My first sunsets

JDS · Aug 31, 2006

I like the composition of the 2nd one and the colors in the 1st one... There is also some lens flare in the 2nd one that is a little distracting. Did you use a polarizer?

fightheheathens · Aug 31, 2006

i do like both of these, esp. the second one. That has a really good framing.
The first one, i think could have benifited from the rule of thirds.
Lastly, i know this is pickey and hard to do, but your sun is washed out. If there was just that bit of yellow in the sun, the shot would be much better.
However, this is really hard to do. I find the best way to do that is to under expose, but if your shooting directly into the sun like that, there have been times where 1/1000th at f/32 is just enough to get a proper exposure for me. So good luck!

Tweek Sound · Aug 31, 2006

I have to say I like the first one better. It looks more like a piece of art and less like a Folgers commercial.
The ripples in the sun and the detail in the trees are just great. They're both great shots indeed.

DepthAfield · Aug 31, 2006

Nice saturation on both images! I prefer the composition of # 2 though. Well done!

What method are you using to determine exposure? What I like to do for sunrise/set photos, is to compose the image… Then (using center-weighted metering) shift the camera left or right and meter with the sun just out of frame, shift the camera back to my original composition and shoot away.

JDS said:
I like the composition of the 2nd one and the colors in the 1st one... There is also some lens flare in the 2nd one that is a little distracting. Did you use a polarizer?

I like the lens flare in image #2… It adds drama/character to the photo. Flare is difficult to control when shooting headlong into the sun. I don’t think the use of a polarizer would have helped. The best option, should you wish to remove the flare, would be Photoshop.

abraxas · Aug 31, 2006

I like number 2. I think I would crop left of the flare and take some off the top and more off the bottom. Nice colors.

suzyq77 · Aug 31, 2006

Thankyou for your comments. I didn't use a polariser. Those 2 were pretty much just point and shoot. I am testing out my new digital slr.

DOF - I will give your method a try, thanks for the tip.