Iowa Sunset

[rjackson02]

I posted these in the Beginners Forum last week, but they just disappear off that page so fast. Wanted some more opinions and any suggestions/tips to try out next time I'm out there.

These were taken on a small lake in central Iowa.

My personal favorite (just a little more than photo number 2):

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[gopal]

photographically and compo-wise third stands out, great capture,the boat is the focal point....1st too is good but i think u waited few minutes to let sun come down more, as in third. and here the man is the focal point.
clouds pov second is again great....only i wish the boat wud have been more nearer to the camera. transformation of clouds from b&w to colour is wonderful. thanks.

 

[mooimeisie]

My favorite is #3. The colors are beautiful and the boat adds a little interest to what would be just a sunset photo.

 

[Al-Wazeer]

last photo is the best, the boat adds A LOT of interest to the photo, without it it would be a typical sunset shot, great job!

 

[Stock Photos]

My preference is definitely the third as well.

 

[WVPhotoGuy]

Great Shots! I love the last one!

 

[carfreak222]

I have a question for you or anyone else, the sun is so bright while everything else is darker, which is why these look so great. But how do you do that? I can never seem to capture the darkness I want when I try to shoot sunsets, while still maintaining the suns beauty? Is it the metering? Exposure?

Beautiful photos by the way!

 

[rjackson02]

I have a question for you or anyone else, the sun is so bright while everything else is darker, which is why these look so great. But how do you do that? I can never seem to capture the darkness I want when I try to shoot sunsets, while still maintaining the suns beauty? Is it the metering? Exposure?

Beautiful photos by the way!

Thanks for all the compliments everyone!

I'm pretty new when it comes too photography (so correct me if I'm wrong). But it primarily has to do with your exposure. Since I was exposing to have the sky/sun correctly exposed, I had a very fast shutter speed/aperture. Because of this, the light that was coming off of the Trees and people didn't have enough time to gain detail and thus was very dark.

If I would have decreased my shutter speed, the sun and sky would have been very blown out but you would have gotten more of the detail in the horizon and the people. I have some shots that point away from the sun (thus allowing me to decrease my shutter speed) and you can see more of the detail in the darker areas.