sunrise on gulf of mexico

[crazydadguy]

Morning dis-ers, I braved the cold here this morning (24 deg F) and took a few sunrise shots on the Gulf here. These are just south of Hwy 90 in Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Ms. I tried to work on composition as well as technical, I used manual for the most part, the rule of thirds, and the sand and water on the beach to guide the eye around the photo. Critiques (no matter how harsh) are welcome.

Used the sandbar to take the eye from lower right to middle and across the horizon.

Example of fore,mid, and back ground. Or at least an attempt to.

I used the sand and water to move the eye from lower left to mid right and then follow the horizon to the left again where the sun is rising.

On this pic, I wanted the grass to act as the foreground, the beach as midground, and sunrise/sky as background.

 

[10dedfish]

Not Bad Mark. I was with you in spirit, as it was 18 deg F here. I just couldnt get out and do it this morning. I think that they all look great.

Matt

 

[jann1033]

i win in the temp, it was 7 degrees f here at 10 am
i like them but if you want critique

thinking if you had an nd filter for one and 2 it might have made a nicer sky and foreground?

i like the pier best in 4, doesn't cut the photo in half, pretty much hit rot perfectly and in that one if the grass was only one clump instead of the whole way across i might like it more just cause it is a little annoying having to look through it all the way across....or maybe a different angle slightly so the pier wasn't dead behind it if you didn't have a machete handy to manicure the grass

actually i don't remember reading about this anywhere( sieve brain could be the problem) but i think the curve of the beach on 1 takes you into the sun nicely, better than the lines in 3, maybe cause the lines go the whole way across rather than pointing to the pier?
I really like the foreground in 2 .

i would say imho, number 2 or with a little cropping and more sunrise, 4 are the best over all ( or should say most pleasing to me) but there again i am thinking a nd filter would have helped some or maybe drop the horizon more so it is a silhouette of the grass but not the big black foreground

good job, just some off the cuff remarks to think about maybe?

 

[NostalgicDad]

Those are nice shots and I like #1 and #2 the best. I might have tried to go with a slightly higher aperture (maybe f/11-f/13) on those first 2 in an attempt at making more of a starburst effect on the sun. That would drop your shutter speed of 1/125sec considerably but if your camera is capable you could spot meter on the trees in the distance instead of the full frame metering to achieve a proper exposure perhaps. Not sure if you were using a tripod or not.

To me, the composition looks nice and you braved some cold air to get some good captures with some beautiful color. Nice job.

 

[crazydadguy]

Unfortuately, I am using a camera that is just a little better than POS (Not P&S) if you get my meaning. There is no adapter for an ND filter, which I agree, would have been much nicer. And no, my aperature was maxed out. But, overall not bad for a learner here and I appreciate the constructive criticism. We learn by doing and all that.