Luxury House Boat

I like the new format.. and i would like a critique on this image.
Had been posted in my daily thread as well... i did go through some difficulty in taking this shot & processing it... so a critique is something i would love to see

Thanks!



EXIF:

Camera - D7000
Lens - 18-55mm
Focal Length - 35mm
ISO - 200
Exposure - 1/800 sec at f/5

Center of Interest and Color Balance are good, the HDR effect? is nice.
Composition could be a little better if the boat or shore was shown a little more. More of the dock showing.
Lighting, Print Presentation both good
Story Telling very good. I can see myself on that boat.
Style, Subject Matter, Technical excellence ,Technique , Impact all good.
Creativity excellent.

Overall: Without the black frame the pic would look nicer to me.

The difficulty in shooting was that i had to jump off the wall of the hotel, partially into the lake & stand on some moss covered rocks...

Just some questions to satisfy my curiosity: is this houseboat on a river or a sea? Does it actually travel or does it stay tethered to the dock? What is the canvas on top of the boat?

critique:
center of interest and storytelling . . . high score. Obviously, I as a viewer am very interested in the subject.

composition: I'm not sure what difficulty you had capturing the shot . . . I'm guessing your shooting angle was limited. The tree adds nothing, and to me is a little bit of a distraction. But you may have had limitations there about where you were positioned . . . were you in a boat or on the shore? Your horizon is close to bisecting the image, but you handled it well with the processing so it doesn't take too much away from the image; however, if you crop out the top part of the sky to eliminate the cumulus clouds, it moves the horizon to the top third and immediately my eye is drawn to the boat and not the clouds . . . which are beautiful, but actually take some of the attention away from the boat. The beauty and center of interest are the boat and its reflection in the water. With the new crop even the tree isn't an issue.

technique: Your processing is excellent. Bright colors, not overly saturated, and it's hard to tell if it's HDR or not, which is a good thing. Unless you're trying to camouflage some flaw, I don't think the vignetting is necessary. I see you shot it at a focal length of 35mm . . . did you also shoot it at 18mm? Sometimes subjects like this are pretty dramatic at a wider angle . . . a lonely boat against a very large sea. Always remember to experiment.

​Very nice work! Keep it up . . . you are on the road to developing a style that is yours!

This houseboat is on the lake.. but the lake is quite a large one (around 2000 square kms) which leads to the Arabian Sea.
Yes, the houseboat is on the move most of the time, unless there's a storm or other issues.
It's tethered there as the occupants had come in to the hotel..
The canvas on top actually opens out when there are people and the boat is on the move... it is now covering the open air jacuzzi
so you can just relax in there looking up into the sky day or night & the boat slowly moves around the lake... blissfull huh!

the rocks were very slippery and sharp and were wide enough for me to stand (balance rather) on my heels
to the right of the docking area is a big mess, a tree primarily & a lot of things strewn about...
same reason why i didn't shoot wider

the clouds actually looked a lot better on my system
and i have no idea why i vignetted the pic

WhiteLight said:

This houseboat is on the lake.. but the lake is quite a large one (around 2000 square kms) which leads to the Arabian Sea.
Yes, the houseboat is on the move most of the time, unless there's a storm or other issues.
It's tethered there as the occupants had come in to the hotel..
The canvas on top actually opens out when there are people and the boat is on the move... it is now covering the open air jacuzzi
so you can just relax in there looking up into the sky day or night & the boat slowly moves around the lake... blissfull huh!

the rocks were very slippery and sharp and were wide enough for me to stand (balance rather) on my heels
to the right of the docking area is a big mess, a tree primarily & a lot of things strewn about...
same reason why i didn't shoot wider

the clouds actually looked a lot better on my system
and i have no idea why i vignetted the pic

Click to expand...

LOL . . . I could use a trip on that houseboat, like right now!

For what you went through to get that shot, it's an EXCELLENT capture!

My eyes are drawn to the tree, seems a little distracting. If the boat is the point of interest then it would have been better to not have the tree. Just my opinion, for the little that its worth. Sounds like a hard shot to get.

Overall a very nice and visually interesting shot. The reflection in the water elevates this from looking too "snap-shotesque" to me. It could be that it's my monitor but the shot DOES look a little over-saturated to me. I also think the vignetting needs to go, it's really not adding anything that I see. I'd also like to see the horizon a little less centered in the frame, I'm thinking a little off the bottom since the clouds/sky do look nice; not so much as to lose the reflection in the water, though; just "tweak". Horizon is also ever so slightly crooked. Speaking of tweaks I'd also think about 'shopping out the mooring post on the left.

Center of Interest: High marks. Nice subject matter!
Color Balance: Balance seems spot on, a bit oversaturated to MY eye, but this could be a technology thing.
Storytelling: Oh hell yes... I really want to know more about this boat, who's on it, where are they going, where have they been. Can we have lunch on your boat??
Style, Subject Matter, Technical excellence, Technique, Impact: All good.
Creativity: Good. It was a "found" shot and nicely done but I can't really go four or five stars on this point.

Thanks everyone..
So made the changes as suggested

better?

Well, I love it. But the important thing is, how do YOU feel about it? You saw how many diverse opinions and recommendations you had. In the end, it comes down to your vision and what feels right for you.

BTW the reflection of the water in the windows is wonderful . . . I somehow didn't notice it the first time.

You could probably make a living running tour guides of your country . . . your photos certainly make me want to jump on the next plane out there (and relax in the houseboat . . . adrift in water, which we so lack here . . . sigh)

​Excellent work, my friend.

Haha! That would be fun wouldn't it..

Looks better to me, had to do a double take on the tree. Eyes are now drawn to the boat.