Helpful Posts Helpful Posts:  0
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Sunset at the Florida Keys

  1. #1
    Alis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    1,543
    Real Name
    Ali

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

    This is my first sunset picture. I learned a lot about shooting sunset just by doing it that day! It was a crowded place, so I had to do it handheld.

    It was take with a Canon 5D MKII (I am sort of bragging here!) I cropped out a few of the birds and adjusted the picture in LR, sharpened a bit. I tried the cropped version that was suggested here earlier, I actually liked it a lot!

    Anyway, comment are welocome. shred it!

    Thanks,

    Ali

    Original:

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Panoramic:

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    17,660
    Real Name
    Have a guess :)

    Re: Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Hi Sedali,

    Congratulations on the fine new camera (almost as nice as my 1Ds3) (I like bragging too )

    Seriously (for a moment), a few suggestions to make it look a bit better ...

    1. As a rule, orient the camera so that your longest edge is parallel to the longest lines in the image - in this case the longest line is the horizon which is of course horizontal - so this shot would have been better shot horizontally rather than vertically.

    2. If you can, make features like the boat 15% to 20% the width of whatever axis they lie on - in this case I would have zoomed in a LOT more so that the boat becomes a more significant feature (assuming that you have the lenes to do it).

    3. As a rule, the only kinds of shots that work well centred are mirror/reflection shots - in other shots (this one included) you'll get a better result following the rule of thirds (putting the centre of interest 1/3 from the top or bottom, and 1/3 in from the left or right. In the case of a boat the traditional thing is to leave more space in front of it.

    4. As a rule (love these rules eh!) Put your horizon 1/3 down from the top - unless it's a particularly interesting sky, in which case go for 1/3 up from the bottom).

    Hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of giving your image a little "nip & tuck" to show you what I mean ...

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Here's an example of one of mine where you can break the rule of thirds and center things - but I hope you agree that this wouldn't have worked anywhere nearly as well without the large boat in the foreground intersecting the diagonal view ...

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Here's another example of what I mean by the rule of thirds - in this case the foreground is more interesting so the horizon is 1/3 down from the top, and the boat in the foreground was at least 20% of the horigontal width (to guarantee it is a significant size in the final image - your boat looks a "little bit lost" in the image).

    Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Hope this helps

    Cheers,

    Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

    PS: Hope you don't feel in anyway "deflated" following my critique - it's a great shot and you're off to a great start ... keep at it!
    Last edited by Colin Southern; 14th January 2009 at 10:54 AM.

  3. #3
    Alis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    1,543
    Real Name
    Ali

    Re: Sunset at the Florida Keys

    Quote Originally Posted by Colin Southern View Post
    PS: Hope you don't feel in anyway "deflated" following my critique - it's a great shot and you're off to a great start ... keep at it!
    Not at all, Colin. I like your version better actually. And I think your comments are right on target. Thanks for taking the time. I love those sunset shots too.

    Thanks again,

    Sedali

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    17,660
    Real Name
    Have a guess :)

    Re: Sunset at the Florida Keys

    You're very welcome!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •