The Lighthouse

[PBC]

Appreciate people's thoughts on these two shots of the old Wooden Lighthouse at Burham-on-Sea in Somerset, UK...

Thanks

Phil

[armand]

From the thumbnails I thought he second is the better one but looking more I like both.
In the first that sliver of bright water leading to the sun makes the shot.
In the second you might consider cropping part of the sky (instead of the vigneting) to direct the viewer towards the shadow where I think the interesting part is.

[shawnino]

The first one's outstanding... so much to look at!
Well done.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

The first one is very good compositionally (the s-line, rule of thirds), though not achieving its full potential, mostly because of the slightly underexposed upper half, especially in comparison with the lighter reflections in the bottom half. It looks like a gradual neutral density filter was used?

[PBC]

Thanks guys

@Slobodan - you are right.  I just looked at the PSD again and I left an exposure adjustment layer in from a "try-and-see-what-it-does play" which lifted the foreground too much!  I have removed it now, so hopefully a better balance?   Silly things we do  

 

[Chairman Bill]

The second one gives a fine view of Hinkley Point power station 

Both are great. I've been meaning to get up there & photograph that lighthouse for years, but have never got around to it. I've the odd photo from Steart Point, where I've been photographing birds, but that's it. I'll have to get over there sometime soon.

[PBC]

Thanks Bill.   When you go, best to park in Allandale Road at the far end next to the beach.  The lighthouse is then a few minutes walk from the car 

[Chairman Bill]

Thanks for that. It's just off the Berrow Road, isn't it?

[PBC]

It is, just drive down to the end and park

Phil

[Chairman Bill]

All we need now is some better weather & the light to go with it

[Bob_B]

The revised version of photo #1 is my favorite due to the composition and dramatic lines, but both are great works.

[mediumcool]

FWIW, I am concerned about s̶t̶o̶d̶g̶y̶ safe composition; the old rule-of-thirds with the first picture, and centred composition with the second. What has not been discussed is linearity; this a thing of mine—the angles of the lighthouse and its support close in because the camera was tilted upwards to include the top of the lighthouse. The lens looks fairly wide—in the first picture, the shape of the lighthouse is distorted by the camera looking up, and also by the lighthouse being near the right edge.

[Rajan Parrikar]

Both are lovely, the first one especially after the correction(s).

[PBC]

@mediumcool - actually the camera was level on both axis; well it was according to the level on the cameras LCD.  For what it is worth I am not sure the lighthouse is that level.  Yes it was a 28mm lens (so about the same FOV as a 22mm on 35mm FF)

Sometime the stodgy compositions are the right ones, and I felt they were in this particular case, given the need to avoid people and the town, and the position of the sun and water (for 1st one) and the 2nd needed to be central for what I was trying to do with the shadows.

[mediumcool]

@mediumcool - actually the camera was level on both axis; well it was according to the level on the cameras LCD.

The horizon in the second picture is not horizontal.

[stamper]

I find both very likeable. Nothing to nitpick. Striving for perfection is fine but there isn't any perfection in real life and that includes photography. Bill I thought you didn't like lighthouses?

[PBC]

@mediumcool - Or doesn't look level, given the land the other side of the bay is moving away I am not sure it can appear level, but maybe that is just my limited understanding of optical phenomenon.  Appreciate you are into straight lines, but sometimes they aren't straight :-)

[Chairman Bill]

Bill I thought you didn't like lighthouses?

Oh I like them, but not being a proper photographer at the time (I only had a D700 after all), I hadn't managed to photograph one, which made me even less of a not-a-proper-photograher. I've got a D800 now, so I'm qualified to shoot lighthouses.