critique of sunset

Winona · Aug 8, 2019

Please don't chew up and spit out this beginner....but please critique my sunset. Canon D80, Canon 18-135. Tripod (but crappy one). No filters. I have not edited. I do see a spot left of the sun that I need to check my lens for. I really haven't edited, guess I could have sharpened, etc. All of my sunsets have no focal point. This lake I may be able to find a boat here and there, but Lake Ontario is just big. Thanks.

Jeff15 · Aug 8, 2019

Lovely reflection in the water.............

Designer · Aug 8, 2019

It's pretty static, meaning no movement. The viewer's eye should move around the frame looking at different things. Having the sun right in the middle tends to make it static. If you had some other point of interest in the frame, say off to one side, then position the sun at the "thirds" point rather than in the middle. Say if there was a boat in the frame, or something like that, then you want the boat at one of the thirds, and the sun at a different thirds point. You can probably bring up the sharpness a bit in your editing software.

Soocom1 · Aug 8, 2019

tripod is a tripod is a tripod.
Even when a low end one, it still stabelizes the image better than hand held.

Granted a higher end one will be more stable, use what you have.

Filters is what I see.
A polarizor is def. in order, as this will pump up the contrast in the sky more than anything.
there is plenty of DR between the water, land and air, but the clouds and the sky are a bit soft and could use just a touch of punch.

This is typical if shooting as previously mentioned lack of action.
The sun BECOMES the action and the clouds allow for dramatic contrast.
A longer shutter or darker (smaller aperture) and lower ISO would slow down the water just a tad and give some movement feel to the image.

Great start BTW.

smoke665 · Aug 8, 2019

While pretty to look at, as others have mentioned these types of shots can become uninteresting, making it necessary to create interest with what you have. I know this probably will get criticism, but I think we often forget that the "rule of thirds" is a "rule of thumb" or guideline, not some cast in stone arrangement. Guidelines are fine but you should not get into a rut that certain elements have to fall within arbitrarily designated sets of point within the frame. Color, structure, and texture are all elements of a composition that when used with a strong central focal point like the sun can create interest, while keeping the eye firmly grounded in the frame.

In this case a polarizing filter would not have worked. A polarizing filter is only capable of its maximum effect when one's line of sight is perpendicular to the direction of the sun. In a beach scene like this with sun in front of you or behind you a polarizing filter will have no effect. Even if the sun were off to either side a polarizing filter would not have been a good choice here, because when there is a lot of color going on, such as at sunset, removing the polarizer from your lens can actually help your shot by letting that color be reflected off of any wet surfaces in the image.

Your image isn't that bad just needs some help to accentuate the positives. One filter that is handy to have around is a graduated ND filter and would have helped you get this in camera. Basically what I did to your image in Lr was adjust it to highlight the colors, and structure of the elements. Then I pulled a graduated ND filter from the top down to tree line, lowered the exposure, boosted contrast and Dehaze to clear the sky. Pulled another graduated ND from the bottom up to the trees, lowered exposure slightly, dropped the highlights, increased texture and clarity, and warmed the temperature to match the sky.

Winona · Aug 9, 2019

Smoke665-that is amazing! I know I need to get Lightroom and just put that on my list of priorities. I can follow what you did and practice. Thanks! I did just order a grad ND, but feel saving up for a Lee or similar system is better than buying a bunch of scew-ons. Every time I tried to lengthen the exposure it was overexposed. I’ll also try to walk down the beach to find some interesting foreground.

Thanks for everyone’s input. Practice and learn.

smoke665 · Aug 9, 2019

Winona said:
Smoke665-that is amazing! I know I need to get Lightroom and just put that on my list of priorities. I can follow what you did and practice. Thanks! I did just order a grad ND, but feel saving up for a Lee or similar system is better than buying a bunch of scew-ons. Every time I tried to lengthen the exposure it was overexposed. I’ll also try to walk down the beach to find some interesting foreground.

Thanks for everyone’s input. Practice and learn.

You already had everything in your image, I just brought out the best features.

Rather then buying circular filters, may I suggest you instead go with a filter holder for 4x4 filters, that includes multiple adapters for different lens diameters. Amazon.com: 4x4 filter holder That way it's possible to go with a less expensive holder that will work just as well as the better quality (assuming you are just the occasional user). Then if you want you can spend more on the 4x4 filters. The advantage of these is that you can stack multiple filters, and adjust them individually up or down as you need.