Opinion wanted Natural Decay

[panos_adgr]

Location

Europe

Camera type

DSLR camera

Camera sensor

Full-frame

EXIF

Nikon D850
Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G ED VR @28mm
Hoya Pro ND1000 (10 stop ND Filter)
8 long exposures of 5''
Electronic Shutter setting (SL1 Mode / Silent)
Aperture: f/16
Shutter Speed: 6s
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: +0.7EV
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: 64
Exposure tacking in Mean Mode

Natural Decay

Another one from my set of Khalkidhiki series.
Taken on the same remote and isolated beach. It was very early in the morning and the sun was just about to break from the horizon. It's light was strong and created a nicely coloured atmosphere. The sea was very calm.
This leftover of a tree was laying next to the sea, 'eaten' by the timeless motion of the water...

 

[Andy Smith]

Another corker there panos_adgr, no comments from my side except very nicely done.

 

[panos_adgr]

Another corker there panos_adgr, no comments from my side except very nicely done.

Hello Andy!
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm happy you like it!

 

[Chavezshutter]

This is nice work panos_adgr,

I like the texture and colours from the rocks in the water coming through. I wonder if they could be teased out a little more with a CPL but then again that would kill the nice reflection over the water, its perfect as is. The tree is a great foreground as it has a lot of texture and tones. Beautiful sunset colours, its a very serene scene. Well done 🙏

 

[panos_adgr]

This is nice work panos_adgr,

I like the texture and colours from the rocks in the water coming through. I wonder if they could be teased out a little more with a CPL but then again that would kill the nice reflection over the water, its perfect as is. The tree is a great foreground as it has a lot of texture and tones. Beautiful sunset colours, its a very serene scene. Well done 🙏

Thank you very very much for your nice comments C Chavezshutter !😊
As for the rocks they are already visible enough. They create a smooth negative space with the sky together in contrast with the wood which is the positive space / part of the photo. The nice textures of the wood are standing out and helped by the smooth sea and sky.
A more detailed sea and rock would create a lot of distraction that would flatten the interest of the viewer. The wood which is the center of interest because of its leading lines that end in the center of the frame stands out of the rest surroundings. It's texture is also a contrast element against the smoothened sea and sky.
The choice of long exposure as a technique attributes to it as well.

In post processing I used the Dehaze tool which did a similar job as cpl in this certain photo, to enrich the texture of the sea rocks but only at a level that wouldn't distract.
I'm not a big fan of CPLs...
I used to use them a lot in the past when I was doing film photography but with film they have a slightly different and better behavior. I do not like the unnatural color scaling in the sky when I photograph with the sun at about 60 to 90 degrees left or right. I prefer it only in cases where I have the sun behind me which is the angle with the highest performance of CPLs. Another reason I'm not using them is because light reflections on sea or lakes add a beautiful feeling in photos because they are smoothened by long exposure and give nice colour/light tones.