at anchor

[Theo]

question too much or too little painterly feel?

[habakuk]

In my humble opinion: too little, too dark. It doesn't feel like painted to me. I like the simplicity of the scene, the way the red hood is standing out and echoed by the red railing. But it has too much foreground for my liking.

cheers
®

[eob]

I think, graphical is more accurate than painterly - at least from the technical point of view. Even hyper-realistic paintings preserve distinct zones of tonality between light and shadow (which makes them look very much like a contemporary HDR photo). You used an exaggerated contrast and that's why I think the look is more graphic-like. But still, I certainly recognize a photograph rather than a graphic.

I like the general composition, but I am uncertain about the main theme of this image. Is it a lighthouse? Is it a tall ship? And then, there is that foreground that Roland mentioned. You used vignetting to accentuate both the lighthouse and the tall ship. I would go a step farther and use vignetting to reduce the impact of foreground (concrete and rocks in the base of the lighthouse) and to make a distinct choice of your theme.

[aprilS]

I'm also thrown by the "reality" of the foreground in contrast to the more "painterly" background (railing, tower, ship and sky). The middle-ground seems to have a treatment somewhere in between, so I've been wondering if that was the intent: to take us across from where we stand on the shore into a more dreamlike realm?

Perhaps we're "anchored" on the shore, but could set sail if only...?