Adelaide Sunset

[esteah]

This is an HDR composite of a sunset off of West Beach in Adelaide. I only used the HDR to highlight the rocks in the foreground. I tried my best to keep the colors of the clouds as true to life as possible.

Shot with Canon 7D, ISO 100, f/11, 0.7s
C&C welcome.

[jiro]

What can I say... good use of foreground, middle, and background. That means good composition! I'm not a fan per se of HDR so I would probably back off just a tad on the sea areas as the contrast in those areas really compete for attention against the highly contrasted foreground. Very nice shot, Andre. Well done.

[Geoff F]

Like Willie, I'm not over keen on unnecessary HDR and my efforts usually get ditched. Shooting Raw and making 2 differently exposed images which I simply combine usually works better. Or even doing a bit of straight and simple editing with layers or masks.

But some people do get good results with a suitable subject and sympathetic editing.

However, back to this image. For me, a lot of the problem is that there are three distinct and competing roughly equal bands of interest. The sky, sea and foreground.

When I try to hide roughly half of the foreground I see a much better result which blends together without conflict.

But that is just my thoughts; and I have previously been known to be wrong!

[FrankMi]

Hi Andre, I hope this reply isn't too wordy, I sometime have a hard time finding the right words to use.

I love sunsets but it is a very difficult shot to do really well. Getting the clouds to cooperate with the sun at just the right point is difficult enough but having it occur where and when you are prepared for the shot is even more frustrating as most of the elements are outside our control. I look at sunsets from three perspectives, the foreground, the middleground, and the sky. A beautiful sunset looses something if the foreground and/or middleground isn't interesting. Having an interesting foreground and middleground can be tremendously enhanced by the sunset. If the sunset is reflecting off water, such as a lake, then the middleground needs to be interesting. If the sunset is reflecting off the ocean (or a lake where you can't see much on the horizon), as you have here, there needs something interesting in the foreground. Some of the best sunsets I have seen have had objects like a pier extending into the sea, or a curved cove reaching into the water on one side or the other, or perhaps a city scene taken from a bit of height so that the buildings extend into the sunset but don't block it out.

Those that live on the beach may have ample opportunity to catch a sunset but most of us do not. For me, it's having to find suitable locations where a sunset can act as a backdrop of color, shape and texture. Then going there and setting up in time to catch the elusive sunset at it's peak. Not an easy task and for me, often not successful.

You have a beautiful sunset that just need a little something in the foreground. Trey Ratcliff (www.stuckincustoms.com) has posted a number of sunsets that can be used as examples of what that 'something' could be at his SmugMug site:

http://stuckincustoms.smugmug.com/Po...42619174_op5RY

Hope this helps!

[esteah]

Thanks for the valued feedback. Willie & Geoff, I get what you are saying about the high contrast on the foreground. The colors on the sea were reflected from the sunlight on the clouds so I guess what you're saying is that I have taken some attention away from the sunset, which is supposed to be the main focus of the image, by adding to much contrast to the foreground and the sea.
The image below, I think, demonstrates Franks point too. I think that if I had the same scene with the sunset above, it would have been more effective.

Also shot in Adelaide, this is sunset at the Glenelg Jetty that I shot with my Canon 1000D. It is a panorama with just 2 images stitched together. Almost no post processing was required and the colors are virtually off-camera.

[FrankMi]

Lovely!

[jiro]

Lovely!

+1 on that.

[lufkin]

Hi Andre I probably drove past you today, I too was in Adelaide taking some pictures

[Apo]

love golden hour, both images are nice..well done

[esteah]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments...

[CNelson]

I like the shot...both of them. I'm not bothered by drama in an image and HDR can certainly do that. The amount of drama has to be determined for each image. Sometimes drama detracts and on other images it enhances. As the photo artist you have to decide what works and what suits your tastes. There's a wide range in taste and there's value in the input of others but first you must please yourself.

I really like the clouds and their reflection on the water and rocks. Ideally there would be something like a tree or other object to frame the image or a boat or bird in silhouette to add interest but you have to shoot what was there and it was a beautiful sunset on the ocean and you captured that.

Chuck

[esteah]

Thanks Chuck. I agree with what you have said 100%. But the balance has to be right and that is why I love this forum - I am learning from people who understand this balance - it's great! Thanks again.