Sunset

I took this picture while camping last year. No PP work has been done on this image. I have always been fascinated by sunsets and took many shots that weekend as the sun set over the lake. This is one of my favorites. I'm not very experienced at capturing a sunset and if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi Jess,
I really like how you captured the reflection of the sunset light in the clouds...very golden and delicate. Now I'm new around her myself, so I don't know exactly how to accomplish this, but I think the foreground is very dark...there might be a way to bring out the light on the water much more. If somehow you can bring the trees out enough that they can be distinguished from the background, so much the better!

Hi Jessica,

20 minutes earlier and you would have the dying embers of the sun in the picture! So get there early!

I do like the picture. The dark trees outlined against the sky are always dramatic. Getting some red light between hills as the sun sets is also an added attraction if you can get it. At least you have some of the light in the water.

If this was for a page spread there is a lot of space for text. However, not having the trunk of the tree on the left showing is a big loss! Just my take. Do you have the file in RAW? If so process one for the tree on the left and the otehr for the hills and sky and merge.

I'd take this as a practice shot and chase the sun. You'll find that the sun will set the water on fire and bracketing it will give you a very rich shot which can be darkened to taste. This is an area for study and patience.

Asher

I think this is the direction that Asher would like you to go with your picture. I think I prefer the original;-) (for once!)

Yes, Nicolas,

That's the direction. As you yourself can see, one quickly loses the power as we get brighter.

This is a complex issue which can only be solved by carefully working in the form of the tree in the left and its trunk but not losing the magic of the sunset in the original picture. The tree on the right can be kept dark, very dark in fact. However, it's the tree in the left which is the challenge to harmonize its whole form with the rest of the picture.

If you have the RAW image, then one can re process as two layers as I suggested above.

Taking the picture 20 minutes or so earlier, would even be better perhaps. This is where, BTW, the extra 1.5 stops of the Leica M8, the Leica R8 R9 with the DMR digital back, the Canon 1DIII or else a MF back with 14-16 BIT pixels, would allow one to optimize this difficult scene.

Jessica, taking a picture of black against white as in a silouhette is , of course, not difficult at all. Taking a rich tonal picture of the brides dress with shades of white against the grooms dark suit with many intermediate dark tones is much harder. This picture of a sunset, so deceptively simple, is even more difficult IMHO to render to the extent it deserves.

Keep at it! You are doing a great job!

Asher

Asher,
I don't have this image in RAW. I've only shot in RAW once or twice, mostly because I don't know process a RAW file. I'll have to do some homework on that, since that seems to be what is better. I do have a few other pictures of this sunset, some earlier, some later, since I wasn't sure how any of them would turn out. I'll have to go through those pictures and post one from a little earlier and one from a little later than that shot.

Quite nice, but I'm going to contradict Asher's suggestion and posit that later might be better than earlier. Since the horizon is so high the sun really hasn't set yet. Later the colors are often deeper plus you won't have to deal with as great a dynamic range. I think there are enough clouds to still provide nice reflections in the water.

RAW would also help with the dynamic range issue, but it does require more work. The price of flexibility.

Aaron

Alright, here are images from before the first one I posted was shot.





This one was taken shortly after the first one.