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Forum
Critique
Gorgona
#COASTLINE#SEASIDE#ROCKS#ISLAND#SURRISE
Fabio Candido PRO
6 months ago


This photograph captures a serene moment along the Livorno (Leghorn) coastline in Italy, on a January morning. I was driving to my office, then that beautiful scene made me stop and take some photos to fix in some way the moment. The composition features the rugged rocks adorning the foreground and the recognizable silhouette of Gorgona Island in the distance.

I tryed to capture an image in balance between the graphical character of the composition and the atmoshperic qualities of that morning.

I used my Fujifilm XT-3 paired with the Fujinon 55-200 lens.

To ensure optimal clarity and depth in the image, the rocks in the foreground were captured at 90mm, with settings of 1/420 sec, f5.6, ISO 400, handheld, and subsequently merged through focus stacking in Photoshop. The Gorgona Island, captured at 115mm, was seamlessly integrated into the composition through focal blending.

Lightroom was employed for overall adjustments, Photoshop for focus stacking and blending the bird which appeared in one of the phtos, while Luminar Neo contributed a subtle Orton effect to enhance luminosity and ambiance.

I have to admit that I was hoping for a publication, but this was not the case. On the contrary, the feedback was very bad (about 3% on both charts).

I perfectly know that there is room for improvement, but I need some advices in order to make it a good image, because sincerely I cannot tell where I can act to improve it.

Elizabeth Allen CREW 
6 months ago — Senior critic

Hello Fabio

 

Thank you for sharing your Gorgona landscape/seascape photos with us. I like the peaceful atmosphere, the contrasts and textures. It's a very special landscape, but I think some viewers might not find the large foreground area so appealing and might prefer the distant view of the island in the early morning light. I have applied a slightly different colour filter, but I have also cropped a great deal of the foreground to bring more attention to the island. I realised that this is a drastic change, but I think it might be worth considering.

Good light, Elizabeth

 

Cicek Kiral CREW 
6 months ago — Senior critic

Hello, Fabio

 Welcome to our forum. I believe the moment that had you take this image really moved you. This is one of my favourite places to be early in the mornings. Yet I also understand that not getting the attention you think the image deserves really must have frustrated you. Thanks to the recommendations my dear colleague Elizabeth gave you as they provide you a well considered alternative approach. I can also see that she had a change in composition. I have also some insights to tell you. Firtly I wish the rotation had been a horizontal one. When looking at the see we see its vastness from the point we stand. The only borders are the land that marks the edges and the horizon. I felt a bit uneasy seeing your image in a vertical rotation. It gave me the feeling of incompleteness. Secondly, there are 4 layers all paralel to each other. I counted the mountain also as a layer as you might have guessed. This is so monotonous. The only movement or interest here comes from the bird. The rotation and the position of it i the image is quite fine. Yet I think I was not enough to save the day. I think some genres have some unwritten rules or common tendencies. When an image does not attract the viewvers attention at onece, it is mostly doomed to be skipped very fast nowadays. When I consider the light only the sky looks interesting to me. The soft appearance of the mountain looks pleasing. However, it is not striking enough. Then because of the aperture and the region you focused on, the sea looks too blurred. Maybe sacrificing a few more stops in The ISO settings would have given you the opportunity to choose an aperture about 11 and the focus range would have changed. Why did I not offer an alternative edit but wrote about all this? Well, I think unless these are improved I do not think that the curation result might change. I do not intent to critizise you harshly but prepare you rather to a better futıre image of the same sort. I wish you good, light...Cicek

 

Pier Luigi Calosso PRO
6 months ago
equipaggio di Cicek Kiral

Ciao, Fabio

Benvenuto nel nostro forum. Credo che il momento in cui hai scattato questa foto ti abbia davvero commosso. Questo è uno dei miei posti preferiti dove stare la mattina presto. Eppure capisco anche che non ricevere l'attenzione che pensi che l'immagine meriti deve davvero averti frustrato. Grazie alle raccomandazioni che la mia cara collega Elizabeth ti ha dato in quanto ti forniscono un approccio alternativo ben considerato. Posso anche vedere che ha avuto un cambiamento di composizione. Ho anche alcune intuizioni da dirti. Prima di tutto vorrei che la rotazione fosse stata orizzontale. Quando guardiamo il mare vediamo la sua vastità dal punto in cui ci troviamo. Gli unici bordi sono la terra che segna i bordi e l'orizzonte. Mi sono sentito un po' a disagio nel vedere la tua immagine in una rotazione verticale. Mi ha dato la sensazione di incompletezza. In secondo luogo, ci sono 4 strati tutti paralleli tra loro. Ho contato la montagna anche come uno strato come avresti potuto immaginare. Questo è così monotono. L'unico movimento o interesse qui viene dall'uccello. La rotazione e la posizione dell'immagine sono abbastanza belle. Eppure penso di non essere stato abbastanza per salvare la situazione. Penso che alcuni generi abbiano alcune regole non scritte o tendenze comuni. Quando un'immagine non attira l'attenzione degli spettatori una volta, è per lo più condannata ad essere saltata molto velocemente al giorno d'oggi. Quando considero la luce solo il cielo mi sembra interessante. L'aspetto morbido della montagna sembra piacevole. Tuttavia, non è abbastanza sorprendente. Poi a causa dell'apertura e della regione su cui ti sei concentrato, il mare sembra troppo sfocato. Forse sacrificare qualche interruzione in più nelle impostazioni ISO ti avrebbe dato l'opportunità di scegliere un'apertura di circa 11 e la gamma di messa a fuoco sarebbe cambiata. Perché non ho offerto una modifica alternativa ma ho scritto di tutto questo? Beh, penso che a meno che questi non vengano migliorati, non penso che il risultato della cura possa cambiare. Non intendo criticarti duramente, ma piuttosto prepararti a un'immagine futura migliore dello stesso tipo. Ti auguro il bene, luce... Cicek