Midwayby
RLSComment by Artyste: Hello from the Critique Club.
Initial Thoughts
What I first thought of when I saw this was, "Where's the focal point?" I had a tough time deciding if I wanted to look at the ship.. or the lookout point.. or the sail-boats. (ok, not the sailboats so much :))
I feel that you're almost teasing the viewer with a hint of this huge carrier, and then.. that's it.
Composition / Content
I would have liked to have seen more focus on the Carrier/Battleship, as it seems to be the thing that cries for the attention here, but is instead, put to the side, almost as an afterthought. The composition suffers because of that fact, leaving the viewer wondering what, exactly, they should be looking at.
Background
A *touch* busy, but out of your control for the most part, and is good for the setting. The problem is, the Ship becomes, in this photo, a part of the background, instead of being the focal point.
Camera Work - Technical
A nice focus on the ship, but the shot seems pretty noisy, and overexposed in many areas, especially in the sky to the left hand side. I suspect that your metering was done on a darker spot of the area, as your aperature (f8) should have been good for a daytime shot. This may have contributed to the noise levels as well.
Digital Processing
Don't have any information on what you did in post, if anything. Problem with over-exposed shots is that they're almost impossible to really fix in post. Looking at the picture, I feel that you may have over-sharpened too much, however.
Fits the Challenge
With a Free Study, everything fits.
My Opinion on the Photo
I feel, as I've mentioned, that it lacks a strong focal point. You give the viewer too much to look at, the over-exposure makes it a little more difficult to look at, and the shot, having so much potential, is kind of a let-down for me. I wanted so much to see more of the carrier/battleship, but alas. A good try at capturing a unique subject, but we, the viewer, demand more :)