Waves crashing in South Brittany, France

[Stephane Desnault]

I welcome any critique - especially interested in what you think are the BEST and WORST images of the lot.

[SanderKikkert]

The wave itself is caugght equally well in all images (or crops of the same image). #1 has the best composition and crop to me, all others lack balance in the crops, especially on the bottom side, there is no real lead in from the bottom up imo in those  Kind Regards, Sander

[brandtb]

Stephane - there is a lot of potential in these...the forms, shapes, the colors, etc. I think you might look to crop in really tight/tighter on some these...there is a lot of extraneous non-important subject matter that is not nearly as important as the wave crashing itself...and it most definitely detracts. You might look at the  "Xiaolangdi Dam, Yellow River" images - by Edward Burtynsky - as an extreme example of what I'm suggesting. Kudos as well for capturing the "power of the water and the wave" and its edges and form...there is a (hackneyed) tendency sometimes for many to always "stop down" and make all moving water an uninteresting "vapor" -  and lose the essence of what is. I would keep working on these if you have a chance...best of luck. /Brandt

[Diego Pigozzo]

I think the best is the first one because it gives context to the wave and therefore makes more evident its force.
The worst IMHO is the third: it lacks context and the central composition removes almost all the movement from the shot.

[Stephane Desnault]

Thanks Diego,

You are very right on the third one - I felt there was something wrong with it, but you put it in words better than I could.

[Diego Pigozzo]

Glad to be of some help

[Stephane Desnault]

Thanks Brandt, especially for pointing me towards Edward Burtynsky! Your comments are really helpful, I'll definitely follow through and experiment.

Any thought on the attached ? It's a closer crop of a closer pic of the same storm.

[Diego Pigozzo]

I like it: even if it has a central composition, the frontal take and the railing give both context and dynamics.

I would try to make the upper-left part darker and warmer, so to make the central part of the wave more prominent.

[brandtb]

S - the last image...really beautiful color and forms too...I especially like the tan colors within the water. I think I would try moving the "triangular shaped" wave crash more to the center...and add some foreground of the breakwater element in front of the railing...as said for context (and maybe a little balance). /Brandt

[Rainer SLP]

I like #2 the most but again for me the format is a bit strange.

The others are good too except #3 I find the wave has no space arounf it and has been boxed. It looks tight and has nowhere to go.