Hi Henry! How awesome to have a front row seat. I like that there is three dark sailboats rather than an even number. I would consider opening up the shadows by selecting just the sailboats. In composition an odd number is always more interesting than an even number. For me, I actually prefer the original, especially the dark foreboding sky. In my opinion, original scene has more drama than the edited version. The sky is a bit flat in the edited version. Do you use PS or LR? You can make a selection of the boats and play around a bit with the shadow and exposure sliders. There are many options in these software applications to address sharpness, structure, vignetting and much more. Another important rule of composition is to never place the horizon in the center of a composition (of course there is always exception). A low or high horizon can increase impact and make it more interesting. If you are going to include the foreground, then you want to give the viewer a "place to stand." Here the viewer is floating and we don't get the sense of place. Think about interesting perspectives such as laying down on the ground and then photographing your subject. I suggest trying different perspectives when composing an image. It is good to try and break away from the ordinary perspective of photographing from eye level. Personally, if the foreground is distracting and doesn't add to the overall composition, I would omit it and photograph the scene from the water's edge, or use a longer lens and zoom in. I did a quick edit of this image and changed it to a vertical, added structure to the sky, a little vignetting and cropped out any distracting features. I think it still conveys a sense of expansiveness while focusing only on the main subjects. What do you think?   Posted: 06/04/2021 14:29:30

Anne, your suggestions are on the mark and very helpful. Thanks so much! And yes, your vertical version does retain the expansiveness that I so like. This was taken from my deck but I can get down 10 feet to the lawn which is perhaps another 10 feet above the waterline which is hard for me to reach. But I will try some shots from the lawn.

Thanks!   Posted: 06/06/2021 14:17:24

This is a personal view but I would have been tempted to take a view more to the right avoiding the tree on the left hand side. It does look a bit flat to me and I feel could do with more vibrancy. I do like Anne's version.   Posted: 06/15/2021 08:58:06

Hi Henry, I'm afraid that I am a mono worker and think that Anne has nailed the shot. Unfortunately, in your original, the horizon is not straight. I would like to see you dull the highlights in the sky and see what you could get out of it by upping the contrast as well. You have an interesting image and it does portray the distance well.   Posted: 06/16/2021 20:14:26

I never tire of water photos. Perhaps living in a land locked state, it is unique. You are lucky to be living on the waterfront. You must see a lot of action float by. I really love these sailboats. I do like the vertical version and black and white. There is a calmness you captured. I hope this finds it's way to a wall in your home.   Posted: 06/17/2021 15:00:51

I love Anne's version, especially the detail in the sails. But there is something imprisoning about the vertical format, as if the boat were under glass. The horizontal look gives more a sense of where the boat is going. The tree to the left is a problem. So I cropped trying to adjust the key elements (horizon, big boat on right, small white boat on left) to the rule of thirds as close as possible and I memory-tooled out the big tree. See what you think.   Posted: 06/25/2021 09:03:27