Welcome to the Daily Photo Phix, Rey’s and my endeavor to share one of our own photos with you, each day. We’ll post the photo with some background on where, why or how we made it, what we like about it or don’t, and just about anything else we feel we should mention about the shot. You may have seen some of these images in our personal galleries, but here, we’ll give you the behind the scenes scoop.
Rey and I hope you enjoy our Daily Photo Phix, and we welcome your feedback.
Nikon D90, f/14, 1/100 sec, 80mm focal length, EV+1
This photo was taken near the end of my family’s last day on Cape Cod, during this year’s vacation (July, 2011). It was taken in the early evening, so most of the day’s sun worshippers had headed home for a (typical) dinner of lobster and clams, but a few of us lingered to watch the sun set. The clouds added drama and filtered the sun’s rays into colorful shafts of light, which this image illustrates.
That’s what I like about this image, the colors: the sky and the clouds, the chairs, the little girl’s beach cover-up, and the grey-blue of the sand, all combine to create a montage of colors that mirrors life on Cape Cod itself.
In retrospect, I see that I grossly violated the Holy Grail of composition: the rule of thirds. Did you notice that the horizon blasts right through the middle of the image? Ordinarily a no-no, but I think there are enough strong elements in the image to compensate. I’d love to hear your opinion.
I posted a similar image on my personal gallery in July, and what I find interesting is that although taken only 3 minutes apart, the light had changed enough to create a very different photo. While this one is about color, the other is all about light, which is what defines photography – the effect of light.
Let us know your thoughts and thanks for visiting 2 Guys Photo.   Posted by Ed
2 Guys Photo 
Actually you can make this even better by cropping off the top to put the horizon line exactly on the top third line and taking a smidge off the left. But it’s a good one.
I’m fine with “violating” the rule of thirds or any other rule IF it’s on purpose. Accidentally violating it and then saying it came out okay? – that’s what cropping is for.
Good advice Art — I’m going to try that and will let you know the results. Ed
The thing I immediately thought when I saw this was that the angle of the sunlight is on the same diagonal as the girl’s body posture while running. I always love day end and day start colors. This shot sure has that. This works better for me as a sunrise photo…as the girl is about to embark on her new day at the beach. Her running shows such enthusiasm.
Hey Ed,
I think this is a great photo. I didn’t even notice the rule of thirds “mistake”. I think it is OK to ignore the rules as well, sometimes :0)! This photo is not any less for it in my opinion. What I notice from this photo are the COLORS for sure and the fun it creates with the little girl running. Besides… You have the girl on the bottom third, the COLORS on the upper third, and the beach “scene” in the middle third… isn’t that a rule of thirds, or am I mistaken? Either way, I do like the photo.
Rodney
Thanks Rodney. I’m reminded of a quote by Ansel Adams: “There are no rules for good photos; only good photos”. Ed