High key attempt: Trying a new treatment using Affinity Photo and NIK Silver Efex Pro. Thoughts and comments welcome.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

Trying a new treatment using Affinity Photo and NIK Silver Efex Pro. Thoughts and comments welcome.

(Download)

Bluefish Loc: Berks County, PA

IMHO, hard on the eyes.

alliebess Loc: suburban Philadelphia

Looks like you lost a lot of detail in the water.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I like the composition and minimalist feeling very much! There are textures and details - such as the boat's reflection and the floating grasses/seaweed - thad add to the appeal. Reducing the brightness on my monitor just a skosh made it more comfortable to view the whitest areas.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

alliebess wrote:

Looks like you lost a lot of detail in the water.

Well, yes, but that was the whole idea of high ikey. "High key photography is a style of photography that uses unusually bright lighting to reduce or completely blow out dark shadows in the image."
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-shoot-high-key-photography

This photo has accomplished that; this is a good example of a high-key photo. I would, however, do a crop to eliminate the distracting far shore, cropping to the point just below [eliminating] the dark line upper right. Additionally, I would bring in the left side about a quarter. Doing so we have the dark lines and the line of the boat. The lower right rocks are the solid contrasting anchor for the photo, but I would clone out the top rock lump. Removing that lump terminates the rocks vs having them continue and not allowing us to see the rest.

Crop is one of the most valuable tools that we have... it brings the story to a brief but clear statement.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

The download is beautiful, George. Not an attempt, I’d say you succeeded.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

Linda From Maine wrote:

I like the composition and minimalist feeling very much! There are textures and details - such as the boat's reflection and the floating grasses/seaweed - thad add to the appeal. Reducing the brightness on my monitor just a skosh made it more comfortable to view the whitest areas.

Thank you, Linda. I will work on the brighter area.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

dpullum wrote:

Well, yes, but that was the whole idea of high ike... (show quote)

Thanks for looking and the suggestions. Cropping can sometimes be so subjective but I will certainly go back and look into your ideas.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

joehel2 wrote:

The download is beautiful, George. Not an attempt, I’d say you succeeded.

Thanks, Joe.

JBRIII

Bluefish wrote:

IMHO, hard on the eyes.

Agree, boat looks good, rest kind of SYFI to me.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Did you add grain? I'm left wondering what it'd be like if you went the other way and made the smooth areas silky smooth.

cbtsam Loc: Monkton, MD

GeorgeK wrote:

Trying a new treatment using Affinity Photo and NIK Silver Efex Pro. Thoughts and comments welcome.

I rather like it too. I think Linda's suggestion of bringing down the white water just a tad would help a bit (maybe 5-10 or 255?). And I wonder what would happen if you darkened or enlarged some of the hints of lines in the water above and to the left of the boat - just a bit - to give that area just a little bit more to look at, somewhat like the dark lines elsewhere in the water.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

R.G. wrote:

Did you add grain? I'm left wondering what it'd be like if you went the other way and made the smooth areas silky smooth.

No grain added- probably noise resulting from cropping.

GeorgeK Loc: NNJ

cbtsam wrote:

I rather like it too. I think Linda's suggestion of bringing down the white water just a tad would help a bit (maybe 5-10 or 255?). And I wonder what would happen if you darkened or enlarged some of the hints of lines in the water above and to the left of the boat - just a bit - to give that area just a little bit more to look at, somewhat like the dark lines elsewhere in the water.

Thanks for commenting and the suggestions.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

GeorgeK wrote:

Trying a new treatment using Affinity Photo and NIK Silver Efex Pro. Thoughts and comments welcome.

I like this very much. There is some texture in the water beyond the boat. There is also a reflection, so we know that we are looking at water. Linda mentioned that it gives her a feeling of minimalism. I get that vibe as well. By using the technique you did, we see all the major compositional elements and not much else. Is it bright? Sure; but I think it works to your advantage here. Many would disagree; but I really think you hit your mark with this photo.
Erich