Hey there, I´m new to fstoppers and look up to your work. There are such amazing pictures coming from this community.
I traveled to Ireland a few weeks ago and made this picture. It was at the kilkee cliffs in the west of ireland, if someone want to know.
It was super stormy and cause of the big waves and the wind I couldn´t take a single frame without waterdrops on my lens. After finishing shooting I thought, well that was bad luck and there were no usable pictures. But after reviewing the pictures, I started to like this one very much. And I´m glad about the waterdrops on the lens, because they help to tell the whole story.
What do you think? No-go or adding something to the scene?
Cheers from Germany
While I tend not to have them in my photos, I understand that they can be a valid artistic choice and help convey the mood / experience of the scene. My only concern here is the one, big, super-contrasty drop that cuts through the line that is formed by top of the wave. I think I would clone that one out. But the rest of them are not that distracting.
I think that if I would try to achieve that effect I would aim for less of them and in the less important parts of the frame (eg. not in the main subjects, high-contrast areas, shadows etc.). But overall - I think they can add to the scene, like in this case. Just... not so much of them in one frame. :D
I agree largely with what Adrrzej is saying but I think the blown out area on the right is too severe.I try to use water on surfaces artistcly but usually something like a window with a storm battering the surface and I like the effect of rain on a windscreen of a car when travelling.
Agree with Geoff that the blown out area is too much. I found myself in a similar situation while shooting a timelapse the other day and I was constanly wiping the front element. I trashed the frames with droplets in them, they were too distracting. I always have paper tissue in my backpack to avoid this kind of problem.
I think water droplets on the lens can help if it fits the atmosphere, for example if you're photographing on the coast and the waves are crashing in, sometimes it helps me feel the impact of the waves when there are some water droplets. However, they shouldn't be a distraction.
As for this photo, I have to agree with the others about the blown out sky.
However the location looks wonderful, so I hope you're able to go back.
graduated nd filter and an umbrella..just 2 things to pack for an instance like this but i don't mid the water droplets look at all the professional surf photographers.
Technically know as "sea spray", it is very hard to eliminate from taking pictures during heavy surf and a windy day, which ends up looking more like light flares instead of water droplets. An attempt at a professional shot, ending up with amateur results.