Paint The Sky With Fire

[710 Studio]

I remember the very first photo I posted here on POTN. It was a photo of a sunset. I thought it was great with all of the reds, orange, blue, purple, and even blacks that were splashed throughout the photo. However, I was ripped to shreds for posting that photo, since sunset photos are unimaginative, boring, and the such (my opinion of THAT opinion, to this day, is still: :rolleyes: ).

Whether you find sunsets boring, or - as I do - thrilling, this scene caught my eye, this evening. So, without guilt, here it is:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/4569872056_33c70827bf_o.jpg

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Either way, comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is ALWAYS welcome.

[Jill-of-all-Trades]

I love it! Wonderful glow and I really like that the foreground is completely silhouetted. I love sunsets and will always photograph them. Even if some people find them unimaginative. I could never look at a sunset and think 'that is so boring and commonplace'.

[710 Studio]

I love it! Wonderful glow and I really like that the foreground is completely silhouetted. I love sunsets and will always photograph them. Even if some people find them unimaginative. I could never look at a sunset and think 'that is so boring and commonplace'.
To be honest, my original subject was going to be a rainbow that was in the Eastern sky. However, the rainbow just didn't have the brightness required to give the photo the kick it needed. In order to give the rainbow that kick, I would have had to process the photo to the point to where it probably would have looked unnatural. But, this sunset. Wow... I just HAD to photograph it! =]

[Jill-of-all-Trades]

I was on the other side of that rainbow. (and all the clouds). I'm straight east of you, in Ontario. We had no sunset tonight, just dark gray clouds.

[710 Studio]

I was on the other side of that rainbow. (and all the clouds). I'm straight east of you, in Ontario. We had no sunset tonight, just dark gray clouds.
We were in those clouds, all day. They looked threatening, all day, but only got a few showers out of them. We just got lucky with the timing. Just enough moisture in the air for a dramatic sunset. My only regret is, I live about 3/4 of a mile away from Lake Michigan. This would have looked cool, reflected in the water.

[slitherjef]

I think its a fantastic image!
I think many people here make photography about "art" and consider everything else, including documenting stuff not worthy.

[Jill-of-all-Trades]

It would look great over the lake! We get some amazing sunsets over Lake Huron too. We got lots of rain this morning and then after noon the sun came out and it was really nice. Clouds rolled in about 8pm again.

[710 Studio]

I think its a fantastic image!
I think many people here make photography about "art" and consider everything else, including documenting stuff not worthy.
I'm all for art. But, documenting things (even something that happens on a daily basis, such as sunsets) could be just as important. Anyway, thanks for the kind words on the photo. The important thing is, I had fun taking it!

[hawaiiboy]

I love sunsets and also really like your shot.....well done.

[710 Studio]

I love sunsets and also really like your shot.....well done.
Thanks! I bet you get some awesome sunsets in Hawaii.

[rw2]

Good shot! You might want to try and decrease the brightness a bit to make the sky even more dramatic.

[710 Studio]

Good shot! You might want to try and decrease the brightness a bit to make the sky even more dramatic.
Great tip. I did decrease the brightness from what it was, originally. Perhaps, a bit more? Something to play with. I want this thing looking the best it can, before I send it off to the printer!

[rw2]

Decreased brightness, ran noise reduction then did some burning of the lower 1/3rd. this darkened the bushes and sky behind it.

This maybe a bit more than you like but you get my intention.

[710 Studio]

Decreased brightness, ran noise reduction then did some burning of the lower 1/3rd. this darkened the bushes and sky behind it.

This maybe a bit more than you like but you get my intention.
Very nice, indeed. I haven't played with it, at all, but I see where you're going with it. Love the edit :cool:!

[curiousgeorge]

The foreground trees really do nothing for the composition and ruin the image in my opinion. The yellows too are a little hot. I've found that sunset shots need little or no processing for best results.

Otherwise I like the transition between yellow, orange and blue.

[710 Studio]

The foreground trees really do nothing for the composition and ruin the image in my opinion. The yellows too are a little hot. I've found that sunset shots need little or no processing for best results.

Otherwise I like the transition between yellow, orange and blue.
Sadly, I couldn't move the trees, or where the sun was setting, so it is what it is. As for the yellows being a bit hot, any pointers how to tame them down, while not underexposing the rest of the shot? That's the trickiest thing I've noticed about contrasty transitions, such as sunsets.

[AgeP]

I really like it.. Thank you for sharing!

[710 Studio]

I really like it.. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, AgeP. It was fun catching it!

[hunterdace]

I think the trees in the foreground serve as a reference point and add scale to the image. The colors are beautiful on their own ; but I thinkthe clouds appear even more grand with the trees as a reference point. JMO............. Alonzo

[Stime187]

Great light! I'd like to see a bit of cropping all around to tighten up the shot, especially off the top (and a bit off the bottom).

[710 Studio]

I think the trees in the foreground serve as a reference point and add scale to the image. The colors are beautiful on their own ; but I thinkthe clouds appear even more grand with the trees as a reference point. JMO............. Alonzo
Thanks for your input. Other than the trees just "being there", I too thought that the trees added kind of an anchor point, for the image. Thanks!

