help me

by Daniel Poxson
(CoralSprings FL.)

Please tell me how to get more depth from this picture.

I use Picasa and can only get it here


(For convenience, all links below open in new windows)

Daniel's plea for help on this photo might strike many of us photographers with a serious bout of confusion.

Why would you want help with a photo that's already stunning?

Being the digital photography tutor section of the site though, we like to think there is always something we can offer that could be an improvement!

But before we come to that, what makes this a good shot?

There's the perfectly horizontal horizon. Essential in photos containing the sea. If the sea is wonky it just looks like the ocean is about to pour away!

Then there is the cloud. Sunsets can look good without cloud, but usually look much better when there is some cloud around. The cloud in Daniel's photo is rich in colour and detail. Spot on!

And to the composition – not quite the rule of thirds; but there again, my personal preference is for quarters rather than thirds anyway.

So are there any suggestions?

Well, Daniel is looking to get more depth into this picture. One of the easiest ways to do this is to some add foreground interest.

Look for something that could be included in the foreground – a rock, some rigging of a boat – anything will help. Click to read a digital photography tutorial on adding foreground interest.

The other idea to help Daniel out would be to try a panorama. Have a look at one of our newsletter back issues for more on panoramas.

I hope there's a couple is suggestions here. But you know what? I like the original quite a lot too!

Ed.

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