Sunset at Macritchie Reservoir

[cheesy]

1.in what area is critique to be sought?
I would like feedback on the composition, colours, comments and criticism.

2.what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
A nice scenery.

3.under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Did this when most of the outing goers have left, not so crowded.

4.what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

• Not that bad? like the reflection of the sky and clouds with some yellow tint of sunlight together with the street lights. with the floating platform the overall scene will not look too empty.
• exposed for 122.4 secs on f/11. cant remember if its on ND filter or circular polarizer. straight from camera, did cropping only.

 

[ed9119]

I must say, this is a lovely mix of cool blue and tinges of warm clouds in your images...horizon seems smack in the middle but it adds to the almost clinical feel of your image

 

[jor2704]

super take. i prefer the horizon be lower like 1/3 rule , the reflection on the water is taking too much focus of the pic.

 

[jed091270]

nice one!:thumbsup:

 

[JonQuek]

Nice...I would have cropped a little more of the top and bottom....just a little, may be 1/6..

Nicely taken. Not sure if HDR can add some details to the landscape....

My 2 cts...

 

[candycaine]

exposed for 122.4 secs on f/11.

Any particular reason why you exposed for... 122.4s and at f11? Seems like you are doing bulb, but I don't quite understand how that helps.

super take. i prefer the horizon be lower like 1/3 rule , the reflection on the water is taking too much focus of the pic.

Not really. The fact that the horizon is smack in the center should, by right, give equal weightage to the top and bottom. I think, it seems bottom-heavy because the tones of the water are slightly darker.

Not related to the above comment, but still regarding the horizon- it doesn't seem straight to me either- I think, due to the optical illusion arising from the land on the left angling away from the camera sensor.

Nicely taken. Not sure if HDR can add some details to the landscape....

I doubt HDR will add much, at this timing.



Further comments: I don't particularly like how the floating platform overlaps with the reflections. I think, if you want to just showcase the sky and reflections, the sky ought to be interesting enough to be showcased. Here, it is not. That, together with the lack of foreground elements means the photo is, well, relatively uninteresting.

That said, keep shooting- I think now is not the best time to shoot sunset.

Hope this helps

 

[cheesy]

I must say, this is a lovely mix of cool blue and tinges of warm clouds in your images...horizon seems smack in the middle but it adds to the almost clinical feel of your image

super take. i prefer the horizon be lower like 1/3 rule , the reflection on the water is taking too much focus of the pic.

nice one!:thumbsup:

Nice...I would have cropped a little more of the top and bottom....just a little, may be 1/6..

Nicely taken. Not sure if HDR can add some details to the landscape....

My 2 cts...

thanks for the kind feedback!

 

[cheesy]

Any particular reason why you exposed for... 122.4s and at f11? Seems like you are doing bulb, but I don't quite understand how that helps.



Not really. The fact that the horizon is smack in the center should, by right, give equal weightage to the top and bottom. I think, it seems bottom-heavy because the tones of the water are slightly darker.

Not related to the above comment, but still regarding the horizon- it doesn't seem straight to me either- I think, due to the optical illusion arising from the land on the left angling away from the camera sensor.



I doubt HDR will add much, at this timing.



Further comments: I don't particularly like how the floating platform overlaps with the reflections. I think, if you want to just showcase the sky and reflections, the sky ought to be interesting enough to be showcased. Here, it is not. That, together with the lack of foreground elements means the photo is, well, relatively uninteresting.

That said, keep shooting- I think now is not the best time to shoot sunset.

Hope this helps

i can only achieve 2mins of exposure time with bulb mode. some say if on cropped sensor if go beyond f/11 will have distortion, not sure if its true or not but i still capped it at f/11 anyway.

i agree with your stand on the "uneven" horizon. i actually checked with a spirit-leveler and it seems ok, or maybe i should be more precise.

how do you know when is the best time to shoot sunset? how to define if the clouds are interesting enough?

 

[candycaine]

i can only achieve 2mins of exposure time with bulb mode. some say if on cropped sensor if go beyond f/11 will have distortion, not sure if its true or not but i still capped it at f/11 anyway.

