Because they are currently on the verge of extinction, they are under the protection of the Cape Nature Conservation as these African penguins are only found on the southern coastlines of Southern Africa and Namibia.
Camera specs are f/8.0, 1/250, ISO 100, focal length 55mm
I wanted to showcase these small creatures against the giant boulders and the vastness of the ocean. I had spend the whole day with them and waited for their shadows to grow long in the late afternoon sun, giving the scene a uniformity. This image was taken at 6h30 pm on a hot summers day and the water was the calmest I had ever experienced.
I decreased the highlights, added more shadow and added slight warnth to the scene to bring out the colors of the boulders. I also sharpened the shallow water slightly to highlight the crispness and cold of the water, this being the Atlantic ocean and the water 14 deg C on that day.
I would like constructive feedback as to whether this image can stand on its own ( I personally like it in its simplicity) or if it needs a creative edit to get it published on this site.
I look forward to your opinions and suggestions.
Kindest regards
Helga
Personally, creative edits depend on what themes, better than not. What you show us and how you show it I like. For contributing something, maybe a little less dominant on my monitor suits him well.
Helga,
Thank you for sharing the photo with us in Critique, for including the exposure settings, and for the 'good-news' story about how the penguins are prospering in their new home. I've only seen penguins in a zoo, and I imagine it must be wonderful to see them in a wild setting like this - and so many of them!
I think you've done a good job on the editing. I appreciate that you sharpened the shallow water to highlight the crisp, cold feeling of the water. That's a subtle detail, but the art and craft of editing is all about the small things that fine-tune an image to give viewers a more rewarding experience. The tones and colours look realistic, the horizon is level, and the sharpness and depth of field are good.
The composition may be the weak point. I guess you have to cut somewhere for a scene like this with so many penguins, but if the bottom right animal was complete in the frame and the rock on the right was not cut I think it would be better. One other detail is that the penguins on the rock ridge at the left have blended in with the white buildings on the far shore. You might consider zooming into that area and making the horizon 'cleaner' so that the animals stand out more clearly on that rock.
Those are just suggestions. I think it's a good photo as it is - it's not a common scene, and there is a clean, fresh feeling to it. The strong light and the colours contribute a lot to that mood. You were wise to wait for those long shadows. I'm curious about what sort of 'creative edit' you have in mind for it.
Thanks again for posting. I enjoyed seeing this one.
Steven, senior critic
Helga,
Thank you for sharing the photo with us in Critique, for including the exposure settings, and for the 'good-news' story about how the penguins are prospering in their new home. I've only seen penguins in a zoo, and I imagine it must be wonderful to see them in a wild setting like this - and so many of them!
I think you've done a good job on the editing. I appreciate that you sharpened the shallow water to highlight the crisp, cold feeling of the water. That's a subtle detail, but the art and craft of editing is all about the small things that fine-tune an image to give viewers a more rewarding experience. The tones and colours look realistic, the horizon is level, and the sharpness and depth of field are good.
The composition may be the weak point. I guess you have to cut somewhere for a scene like this with so many penguins, but if the bottom right animal was complete in the frame and the rock on the right was not cut I think it would be better. One other detail is that the penguins on the rock ridge at the left have blended in with the white buildings on the far shore. You might consider zooming into that area and making the horizon 'cleaner' so that the animals stand out more clearly on that rock.
Those are just suggestions. I think it's a good photo as it is - it's not a common scene, and there is a clean, fresh feeling to it. The strong light and the colours contribute a lot to that mood. You were wise to wait for those long shadows. I'm curious about what sort of 'creative edit' you have in mind for it.
Thanks again for posting. I enjoyed seeing this one.
Steven, senior critic
Hi Steven,
I thank you for your kind critique and pointing out the details that need 'fixing'. As I do not take many landscape photos, your valuable comments are a great learning curve for me.
Yes, these little creatures are a wonderful sighting in the wild and I count myself very lucky to be able to observe them.
As for an 'creative edit', as usual I have a few ideas in my head, as for putting these into practice and them working out, remains to be seen, but I will upload a result for further critique once I am happy with it.
Kindest regards
Helga
