Ready To Go... Photo

Photographer’s Note

Although I already have one picture from the Dominican Republic I'd like to post my typical tourist picture (also a bad scan) and have to admit this is my favourite picture from that vacation as you see the view from our balcony. The Iberostar Bavaro Resort Hotel has little beachfront bungalows and we had the upper part of one.
Those palm trees are really high but still some of the hotel staff climbed up there barefeet without any safety preparations to get coconuts. Always a thrill to watch.
I never before snorkeled or did scuba diving. Directly at that beach I had my first snorkeling adventures :) It opened a whole new world for me, whenever you have the chance don't forget to put your head under water !!!
(Maybe later I will post an underwater pic taken with a Fuji throw-away underwater camera).
Yours, Jan

Edwin, cool_s15, timotey, manny, orme, joso, robbertjan, avigur_11, Intruder has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cxxl (2680) 2004-03-18 4:04

A nice panorama that envokes mixed feelings because of both wild winds and surf, with the paradise on the sand under the umbrellas. Nicely captured and well done Jan.

Edwin (2039) 2004-03-18 4:35

Attractive pano shot. Appealing presence of repeating elements (trees and the oval shaped sunblockers) and no disturbing objects. Warm and a refreshing windy mood, who doesn't like such scenery? ;-) Great catch Jan!

cool_s15 (4044) 2004-03-18 5:10

Great panorama shot, I like something that looks like a small hut. Those trees are also in good position as well as the horozontal line. Nice captured.

jhonny_blue (4954) 2004-03-18 5:11

Great panoramic Jan ! This is a beautiful place !
Beautiful sea and beach !
Congratulations

Luko (13894) 2004-03-18 5:15

The idea of twin repeated patterns (coconut trees and beach huts) is good IMHO, as well as the crop format but I think you failed somewhere in the execution.

Not bright enough, it lacks contrast to me to get the real sunbathed feeling, too much artificail sharpening, look at the white trunk edges.
(tip for sharpening : very low radius 0.3, high effect>150, edit through Edit/fade and select "Darken", repeat sharpen and edit/fade, select "Brighten" and shift the cursor to say 50% to differentiate the sharpness on dark and bright areas. Sharpening on bright areas causes Edging, beware of that!)

[3] +

timotey (1926) 2004-03-18 5:54

A very good framed panorama that makes me dream :) Palms, by their number and their coulour, give a well contrasted aspect with the rest of the picture. Even if it has been scanned it keeps its main quality.

AdrianW (2241) 2004-03-18 6:22

Nice shot! The composition is wonderful, however the scanning process (and probably camera) let you down... There's noticeable CA on the trees (look for the magenta on one side and green on the other), and the colour balance isn't uniform from centre to edge the sky/centre looks almost green to me - and it gets noticeably bluer as we get to the edges. If you have a larger (non lossy) compressed version then I'd like to do a Workshop. Agree with Luko about the sharpening. It's a lovely composition, I only wish it were taken with a better camera...

[2] [workshop] [compare] +

nwoehnl (120) 2004-03-18 6:29

A very pleasant beach scene. Seeing the huts and people on the ground really puts some scale to the height of those palm trees (that "junior" palm in the left third is a neat detail). Fine tones of blue in the water and sky. It obviously has some technical problems pointed out in earlier critiques, and isn't a very good scan either, but I find the composition just eye-popping. Thanks a lot for sharing, Jan.

manny (21378) 2004-03-18 8:24

Very good composition here. Too bad the scanning isn't good enough. But I would rather focus on the good part of this picture which is your composition. Like how the top of the foreground coconuts are cropped. I also like the repetitions of the huts. Good shot, despite some flaws scanning flaws.

orme (6746) 2004-03-18 9:54

Beautiful composition, Jan. Nice contrast between the colours of the sky and sand. The palm trees are incredibly large compared to the people under the umbrellas. I like the way the sun appears to be directly overhead with the shadows directly at the top of the trees. Well framed.

richtersl (3544) 2004-03-18 12:45

This is a wonderful beach scene. I like the white ribbon of waves in the background and how it breaks up the blue in water. Well done.

dsidwell (9745) 2004-03-18 22:19

Your horizontal composition and cropping choices really make this into a nice abstract. You are able to isolate the patterns of the tree trunks so nicely here.

joso (1786) 2004-03-19 1:00

You saw it very well, the composition very good, the difference between the silhouette-like tall thin trees and small round umbrellas, the repetition - I like it a lot.
The technic - the others told enough about. Sorry, just one smiley

robbertjan (2906) 2004-03-19 6:25

Hi Jan I wish now i was there on your picture....;;)) Great beach picture. I love this panorama. I feel the wind trough my hairs. And i'm sitting in a beach stair with a cocktail!! Thanks for sharing!!

avigur_11 (21301) 2004-03-20 3:38

I like this panorama, Jan. It is beautiful. The palm looks great in the wind,otherwise they might look boring. I like the layers of different blue tones of the ocean. Beautiful shot.

Intruder (3075) 2004-03-25 4:30

i love panoramic pictures, this one is excellent. all those palm trees, sandy beach and the sea with waves make a great composition. very nice work Jan!

dawekato (1988) 2004-09-13 22:19

A very inviting image with beautiful colours. I have two problems with it: The tree trunk running vertically almost down the middle cuts the picture in two. The colours on the two sides of the tree trunk don't match. Hope you don't mind these observations :-)

Onur (51) 2006-02-08 9:47