No, what I meant was WHY you chose to expose for 2 minutes- although this is probably out of curiosity rather than anything.

i agree with your stand on the "uneven" horizon. i actually checked with a spirit-leveler and it seems ok, or maybe i should be more precise.

No, your spirit leveler won't help, because one of the opposite banks is not parallel to your camera sensor, even if your camera sensor is parallel to the ground. I'm not quite sure how else to explain this, except that it does arise.

how do you know when is the best time to shoot sunset? how to define if the clouds are interesting enough?

How interesting clouds are- that's personal preference. But you can think about colours and patterns for a start. Here, the colours are dull and the brown and blue tones seem to oppose each other.

Best time to shoot sunset? Now is still monsoon season. Maybe wait a month or two.

 

[Eworms]

Stunning! and speechless:thumbsup:

 

[tanwji87]

very nice reflections...

 

[flyfox]

I must say, this is a lovely mix of cool blue and tinges of warm clouds in your images...horizon seems smack in the middle but it adds to the almost clinical feel of your image

Yes, i totally agree with this. the picture is very well taken, exposure wise, its perfect and i like the floating woody thingy.

But the sky looks abit ordinary and nt very interesting. Perhaps you should look forward for a better timing.

It's a nice photo anyway and keep it up!

Lastly wish you a happy new year!!

 

[cheesy]

No, what I meant was WHY you chose to expose for 2 minutes- although this is probably out of curiosity rather than anything.



No, your spirit leveler won't help, because one of the opposite banks is not parallel to your camera sensor, even if your camera sensor is parallel to the ground. I'm not quite sure how else to explain this, except that it does arise.



How interesting clouds are- that's personal preference. But you can think about colours and patterns for a start. Here, the colours are dull and the brown and blue tones seem to oppose each other.

Best time to shoot sunset? Now is still monsoon season. Maybe wait a month or two.

erm because i needed a longer exposure timing given the situation? :think:

anything else i should look out for?

 

[cheesy]

Stunning! and speechless:thumbsup:

very nice reflections...

Yes, i totally agree with this. the picture is very well taken, exposure wise, its perfect and i like the floating woody thingy.

But the sky looks abit ordinary and nt very interesting. Perhaps you should look forward for a better timing.

It's a nice photo anyway and keep it up!

Lastly wish you a happy new year!!

thank you guys for the kind feedback!

 

[Jedi R]

The reflection from the water does caused some distraction but overall, I like it...

 

[Akatsuki]

very serene feeling :thumbsup:

though i personally prefer the picture to follow the 1/3 rule... then again, if you do it, the reflection might not be as obvious... mmm.

 

[candycaine]

erm because i needed a longer exposure timing given the situation? :think:

You can open up your aperture and remove your ND or CPL. Not sure if such a long exposure is necessary given that Macritchie waters are quite smooth. This is down to personal preference anyways.

 

[cheesy]

You can open up your aperture and remove your ND or CPL. Not sure if such a long exposure is necessary given that Macritchie waters are quite smooth. This is down to personal preference anyways.

open up aperture? why would i want to open up the aperture when i need a large DOF? filter or not is another issue. there may be still a need for longer exposure even if the water "appears" to be smooth as there are other considerations as well.

 

[cheesy]

The reflection from the water does caused some distraction but overall, I like it...

very serene feeling :thumbsup:

though i personally prefer the picture to follow the 1/3 rule... then again, if you do it, the reflection might not be as obvious... mmm.

thank you guys.

interested to know how you guys will fame this shot by following the 1/3 rule.

 

[candycaine]

open up aperture? why would i want to open up the aperture when i need a large DOF? filter or not is another issue. there may be still a need for longer exposure even if the water "appears" to be smooth as there are other considerations as well.

You are shooting at f11. You can go down a stop to f8 and half your shutter speed, without losing noticeable DOF. Not in this picture anyway.

Since you say there "may be a need for a longer exposure", as there are "other considerations", could you enlighten me what these considerations are?