Family Fun in the sunset

jcalm002 · Mar 4, 2007

Went to Mt. Trashmore, a local park in Virginia Beach, VA and took pictures at sunset. While everyone was waiting for the lunar eclipse, I took advantage of the beautiful sky. It is great to see families that spend time together. Well, here are the results. As always, tell me what you think....

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

ashfordphoto · Mar 4, 2007

love #5~! 7 is good too.

The horizon line not being flat bothers me on the other photos. Even if it is a nice hard slope like that in reality, it just makes for an awkward photo IMHO.

lulu · Mar 4, 2007

Great clouds

ashfordphoto · Mar 4, 2007

i just realized that making the horizon straight makes the people crooked

perylousdemon · Mar 4, 2007

Oh, wow. I love #5! The sky is absolutely gorgeous in that one, and...I don't know. Vertical just seems to suit this shot better than horizontal would have. Excellent job!

cherrymoose · Mar 4, 2007

Beautiful photos. I love how the couple is right in the center of all the different colors of light in the first one, but my favorites are #'s 4 & 5. Silhouettes have always fascinated me. Is there a special technique (or maybe it's something on an SLR camera, instead of a point and shoot) that 'turns' figures into silhouettes? I know lighting is a big factor, but I've tried posing people "in front of the sun" during sunsets, and you can still see most of their features. Any advice?

danir · Mar 5, 2007

These are great. 4 is my favorite. The simplicity and the colored kite make it really good.

Dani.

jcalm002 · Mar 5, 2007

cherrymoose said:
Beautiful photos. I love how the couple is right in the center of all the different colors of light in the first one, but my favorites are #'s 4 & 5. Silhouettes have always fascinated me. Is there a special technique (or maybe it's something on an SLR camera, instead of a point and shoot) that 'turns' figures into silhouettes? I know lighting is a big factor, but I've tried posing people "in front of the sun" during sunsets, and you can still see most of their features. Any advice?

Thanks everyone for the comments. I too noticed that the slopes could be a little distracting, but I was hoping that it would give a sense of environment.

As for tips for silhouettes, meter off of the sky, recompose, then take the picture. Manual mode is the easiest mode to use. You may have to increase the contrast a bit to get the foreground darker.

surge · Mar 5, 2007

2,4 and 8 as favourites

i really like how you've lined up the angle to the setting sun with the groups of people,

good work there

Tangerini · Mar 5, 2007

What a beautiful series! I don't mind the horizon line, for me this is one case where it works with the photo as opposed to against it.

teishu · Mar 5, 2007

#5 & 8 are my favs.. all great tho !

ShootHoops · Mar 5, 2007

I like #6, #7, and #8 the most.

lostprophet · Mar 6, 2007

stunning series, they are all good. Those clouds are amazing

JTHphoto · Mar 6, 2007

i agree with LP, these are all good... i have several favs... love the silhouettes and cloud formations... :thumbup:

jcalm002 · Mar 6, 2007

Thanks for the comments and input everyone. I was playing with B&W versions of some of the pictures and this is what I got.

What does everyone think. I like them because they bring the texture in the clouds out, but its unfortunate that I lose the color.