Sunset, Ma'ili Beach Park

[jasonrandolph]

I know, it's another sunset in Hawai'i cliche photo, but it's across the street from my house, so I don't have to walk far.  The sky in this one reminded me of an oil painting, so I had to capture it.  As always, critiques are welcomed.  Mahalo.

[JeffKohn]

Must be nice to have a view like that across the street from where you live, I'm jealous.

I like it. You've got a great sky, and the arrangement of the palm trees in the frame is pleasing and well-balanced. The lean of the trees as well as the shoreline create some interesting lines to keep the composition from being static. I could maybe do with a little less grass at the bottom of the frame, but that's nit-picking.

Sure, seaside sunsets get photographed a lot, but there's a reason: they're beautiful. Nothing wrong with that.

[Ed Blagden]

Jason,

Yes the sky is lovely.  Why do people sneer at sunsets?  They are usually beautiful and always different.  How many subjects can you say that about?  

Having said that, why not just photograph the sky?  I can't see the point of the grass and the trees - a sliver of shining sea plus the bluff on the right would have been just fine, IMO.

Ed

[JeffKohn]

Having said that, why not just photograph the sky?  I can't see the point of the grass and the trees - a sliver of shining sea plus the bluff on the right would have been just fine, IMO.

I guess this just goes to show how subjective photography is, I feel exactly the opposite. Pretty sunsets can rarely stand alone as compelling image IMHO. You need something more, and that's exactly what the trees do here. The sunset it just icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

[button]

I agree with the above- there's too much grass in the foreground, and the detail shown there takes attention away from the forms and lines of the trees, and their interaction with the beautiful colors of the clouds.  I think I'd either crop it or burn it.   Otherwise, you have a winner.  I especially like how the center tree is framed by the clouds.

John

[wolfnowl]

Must be nice to have a view like that across the street from where you live, I'm jealous.

I like it. You've got a great sky, and the arrangement of the palm trees in the frame is pleasing and well-balanced. The lean of the trees as well as the shoreline create some interesting lines to keep the composition from being static. I could maybe do with a little less grass at the bottom of the frame, but that's nit-picking.

Sure, seaside sunsets get photographed a lot, but there's a reason: they're beautiful. Nothing wrong with that.

What Jeff said - me too!  Although I would be tempted to remove a bit off the bottom.

Mike.

[jtrujillo]

I feel the subject here are the palm tress. As other said cropping a bit in the bottom would emphasize even more that nice composition they make. The sky is a superb background, very nice image!

[jasonrandolph]

Thank you all for the critiques.  The trees for me were a critical element to add visual interest to the image.  In retrospect, I would probably go back and shoot one sans trees to see how that would work.  I agree that there's a little too much grass in the foreground.  I appreciate all of you taking the time to comment on my work!