Finding the Focal Point

Love this shot.  In its RAW form the image is loaded with detail. More sparkles in the water foreground.  Heavier and more dramatic clouds in the background.  Yet despite the details the image goes flat, and the focal point is not even obvious.

The shot was taken in the summer of 2024.   It’s one that I had high hopes for but got pushed to the cutting room floor.  On a revisit to some old shots the image surfaced.  Using some almost too quick fixes the image changed, and we created a focal point.  All changes were all global and involved turning down the texture, slight increase in sharpness and softening the whites and highlights.

Where the camera is full frame, the image had plenty of data allowing a crop to create a Panoramic effect.  When I look at this today my eye sees what I saw on the boat.  The lighthouse, the boat and 2 fishermen, they are the subjects and right in the middle of a panorama.  As dramatic as the background is, it’s the background.  Dialing it down helped bring a subject forward and tell the story.

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