Hello all,
This location is the St. Joseph Lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan - a few hours from Chicago. This photo is taken west, out over Lake Michigan. Normally this location is photographed in February when the whole thing is encased in ice.
I was fortunate enough to get some beautiful pink light on some storm clouds over the lake at sunrise. It's not in the image, but there was a nice rainbow to the left of the composition about 30 degrees (first time I have seen a rainbow in at sunrise). There was drizzle that I had to deal with, but that had the effect of making the concrete pier wet and reflecting the light.
There are three exposures blended together in this image, mostly to make the lighthouse still appear "on", and to fix some issues in the highlights. The base exposure was shot at 85mm equiv. at f/11. I am becoming a fan of simplistic Landscapes/Cityscapes/Industrial. So if there are any elements that you think should be excluded/reduced I would be interested in hearing what you have to say.
Any critique from the community is appreciated, tear it to pieces if you must. :)
-SL
So I cropped in a little bit, there is limited foreground interest in this image, I think this helps a fair bit.
I kept the aspect ratio, only removed some of the concrete pier and a single support for the (once upon a time) catwalk.
I think there are a lot of appealing aspects to this: well composed (agree the crop helps), leading lines, the reflection, the light and colors. I'm just not excited about all that concrete. I wouldn't buy this to hang on my wall.