I was trying for that 'crayon' / 'colored pencil' look that Alan gets in his images sometimes. Don't know if I am there. This was an interesting scene (which I posted at the end for those of us who are learning ICM in order to show where this came from - not for feedback.) I liked that there is layering in the images even while the movement created the up/down striping.
Feedback and technique discussion welcome.
I put the first image above in my profile to test the waters and got a 2. No worries about that! No comments here though is worrisome. It is ok if they don't appeal or have issues. That is how we grow. I would love to hear why these don't work!
Hey Ruth, I was holding back on this hoping to see feedback from others.
This stuff is so subjective so it's hard to judge how it will be perceived. My guess is that people hold off as the image doesn't strike a chord with them and they don't have a clear understanding of why.
From my perspective, the image suffers due to the contrast - I can see what you are going for but it seems overly harsh. I think if the blue of the sea and crushed blacks of the piles were pulled back that would help.
Looking at your original subject you didn't have too much to work with. It might have been helpful had the piles been longer, the sky a little darker.
I was hoping to bring the image into PS and play about with the path/motion blur tools to see if a longer exposure/pan might have provided better results but PS is not cooperating and I may have to reboot.
I suggest you allow time and circle back to these. I often find re-evaluating my own images after time results in me finding flaws I did not see initially, and either I find ways to correct or I put to one side.
I hope this helps, but at the end of the day it is only your perspective that matters - mine is purely a personal opinion.
Update - finally got PS working. I ran this through Path Blur and added a strobe just to see what came out of it (see below). I think one of the issues you have is that the piles and shoreline compete - the shore would look great with a horizontal pan, the piles demand vertical.
Anyway, just offering up so you can compare.