13th Beach Sunset 2

Sorry Danielle, but this is going to be a non-fluff critique <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/w/w…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Wink)"/>
Vision: Oceanscapes can be wonderful too view at sunset/sunrise time, and you've certainly captured the beauty in the sky. Beautiful oranges, with streams of light cutting across the clouds.
Unfortunately the foreground ocean is a bit distracting. IMO for an oceanscape to really work you need something of interest in the foreground to draw your eye in, and the blurry movement of the wave in the foreground just doesn't do that. In this case I think it may have been better to do a long exposure at a higher f-stop to produce a misty/silky effect of the ocean waters. That would have at least given it a serene and peaceful feel to the image.

Originality: Tons of oceanscapes out there. In order to be original these days you really need to focus on finding something of interest for the foreground.

Technique: Of course your technique in capturing the image was good. The sky is pefect, but again for this shot I go back to possibly a longer exposure time.

Impact: I love the sky, but the rest of the image needs that extra oomph that I'm just not seeing.

All-in-all you know I love almost all of your work. I hope this critique will help make you a better photographer <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Smile)"/> I can't wait for the day that I'm able to fly to Austrailia and go shooting with you!

<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/g/g…" width="47" height="20" alt="" title="Glomp!"/><img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h…" width="35" height="17" alt="" title="Huggle!"/>

Cheers,
Stephen