A Simple Sunset

[Lumen Miner]

Just another simple sunset taken from my roof top. It's always a race against my tree climbing skills to get on the roof and the pinks of the sunset depleting. Fortunatley I was spritely enough to get this shot, before the sun completely dipped beyond the horizon.

Thought it was an interesting shot, if for no other reason than the colours present.

Thanks for looking!

Comments and critique more than welcomed. :)

[rastis95]

Some nice colours in there Mitch great work, did you enhance the photo at all or is it ola natural, what settings did you use.

[telecasterguru]

Mitch,

Very nice image, the sky was a similar colour when I left for work this morning.

Frank

[lacad01]

Mitchell, beautiful colours and nice silhouetting of the trees :thumbsup:

[Lumen Miner]

Thanks! Well as I was processing it, I was having a conversation about this image. I was showing my girlfriend how bumping the saturation gives you a almost surreal "WoW" looking image. You can certainly got higher with this image and it gets more and more intense / interesting. I decided not to go with the intense looking saturated version, instead I went for the more natural version with very minimal saturation increase as I thought the colours already held their own.

I always verge on not touching saturation unless it is needed. If you realy need to bump the saturation right up on your image, it normally means your image was lacking "WoW" factor from the beginning.



Indeed wasn't it amazing!! I left for work at 6am and almost all of sydney had really nice pink clouds, even to the horizon.



I am lucky I have those foreground trees. They allow my to frame the sunsets several ways. Two are gums and ones a pine tree.
I deliberatley shot to under expose the foreground as it was still light, to get that contrasty tree silouette look to them.




Thanks for the comments guys!! Much appreciated. :)

[Kevnool]

I think thats a bit more than just simple.
Colours look great.
Cheers Kev.

[Lumen Miner]

Thanks Kev!

[Steve_E]

The color, contrast and composition in this shot are outstanding. Great work.

I haven't spent much time shooting sunrises in the past couple years. I used to quite a bit but now I'm busy hiking to my bird locations before sunrise to be in position for the day's first light. I can't haul along all the glass and gear I need to get scenics along with the 500/tripod/wimberley and M2.

[Lumen Miner]

Thanks Steve your comment, has made me very happy indeed.
It is the first time anyone has said one of my photos has "outstanding" composition. The reason this is important is that on several images in the past, I have been critiqued as not having good composition (in specific critique forums not here).
The mere fact that I have produced something with atleast good composition proves, I must be learning. Having no training in photography (I must do some coarses sometime soon) at all, I am a bit left in the dark, I have read several tutourials on "golden thirds" yet feel I need to learn more.

Perhaps I just got lucky. In regards to the composition, if you have the time, what would you say is "good" about it, just for learning experience..

Thanks mate, your comment has made my afternoon. :) :D

[danielsun]

Beautiful shot there Mitch, very nice :thumbsup:

Cheers Daniel.

[Steve_E]

You're very welcome Mitchell.

The trees that flank the foreground bring both asymmetry and balance to the frame. Though they are different in weight and shape they add interest to both ends of the image. You also included just enough tree line at the bottom to add foundation while allowing maximum space for the dramatically lit sky. Choosing interesting foreground objects IMO is an important component of a dramatic sunrise or sunset composition. Scouting locations for such objects like twisted trees, boulders and even some man made structures can really spice up a shot like this. Using a torch during the exposure to cast light on the foreground objects can add a nice effect as well. Even on a desolate beach the foreground waves and water movement can make the image go from the usual to unusual.

Composition is a perpetual work in progress for me. I understand it well from my over 30 years in art and design but I keep pushing myself to try new things and "see" the image in my mind. A well thought out plan for an image not only improves your odds for success it pushes you to think through the kind of image you want from a location.

Luck will always be a welcome friend no matter what I'm photographing, I always welcome it but it seldom visits. :D

Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

[White Rabbit]

Really Nice shot, well done.