opinions?

[jakedoza]

 

[Ron Evers]

Too much sky but otherwise a nice shot.

 

[Mitch1640]

i like it alot as is, but personally i do like alot of headroom in pictures.

 

[chrisburke]

yea i would have done this shot in landscape, not portrait.. too much headroom for me

 

[beaminge36]

beautiful colors but i agree with the landscape vs portrait. nice capture.

Nick

 

[tenlientl]

tell us more. did you wait for the setting? did you just "happen" to be there and decided to take a picture.

what exposure did you use?

but ANYWAYS. it is nice. i wish i could tell exactly what that thing on the water is. probably ice, but yea..

 

[jakedoza]

Thanks for all the replies! The photo was taken at a restaurant called the Oasis out at Lake Travis here near Austin, TX. I did wait for the sunset as they are having a sunset photo contest. I took the photo in portrait instead of landscape for a couple of reasons. One, because most sunsets are taken in landscape and I wanted to be different and two, because I like how the sky changes colors the further up it goes and a landscape photo would not have captured that as well. I used a tripod and manual settings on the camera. f/6.7 1/250 s ISO 100 @ 28 mm. I did take other photos, but the lens flare was so bad in most of them that I did not like the way they came out. Any suggestions on lens flare?

 

[cherry30]

It looks great. First reaction is too much sky. But when I read the reasons behind it, it think it's cool.

 

[Flower Child]

i actually like portrait with the sky. i think it shows off the beautiful color change. but keep in mind im a greenhorn.

 

[dhilberg]

The most important thing is if you like it. Photography is largely subjective, so the chances of someone not liking it are usually there.

I think it's a pretty shot. I like the way the sky gradually darkens as you move up the photo. Otherwise it'd be too much empty space for me.

There is a tiny bit of lens flare just below the bottom patch of land in the water, and to the left of that there seems to be large dust spot. Or it's just me. At any rate those will clone out easy.

As for avoiding lens flare, the best way is to not shoot with the sun in or near your shot.

Zoom lenses tend to suffer from flare more because they have more elements, especially ones that cover a long focal range. For example my Nikkor 18-200mm VR is brutal with lens flares, even with a hood. Great lens otherwise but don't try to do sunstars with it.

Using filters also increases the likelihood of flare.

Professional-level zooms are not as prone to flare because of higher quality optics and coatings.

For the most part though, you never really know until you try the shot. Always use your lens hood outdoors as it generally helps. Also, if you still notice some flare even with the hood on, you can shade the lens with your hand or hat or whatever to try and get rid of it. You can also try shooting in the shade instead of being in direct sunlight.

If you want to do a lot of landscape shots I'd suggest a prime lens since they are much less prone to flare.

When the sun is in your shot though, there's not much you can do except try to fix it in post.

 

[El2]

The photo is great. If it were me I would crop more of the top to emphasize on the sunset.

 

[ArtPhotography]

I think it's a beautiful gradient shot. I agree with your choices. Good luck on the contest!