Smart_Photography_-_January_2016_

Note: If I Were You is meant to encourage and guide readers, and help them

improve their photography. Please ensure that the required camera/exposure

details are sent to us (or are available in the EXIF data). We shall not accept images

for this section if the required data is not available. Readers are requested to send

their images at 300ppi for 8 x 10-inch size. If they are too small, working on them is

difficult, and hence they may be rejected.

Seascape

This seascape, shot in the early

morning, comes to us from

Boopaathi R. S. via email. He wants

to know if he has followed the

guidelines of photography and

how this picture could have been

improved.

I will repeat my oft-repeated

sermon. What is it in the picture

that prompted you to take the

shot? Was it the sea or the sky

or was it the pipe sticking out at

the right or was it the foreground

rocks? Or was it the splashing of

the sea waves on the rocks at the

right? Unless I am wrong, I think

you were attracted by the sea

and the sky. But, as it stands, the

sea and the sky are depicted the

weakest in your frame. The rocky

foreground does add to the depth

though.

In my opinion, the pipe does not

add to the picture. And the horizon

is not level. It is leaning to the

right. Water maintains its own

level and hence you have to be very

careful to ensure that your camera

is perfectly levelled. If I were you, I

would have taken the shot only if

there was some drama in the sky

or the water. Would have also tried

a different viewpoint, and eliminated

the pipe (if it was a cannon instead, that

would have been great).

In the edited picture, I have adjusted

the tones in Photoshop, levelled

the horizon and applied a dose of

sharpening.

Also observe edited picture 2. If your

main attraction was the wave breaking

into the rocks, your framing should

have been something like this. A longer

lens would have helped in that case.

But I would also have waited for a

stronger wave! |SP

Original

Edited 1

Edited 2

Camera: Nikon D7000; Lens: 18 -105mm

Aperture: F/11; Shutter speed: 1/125sec; ISO: 100

48 http://www.smartphotography.in

Smart PhotographyJanuary 2016

IF I WERE YOU

E-mail your images at [email protected]