Newbie First Try @ Sunset

[babytweety]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition,exposure,etc... all comments are welcome....lots to learnfor newbie.

2. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Pic taken during sunset.

3. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture?
I like the calmness the photo potrays. With the colour of the sky and shape of the cloud.Somehow, I felt that maybe I can do better exposure on that dark areas such as that shelter... (sorry dont know what it is called )

My first beginner outing with cleonbus that day. Taking sunset shots with my D5100.

 

[babytweety]

Oops! sorry guys..didn't know that the photo was not attached!

Here is the photo. Pls do comment.

[/url][/IMG]

 

[evilorgi]

you exposure lighting is pretty alright... but is it me or your horizon is a lil tilted???

 

[David Kwok]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition,exposure,etc... all comments are welcome....lots to learnfor newbie.

2. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Pic taken during sunset.

3. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture?
I like the calmness the photo potrays. With the colour of the sky and shape of the cloud.Somehow, I felt that maybe I can do better exposure on that dark areas such as that shelter... (sorry dont know what it is called )

My first beginner outing with cleonbus that day. Taking sunset shots with my D5100.

Pretty nice with the silhouette, but there are some posterization with the gradient. Not sure that is on purpose ? It might be the way you post processed the image that resulted in the 'stepped' gradient effect.

On whole, the mood is good, the sky can be improved either using a gradient filter, or if you like, you can use layering to bring down a little of the sky exposure. It will make the silky clouds be more apparent I believe.

Exposure is correct or wrong will depends on what you wanted in the first place. Based on what I see now, I think I can accept it without knowing if what you want is to show the details of the pavilion or not. For me, shadow works fine with the mood.

As for the horizon, I'm personally not too anal about it, but it's something you might wanna take note of too.

If you like to have a different feeling, you can also use long exposure to smooth out the water and see if the overall effect feels different or better. For this image, it seems fine given it's pretty peaceful.

It might also be better if after you stop down on the sky exposure, apply a cool filter to make the image less orange. This will bring out the blueness of the sky too. Here is a slightly post-processed of your image to give you a different feel, see if you might like it.
demo1.jpg

Cheers.

 

[babytweety]

you exposure lighting is pretty alright... but is it me or your horizon is a lil tilted???

Thanks for your comment!
Hmm... from my view, I cant tell.. Maybe it is....

 

[babytweety]

Pretty nice with the silhouette, but there are some posterization with the gradient. Not sure that is on purpose ? It might be the way you post processed the image that resulted in the 'stepped' gradient effect.

On whole, the mood is good, the sky can be improved either using a gradient filter, or if you like, you can use layering to bring down a little of the sky exposure. It will make the silky clouds be more apparent I believe.

Exposure is correct or wrong will depends on what you wanted in the first place. Based on what I see now, I think I can accept it without knowing if what you want is to show the details of the pavilion or not. For me, shadow works fine with the mood.

As for the horizon, I'm personally not too anal about it, but it's something you might wanna take note of too.

If you like to have a different feeling, you can also use long exposure to smooth out the water and see if the overall effect feels different or better. For this image, it seems fine given it's pretty peaceful.

It might also be better if after you stop down on the sky exposure, apply a cool filter to make the image less orange. This will bring out the blueness of the sky too. Here is a slightly post-processed of your image to give you a different feel, see if you might like it.
demo1.jpg

Cheers.

Thanks for your comment!
I did minor PP on the saturation only. Maybe that caused the posterization. I got 2 questions. Hope you can help a bit.

1) If I want to show the details of the pavillion, how do I do it the right way? I knew that I must meter the eg the water, to get the correct exposure. Correct me if I'm wrong. I have tried many times that day. If I can get details on the pavillion, the sky will be too bright or overexposed.

2) In this pic, I underexposed by a stop or two. Cant recall exactly. Noted on the ling exposure and filter.

 

[shaoken]

Enlarged for TS. Easier to view.

-----

Anyway, a nice shot for a beginner.
One thing you can consider looking into is the colour contrast.

This seems a little flat for a sunset.
Just my thoughts.

 

[small pig]

This is a sillihoutte shot. Unless yr flash can reach the hut, else it will be either yr sky over exposed or as wat yr pic is showing.

Not sure if Hdr using bracketing does help.. not good in that too

 

[David Kwok]

1) If I want to show the details of the pavillion, how do I do it the right way? I knew that I must meter the eg the water, to get the correct exposure. Correct me if I'm wrong. I have tried many times that day. If I can get details on the pavillion, the sky will be too bright or overexposed.

2) In this pic, I underexposed by a stop or two. Cant recall exactly. Noted on the ling exposure and filter.

Different situation can use different methods. From your image, I can't exactly tell the real scene, but I suppose the dynamic range is too large for the camera (usually the case). If you want to show just a bit of the pavilion details, then you can meter the sky, then use the exposure compensation to tweak the exposure by a couple of notches up so that the shutter speed will be slightly slower. This may allow more details from the shadow areas. Doing so will make the sky slightly over exposed which may be a good or bad thing depending on the outcome.

Since in point (2), you stopped down, the obviously the shadow will be more pronounced as you can see.

For your case, you can also attempt a gradient ND filter to help keep the exposure of the sky down, so that you can pump up the exposure longer to bring the details in the shadows.

The last that I know is the obvious HDRI approach. Take 2 scenes. Meter the sky, take a shot. Stop down if you like, the objective is to get the nice sky exposed. Next meter the pavilion or any other parts of the shadow and take a shot to correct expose the pavilion. Here you are in control, so you are free to under exposure or over expose to create the mood you want. Remember, the scene is obviously out of range in terms of dynamics. Trying to squeeze them together linearly may turn out bad at times, so you need to know what you want to achieve. Then using layering in photoshop, merge by using masking technique. This is the simplest form of HDRI.

If you have a software such as Photomatix to help you with the blending. Then just do a couple of bracketing shots at different exposure. The number of exposure and the difference in exposure can be set as according in your camera. Take anything between 3 to 7 shots. Inspect that the exposure between the highlights and shadows are all covered. Then import into the HDR software for manipulation. Use your imagination to either re-create the scene or the mood you wanted to present.

 

[edutilos-]

GND will not help here for details on the pavillion, merely for those stones at the bottom.

If you want more details you will have to use manual blending of 2 exposures, or HDR with Photomatix (or equivalent). My preference is for the former.

Details and details aside, you should settle the composition first and foremost. Other than what others have mentioned about the horizon being tilted, I would prefer it if:

1) Framing was more to the right. The pavillion seems a little truncated as it is.
2) A few steps forward, or raising your view would SEPARATE the pavillion's reflection from the stones. Right now it's blending with them, which can spoil the picture a little.

Cheers.

 

[babytweety]

Sorry for the late reply. Been buzy for a while.

Thanks guys for your comments and tips. Will take note of everything and will try again soon.