Sunset pics - interested in comments

[tertius]

Took these last night, I was a bit late to catch the really good light, but def interested in comments and criticism:

[SlimJ]

I like them!

To be honest, some of the best sunset shots I have seen have been taken some time after the 'best' light, when its almost dark... You can leave your shutter open for a nice long period and soak up some really nice light which you can't see by eye. This would also really blur those clouds and make the water appear nice and smooth

James

[tertius]

SlimJ said:

I like them!

To be honest, some of the best sunset shots I have seen have been taken some time after the 'best' light, when its almost dark... You can leave your shutter open for a nice long period and soak up some really nice light which you can't see by eye. This would also really blur those clouds and make the water appear nice and smooth

James

Cheers, I'll give that a go, I was thinking completely the other way and using max aperture for minimum shutter speed. However, since I was also trying out my new tripod, there was no real need ...

[te51cle]

Try pointing your camera up a bit as well, get a bit more sky and a bit less water in the foreground.

[Gemm]

They are pretty but I think they lack the 'WOW' factor that sunset images require in terms of colours, composition and focal point. Perhaps zooming into the area where it's more interesting, e.g. orange in the sky, cloud formation etc?

[tertius]

te51cle and GEMM,

fair points both, though:

a) I rather thought that the water was part of the interest; and

b) there wasn't any really "special" part of the sky to focus in on

But thanks for the feedback - its all being logged ...





and probably then forgotten ...

[GravelBen]

I like the second one, its got a nice subtlety to it, its got some character but not in an over-the-top way. I think the first one gets a bit confused by the way the cloud in the centre extends up and off the top of the shot, which is challenged for your focus by the more colourful bit on the right, the target of the picture is a bit ambiguous to me. I could be all wrong, but hope it helps in some way.

My favourite sunset photo I've taken is actually this one:



Which was taken through a perspex window with condensation frozen on the inside of it (in a hut halfway up a mountain) - I'm not sure that its technically very good but I like the effect.

A few more to consider:







I find a good way of getting the right light is waiting until the sun has dropped far enough for the upper sky to be darkening, but to have the sun still reflecting off clouds below this. Sometimes you just get lucky though, you can't really create a shot with the clouds in exactly the right place at the right time, you just have to be able to recognise the opportunity when it arrives.

Any comments, advice etc on my shots are welcome too, always keen to improve

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 6th July 11:04

[GetCarter]

I also find still(ish) water really good for sunsets (if you can find any), as the colours are reflected much more vibrantly - also any detail. I have sqillions of these, but this is still a fav (click on the pic to get rid of 750 pixel distortion):



Steve

[Gemm]

GetCarter said:

I also find still(ish) water really good for sunsets (if you can find any), as the colours are reflected much more vibrantly - also any detail. I have sqillions of these, but this is still a fav (click on the pic to get rid of 750 pixel distortion):



Steve

This is what I meant by having 'wow' factor. Great shot!

[tertius]

Now I can't compete with GetCarter, but how about this:



taken earlier this week in Switzerland.

Taking a leaf out of GetCarter's book ... click on the pic to get the image without the PH resizing.

[imperialism2024]

tertius said:

Taking a leaf out of GetCarter's book ... click on the pic to get the image without the PH resizing.

Or you could just resize to 750 wide in PS before posting

Anyhow, a while back I came across this Ken Rockwell article regarding getting well-saturated night shots:
www.kenrockwell.com/tech/timing.htm

I tried this with my FZ20, but the noise was too high and only had a maximum 8 sec exposure time.

[tertius]

imperialism2024 said:

tertius said:

Taking a leaf out of GetCarter's book ... click on the pic to get the image without the PH resizing.

Or you could just resize to 750 wide in PS before posting

That's what I normally do, and would do for most posts, butthis way the larger image is at least readily accessible.

[imperialism2024]

tertius said:

imperialism2024 said:

tertius said:

Taking a leaf out of GetCarter's book ... click on the pic to get the image without the PH resizing.

Or you could just resize to 750 wide in PS before posting

That's what I normally do, and would do for most posts, butthis way the larger image is at least readily accessible.

Okok you win...