Boothbay Harbor, Maine sunset

[Jason]

Hi everyone, I'd love to know your opinion of this shot. These are the settings I used.
Shutter: 1/750
Aperture: f/6.7
ISO Speed: 400

Any suggestions or critiques would be appreciated!

[jlabel]

I like this picture, i miss wow factor tho.

[Mad Aussie]

I love the exposure here. Just enough detail in the darks left but a nice shadowy feel as the light hits. The starburst works nicely too.
Composition wise, if there was room, I would have included more water and the boats reflection and less sky I think. Although the sky has great character I think the boats reflection would have been more of interest here.
I also would have (IF I'd noticed it through the eye piece) moved a little to the left and recomposed again to separate that beautifully backlit flag from the brightly lit building in the background.

Apart from that it's a really nice shot! Crisp!

[alducente]

I really like this as well, one thing that bothers me though is the structure on the left by the flag, my eyes are really drawn to it but I can't make out what it actually is. Thumbs up on the clouds, very dramatic.

[Jason]

Thanks for the tip on the building guys. One of those things that I didn't even notice. That's what's great about this critique thread. I'm going to see what cloning it out might do. Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated.

[Jason]

OK, here's an version without the building

[Mad Aussie]

Well that does remove the distraction

I liked the building though ... just not competing with the flag.

[Iguanasan]

For me, the scene is missing a focal point. Grant it, the scene itself is very beautiful and well captured. The "Wow" factor that jlabel is referring to is kinda what's missing for me too. I've struggled with this myself many times where you take a photo of a great scene that gives you a certain feeling which is why you took the photo. The problem is, without the focal point, it's just a scene. Nothing specific to hold your interest.

Sorry, I know I'm not explaining this well but I tried

[Jason]

I see what you mean MA--I tried burning the building a bit but didn't have too much success with that, it was still competing with the flag.

I also completely agree with you Iguanasan--one landscape shot in particular that I took looks to me to be pretty technically competent, but I find boring as hell. It can be a real challenge to find the subject that really makes a nice landscape into something really memorable.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Marko]

I like this shot but agree, it's missing a wow.
I wonder if cropping and a slight curves adjustment might help a bit.
Here's what I tried... hope it helps - Marko