Winter Wonderland

[MrMikeyZ2189]

Got this sunset the other night. It was a freezing night but I couldn't let a sunset like this go to waste!

 

[JamesScott86]

That is beautiful! Excellent Shot!!!

 

[tirediron]

To be honest, this seems somewhat lacking to me. Sunsets (and sunrises) can be extremely difficult things to capture because the dynamic range of the camera is so much less than that of the human eye. What we see as subtle graduations of colour and texture become large blocks of blown, featureless white to the camera. In the case of your image, a lot of the sky is blown (over-exposed, totally devoid of detail, '255') and since the human eye is attracted to bright over dark, we subconciously spend more time looking at these featureless areas than those with detail.

There are two ways you can approach this which will result in greatly improved images. One is by the use of high dynamic range merge (HDR) where you shoot several images at varying exposures and blend in post to produce an image with greater than normal dynamic range. The other is by using a graduated neturral density (ND) filter which will "filter" out some of the light from the top of the image, allowing for a more balanced image.

All of that said, bear in mind that the only person whose opinion truly matters is yours, and if you're happy with it, that's what counts.

 

[MrMikeyZ2189]

To be honest, this seems somewhat lacking to me. Sunsets (and sunrises) can be extremely difficult things to capture because the dynamic range of the camera is so much less than that of the human eye. What we see as subtle graduations of colour and texture become large blocks of blown, featureless white to the camera. In the case of your image, a lot of the sky is blown (over-exposed, totally devoid of detail, '255') and since the human eye is attracted to bright over dark, we subconciously spend more time looking at these featureless areas than those with detail.

There are two ways you can approach this which will result in greatly improved images. One is by the use of high dynamic range merge (HDR) where you shoot several images at varying exposures and blend in post to produce an image with greater than normal dynamic range. The other is by using a graduated neturral density (ND) filter which will "filter" out some of the light from the top of the image, allowing for a more balanced image.

All of that said, bear in mind that the only person whose opinion truly matters is yours, and if you're happy with it, that's what counts.

I agree with your critique. I had a feeling someone would mention the fact of the sky being blown out. It happens majority of the time when you're shooting against the sun, it's bound to happen, and I was aware. Personally, I enjoyed the photo for the composition, reflection in the water, and the colors. This photo was shot in jpeg and not much post production was performed. It was more of a "that looks nice" kind of shot. The ND filter could be a beneficial option, as far as HDR, I'm not a fan of the way those photos look. I've always been more about natural photos with not a lot of post production or blending of exposures.

 

[MrMikeyZ2189]

That is beautiful! Excellent Shot!!!

Thanks so much!

 

[tirediron]

...as far as HDR, I'm not a fan of the way those photos look. I've always been more about natural photos with not a lot of post production or blending of exposures.

Fair enough, 'though they don't have to have that 'cartoon' look to them. If the treatment is applied with a glove and not a sledge-hammer, it can actually look fairly realistic, vis:

This scene had probably 8.5 - 9 stops of dynamic range; the rocks in the foreground were just >< that much off black, and the highlights on the lighthouse were equally close to pure white. This is five images at 2/3 stop separation IIRC.

 

[xDarek]

Well, I will try to critique this pic.When I was at the beggining of photography I was doing the same mistake that you are doing: photographing the sun when it is up.The sun is too strong for the lens and the light is obscuring the landscape.Also, the reflection of the sun is atracting us so we don't look at the landscape, we look at the most shiny thing in the photo, that is the reflection.

 

[WesternGuy]

I agree with tirediron about the blown out sky. In my experience I am more interested in the colours that I get in the clouds after the sun has set, than some more or less blown out image of the sun in the sky or its reflection. I have found that if you wait until the sun has set then you can often get some incredible colours in the clouds. This situation usually occurs during what is termed civil twilight and a bit of nautical twilight - What is Twilight, Dawn, and Dusk?.

One of the most colourful sunsets I have ever experienced was in Death Valley a couple of years ago (Note: location has nothing to do with the experience) when about 10-15 minutes after the sun had actually set below the horizon, the clouds in the sky began to reflect the most incredible reds and pinks that illuminated the entire landscape. Yes it was that pink and no, this was not photoshopped!

My friend and I were completely blown away by the experience. His words were something like "never before in my life...." .

It would have been interesting to see what sort of image you might have captured after the sun set in your situation as you certainly have the clouds to create one. You can get the same situation at sunrise, you just have to be there early .

WesternGuy

 

[PropilotBW]

Looks like a good view! What's the location?

 

[katsrevenge]

Well, I like it. Sky is a bit too much but I really like the way the water looks.

Sunsets and sunrises are difficult to do right but the worst thing is to stop trying. I even have a favorite spot to keep trying at, LOL.

 

[tiaphoto]

This is an overall beautiful photo; however, I feel the sky is a bit blown as well as the part of the water that sunlight hits. Maybe more range of tones would have done the trick. I also feel that this photo can be cropped. The composition as it is now makes difficult to figure out where the focus is. But once again, good job!

 

[Photosensitive]

I think this is a fine image; you may please trim away the foreground up to the bush line and add a bit more contrast; i did it and find it improved; then i verified it in B&W also; i liked it that way too; when sun is high the sky will be blown out and as for me the blown out nature adds to the intensity of this image

 

[bulldurham]

Close down your f/stop, increase your depth of field and lower your ISO... single shot sunsets/rises are not particularly hard to shoot but one has to be aware of one's camera settings. As to natural, a digital image is just a databank of 1's and 0"s until some kind of action is performed to not change the 1/0 but to make it look like what you saw with your eye, not what is in the viewfinder. I shoot pretty well in camera but since I shoot in RAW, I have to post process to some degree to achieve a realistic tonal and contrast range.

This shot is about 5 to 6 minutes before the sun dropped below the horizon. The cloud cover made for an interesting exposure calculation as did the pier and water and to make the exposure, I made three exposures in 1/2 stop increments and did a HDR blend which is not a program like Photomatrix but rather a hand applied selection made using channels and luminosity masks. It takes a lot of practice and it takes the ability to learn from your own mistakes as well as to learn from your more experienced peers.

And then using many of the same techniques, I edited yours: With your permission, I will show it but since you have the no edit policy, I will not..my advice would be to take off that and allow editing, if nothing else to see other possibilities.