Hi all. Long time reader of FStoppers - only just discovered the discussion boards, so first time poster. Bit about me: I started out my photography life doing mainly what I guess you'd call fine-art - stuff I set up to photograph, sometimes involving people, sometimes not, often involving contrived setups with long shutter speeds and people running around with multiple flashes in the pitch dark somewhere :D Then i got into wedding photography to fund gear. Did that for about 5 years, occupied all my spare time and I more or less stopped photographing anything else. Enjoyed it to some extent, but didn't enjoy the fact that i was doing it to the exclusion of everything else. So, more or less stopped, traded in all my pro nikon gear for sony mirrorless and am now in an exclusively prime world!
I want to get back into more "creating shots from scratch" photography, but that tends to take a lot of time to organise, and so I've been getting into landscapes as a way to scratch the itch without requiring quite so much effort to organise - I can go somewhere beautiful for a day out and get some photography in at the same time. That can mean I don't have the luxury of waiting for the best light (lest my long suffering wife lose her patience and just bugger off home, abandoning me on some lakeside or other), or indeed many repeat visits to a place. In that vein, the shot i'm posting here is from my honeymoon in Sorrento. We were staying right on the harbour, so it was relatively convenient to pop out for 20 mins in the evening and grab a few frames. Anyway, feedback is very much welcome. I tend to swing from one extreme to the other re: post processing. Sometimes I like very high quality edits even if they do have the look of the unreal about them. Other times I prefer something more authentic. I'm not sure where this sits - perhaps in the middle? Anyway, I look forward to picking up some tips and looking at all your fantastic pictures!
Gorgeous clouds, Simon! A great composition, and good "post". It's obvious you're not a newbie. I realise your strategic limitations, but to me the foreground marina confers just a touch of the lifestyles-of-the-rich-&-famous vibe. OK, it was your honeymoon, so you're allowed, this once. ;-)
Thanks, Chris, for the kind words! I hear ya on the content :P Unfortunately, I had nothing to moor at the marina.
Great picture Simon. Post up more!
I don't mind the edits. I have been pushing up the contrast on my skies lately. It might be just a tad bit over on the purple. On your final edits I would also delete out those birds.
Kind of fun composition there. The boats on the right point to the ferry and dock, that lead to the mountain and back around. Congrats by the way!
Thanks, Shawn! Yeah, my wife had the same feeling about the purple, particularly when seeing the before and after - I got that slightly disapproving look. I'll get rid of those pesky avians!