Cloudy Sunset

[Kdfrank]

Hi - Here goes my first post at CiC, so go easy! I'd like C&C on the attached image..
I was looking for a sense of motion at sunset. The sun poked through briefly which gave me a short window to shoot. The image seems to have an overall cast of turqouise even in the sky..not sure why that occurred. It also lacks the sharpness I was going for. This could be due to the 1/4 sec shutter speed affording motion in the waves, along with a fairly "economical" tripod . I used 2 seconds on the timer to eliminate any camera shake from me pressing the shutter button. Any comments on composition are welcome too.

Thanks for your thoughts in advance!

Kerry

[WJT]

Hi Kerry, Welcome to CiC. I like the photo, and the 1/4 second gives it a nice feeling. The 2 seconds isnt quite enough so maybe use more or get a remote cable release (they are cheap). The other thing I notice is the horizon isnt level, its tilting clockwise. You may be able to recover the original colour through the temperature setting on your software and warm it up a bit. I hope this helps.

[enaiman]

This is a nice image Kerry; different from the "usual"
I don't mind the colour cast at all, it works very well.

I would have some suggestions though:
- straightening: the horizon is not level at all
- maybe a little more saturation?

Other than that, nice work

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Kerry,

Well done for getting the post in, many struggle (I did) with that.

I agree with both Eugen's suggestions.

To which I would add that there's not much going on in the left half of the image and the sun is very centrally placed.
Was/Is, there a shot (or crop) if panned right some?
Thus moving the sun (at least a bit) into the left hand side of shot.

Warm welcome to the CiC forums from ....

[MilT0s]

A very nice one Kerry.

You definitely have to consider Eugen's and Dave's PP suggestions. There is a wonderful image hidden there.

[JPS]

Hi Kerry,
I agree with the other's here. I have altered your picture in PP, as I too could see the potential in it, if just a few small adjustments were made. I hope you have the time to make the adjustments, based on the advice given, as I'm sure you will be happy with the results.
A good start and welcome to the forum.

[stardelta]

Hi Kerry, beautiful image. I agree with the others and have just followed Eugen's advice and done the same as john.
I had a little play with pp and just straightened the horizon and added saturation and it improved things straight away.
As john said i too hope you find the time to make a few alterations, and then you wil have a keeper.
Thanks for sharing and also, welcome to cic.

[Kdfrank]

Thanks to all for the helpful ideas. Here's the result of everyone's input. Great suggestions all, a much improved photo!

~ Kerry

[Dave Humphries]

That's good Kerry, I like the new crop with beach into the corner, etc.

Good progress - Now we need to address the tonal range; which looks too flat and the black point is too high.

What PP software do you have and are you familiar with the Levels dialog and Local Contrast Enhancement?

There are tutorials here on both topics I believe.

[Geoff F]

Not sure what you wanted from this shot, Kerry.

If you want sharp surf, you are looking at a rather fast shutter speed, say 1,1000 approx. Which will cause other problems in reduced light conditions.

Slow shutters will always cause motion blur in the waves. But a lot of people like that effect.

Look at the edges of those rocks. They seem reasonably sharp.

Using the timer will help, providing there isn't any tripod slippage, or wind movement which alters the composition; as I am all too familiar with.

Alternatively, using mirror lock up, preferable with cable release will give good results for slow shots.

[Dave Humphries]

I just moved a couple of posts (by Wayne and Geoff) from another duplicate thread to this one.

[Kdfrank]

Geoff - good idea on the mirror lock up! To your question, I was wanting the surf blurred as it is but the rocks, etc seem a bit upsharp compared to some the beautiful images I've browsed at CiC. I'll try your suggestion on the next trip out.

~Kerry

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain

[Kdfrank]

That's good Kerry, I like the new crop with beach into the corner, etc.

Good progress - Now we need to address the tonal range; which looks too flat and the black point is too high.

What PP software do you have and are you familiar with the Levels dialog and Local Contrast Enhancement?

There are tutorials here on both topics I believe.

Thanks Dave. The PP software I use is Adobe Lightroom 4. The image "as shot" is quite flat contrast wise. Both posted images have increased contrast, vibrance and saturation. The term "black point" is new to me though. I will definitely check in on the tutorials

Regards ~ Kerry

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain

[Kdfrank]

Wonderful suggestion Dave. In searching CiC on "black point compensation" I found some helpful tips on black clipping. I then found a slider in LR4 called...you got it, "Blacks" On a scale of -100 ~ +100 I lowered the value to -67.
This image looks more like the day felt at the beach.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 24-70mm, F2.8, .04 sec at F/ 18 ISO 200

[Kdfrank]

A big thank you for all of your comments and criticisms on my first post. Your thoughts and time are very much appreciated. I hope to be able to take what's been learned and return the favor to others here at CiC!