Ocean sunset C+C (comment on the process)

[djwang]

These are recent pictures from a cruise. Being a very left-brain oriented person, I would love any comments on my thought process.

1) The initial shot -- really I was going to wait for the boat in the distance to get directly into the sun. This was more a less a test shot.

I took a couple more with different exposures, all tending to overexpose the sky. No need to post those.

2) Ultimately, I realized that the original photo I was hoping for wasn't going to happen, (how fast the sun was setting, direction/speed of our boat, direction of the boat on the horizon) and took this:

I had been fiddling around with the settings on the camera, and this ended up being Ap (f/11) 1/160 and I was a little concerned about overexposing the bright center. I also wanted to make sure the waves were in focus, so I ended up with this (f/20 1/50 -- which I now realize is minimally different than the settings from #2, wrt exposure)

3)

4) This one I throw in as well for comments on color/composition:

This is my first post, so I hope I've followed protocol. Any and all comments on what to work on and think about are greatly appreciated!!

 

[mfrankpdx]

I'd like to see more sky and less water. :thumbup:

 

[3bayjunkie]

need longer exposure on sunset. cool colors on other pic though.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

I think the ocean shots are way to underexposed and too much water, not enough sky. NIce colors on the last shot. Id probably clone out the stray branches (top left). Just my opinion though.