Make it better?
- Thread starter LusbyMom
- Start date
hvp05
Methodically disorganized
First, I would kill the second (bottom) image. The scene did not actually look like that, and it definitely is not a pleasing image. However the scene was metered - either by you or the camera, the shadow areas were used as the target, so everything got shifted brighter than it should have. If in doubt, let the subject fall into shadow rather than lose it in the highlights. (That's applicable to just about every subject matter.)
The first image is better and does follow that guideline I just mentioned. The right half is nice with the light source, clouds and distinct trees coming together successfully. But the left half is missing something. There is too much shadow there, with the tree line creating a black mass. I'm wondering how it would have looked if you had recomposed it so the right half moved to the left side, or even if you'd zoomed in a bit.
The first image is better and does follow that guideline I just mentioned. The right half is nice with the light source, clouds and distinct trees coming together successfully. But the left half is missing something. There is too much shadow there, with the tree line creating a black mass. I'm wondering how it would have looked if you had recomposed it so the right half moved to the left side, or even if you'd zoomed in a bit.
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forceofnature
Guest
Shoot in RAW several of the same image and HDR the photo. If you want more range. Otherwise I would stick with #1 #2 looks way over exposed.
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forceofnature
Guest
My attempt
Here is what I could do with the two photos in an HDR program. Not the best but you can get an idea.
Here is what I could do with the two photos in an HDR program. Not the best but you can get an idea.
I
Inkpen
Guest
I like the first one...very beautiful and I like the right hand shift..
You asked how to make it better...soI took it into PS3 and "tweeked" it...cleaned it up a bit and cropped it.
May I show it to you?
I do photo restoration and repair work and it is by "eye", so I can't really tell you the "technical" stuff.
Oh...toss teh 2nd one..IMHO....
Nice job!!! You are doing well!!!!
You asked how to make it better...soI took it into PS3 and "tweeked" it...cleaned it up a bit and cropped it.
May I show it to you?
I do photo restoration and repair work and it is by "eye", so I can't really tell you the "technical" stuff.
Oh...toss teh 2nd one..IMHO....
Nice job!!! You are doing well!!!!
I
Inkpen
Guest
Here is what I could do with the two photos in an HDR program. Not the best but you can get an idea.
Very nice!!!!!!
I like the left hand lead in with the light thru the trees bringing to to the tree to the right...very nice soft eye path!!!
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forceofnature
Guest
Very nice!!!!!!
I like the left hand lead in with the light thru the trees bringing to to the tree to the right...very nice soft eye path!!!
Thanks! Hope to see yours soon.
I
Inkpen
Guest
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forceofnature
Guest
Sunset color is very good and darkened image enhances the reflection in the water.
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I
Inkpen
Guest
The basic composition of the scene and the color are just fine!
Lusby mom, you have a very good eye!!!
Just a bit of a crop and removed the white patches as they were distracting..and sharpened it a bit to make it more crisp...just 3 minutes in digital post production...nothing more.
LusbyMom
You're a LOON :)
Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. Both photos were taken straight from the camera with no post processing. The actual view was somewhere in the middle of the two that I posted here.
These were taken at my brother's house and it was my first time using the tripod. I kept changing all of the settings and using different modes. I didn't move the photo more to the right because to the right of the trees was several houses. It helps to get feed back for next time
These were taken at my brother's house and it was my first time using the tripod. I kept changing all of the settings and using different modes. I didn't move the photo more to the right because to the right of the trees was several houses. It helps to get feed back for next time
MrX
High Octane
Lusbymom,
I think if you had opened up the aperture some you would have had a much better image, F/16 looks to be not letting enough light in for the 1/60 shutter speed. Are you looking at the cameras light meter when composing the shot and/or the histogram afterward?
forceofnature,
nice work, that looks much better!
I think if you had opened up the aperture some you would have had a much better image, F/16 looks to be not letting enough light in for the 1/60 shutter speed. Are you looking at the cameras light meter when composing the shot and/or the histogram afterward?
forceofnature,
nice work, that looks much better!
LusbyMom
You're a LOON :)
Lusbymom,
I think if you had opened up the aperture some you would have had a much better image, F/16 looks to be not letting enough light in for the 1/60 shutter speed. Are you looking at the cameras light meter when composing the shot and/or the histogram afterward?
forceofnature,
nice work, that looks much better!
Can you explain that to me?
Here are two more that I did. It seriously amazes me how different a shot can look just by changing the settings and/or mode the camera is set in. I have always liked taking pictures but this camera and this forum have taught me so much.
This first shot is with the aperture at F/29. Dumb question? Do I want it higher or lower to open it up more?
LusbyMom
You're a LOON :)
Here is what I could do with the two photos in an HDR program. Not the best but you can get an idea.
How the heck do you do that?
The other day I downloaded a trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 It's confusing.
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forceofnature
Guest
How the heck do you do that?
The other day I downloaded a trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 It's confusing.
Most of it is done by the program. I adjust the output settings once tonemapping is done. The most popular application seems to be Photomatix. I use qtpfsgui which is a free application I think available for all computer OS.
I Use Linux so far qtpfsgui is the only application for HDR I could find for that OS.
jbr13
www.jbr.smugmug.com
If your looking to get a better image when you shot a sunset like this, some times it is good to use Spot meter mode. With matrix metering, sunsets trick the cameras exposure into being to dark or to bright often time. If you use spot metering you can control this a little better, if you choose the correct point to meter. Once is Spot metering mode, you camera uses your focus point that you see through the viewer. It takes the light reading there for the exposure of the picture. If you get to close to the brightness of the sun you will end up with a much darker picture overall. If you meter in the shadows you will have a sky that is off the charts bright. You want to meter the sky off to the side of the brightness of the sun. You would want to do this right around where I put the dots on you original picture.
This is a good time to use AE Lock, so you can point at these spots and hold you AE-L button and then recompose to focus on what you want in focus.
Make sure you set you camera to lock AE Only and not AE/AF.
This is a good time to use AE Lock, so you can point at these spots and hold you AE-L button and then recompose to focus on what you want in focus.
Make sure you set you camera to lock AE Only and not AE/AF.
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I
Inkpen
Guest
Can you explain that to me?
Here are two more that I did. It seriously amazes me how different a shot can look just by changing the settings and/or mode the camera is set in. I have always liked taking pictures but this camera and this forum have taught me so much.
This first shot is with the aperture at F/29. Dumb question? Do I want it higher or lower to open it up more?
Try bracketing the shot..shoot 2 stops up and 2 stops down,
Over expose and then under expose...a lot of my sunsets I underexpose and it comes out a tad darker....and I do a lot of bracketing.