[710 Studio]

Great light! I'd like to see a bit of cropping all around to tighten up the shot, especially off the top (and a bit off the bottom).
Thanks for the comment. Are you positive you would crop some off the top? I ask, because the top is where most of the color changes and contrast takes place. If the top is cropped off, would that destroy some of the contrast of the sky? I guess I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this, why you would crop the top. Thanks, again, for commenting!

[Jill-of-all-Trades]

I had thought about maybe cropping the top off too. It totally turns dark at the top and lose the brilliant colors. I was thinking maybe just above the pink cloud on the left. That way you still have the color change.

[710 Studio]

I had thought about maybe cropping the top off too. It totally turns dark at the top and lose the brilliant colors. I was thinking maybe just above the pink cloud on the left. That way you still have the color change.
I just tried cropping the image just above that pink cloud on left... I just can't bring myself to like the way it looks. It tends to throw off the 1/3 dark, 1/3 bright, 1/3 ground cover pattern. But, I would like to know what everybody else thinks:

I have 2 for crop the top. I'd like to hear what others think - leave as is, or crop it?

[curiousgeorge]

Sadly, I couldn't move the trees, or where the sun was setting, so it is what it is. As for the yellows being a bit hot, any pointers how to tame them down, while not underexposing the rest of the shot? That's the trickiest thing I've noticed about contrasty transitions, such as sunsets.
Obviously I'm not saying move the trees. I'm just saying from an artistic point of view it doesn't work. In addition, because they're high they obstruct a large part of your main subject, ie the colourful sky. I appreciate you had little choice here.

In terms of the yellows, I presumed you had increased saturation. If you didn't, to tone darken the bright bottom part, if you have Lightroom, you can use the graduated filter upside down.

[jcw122]

Excellent job! What a capture! I can't believe how much the various levels of orange, yellow, and red vary in this photo!

The trees in the foreground are also perfect...very sharp and in great positions!

[curiousgeorge]

The trees in the foreground are also perfect...very sharp and in great positions!
Sorry, but the trees are anything but sharp. The 1s exposure is most likely going to cause some motion blur, plus f22 is not going to give the sharpest results.

[710 Studio]

Excellent job! What a capture! I can't believe how much the various levels of orange, yellow, and red vary in this photo!

The trees in the foreground are also perfect...very sharp and in great positions!
JCW122 - Thanks! I couldn't believe it, when I saw it! My neighbors gave me some funny looks, at first, but when they saw the sunset's colors, they couldn't help but stare, mouth agape, as well! =]

[710 Studio]

Sorry, but the trees are anything but sharp. The 1s exposure is most likely going to cause some motion blur, plus f22 is not going to give the sharpest results.
:rolleyes:
Did you stop for a moment and think that, at f/22, perhaps motion blur was my intention? If I wanted things static and in place, I would have opened up and shot with a faster shutter speed. Apparently, that is lost on you, though.

[Scatterbrained]

I like it, and I am yet to get tired of good sunset photos (I'm also yet to capture one of my own). Sunsets are like naked ladies, I never get tired of either, even though both are "unimaginative".

[Dooquie]

Great shot, who cares what people think!

[710 Studio]

I like it, and I am yet to get tired of good sunset photos (I'm also yet to capture one of my own). Sunsets are like naked ladies, I never get tired of either, even though both are "unimaginative".
Seeing that my wife frowns on my photographing nude models, I have to settle for sunsets! =] I have asked a few models if I could shoot them in the nude. But, when I started removing my shirt, they change their minds... heh heh heh

[710 Studio]

Great shot, who cares what people think!
Yeah... I know. I do like constructive critique, so that always help. People who nitpick, though, tend to pick my nerves! =] Thanks for the good words on the shot!

[curiousgeorge]

:rolleyes:
Did you stop for a moment and think that, at f/22, perhaps motion blur was my intention? If I wanted things static and in place, I would have opened up and shot with a faster shutter speed. Apparently, that is lost on you, though.
You're confused. I didn't say motion blur was an accident.

My comment was directed at the person who said the trees were sharp. See the difference?

[710 Studio]

You're confused. I didn't say motion blur was an accident.

My comment was directed at the person who said the trees were sharp. See the difference?
No confusion here. I've seen you post on two different threads in this forum - both threads were ridiculous nitpicks (seriously... the trees are in the way? What, exactly am I to do about it, if there are trees there. That's part of the scenery). See, I asked for CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Not random nitpicks generated from other people's comments (to me, the trees being sharp means that they stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the scene - rather than sharply in focus). See the difference?

[curiousgeorge]

I thought I was being constructive when I suggested ways to recover the hot areas. It's not nitpicking to me. I deliberately try to offer constructive critique (which is often in contrast to the usual "wow, it's amazing!" comments) because if it were me I would appreciate it a lot more. Positive comments do nothing to improve my photography.

Yes, I accept the trees are there and you can't move them but my approach would be to use them to strengthen the image, rather than shooting through them. So I think a square crop greatly increases the impact of the image and make the trees more of a focal point as opposed to an obstruction. Hope you don't mind my edit to show you what I mean.

http://www.georgeandreou.net/storage/Untitled-8a.jpg

[710 Studio]

I thought I was being constructive when I suggested ways to recover the hot areas. It's not nitpicking to me. I deliberately try to offer constructive critique (which is often in contrast to the usual "wow, it's amazing!" comments) because if it were me I would appreciate it a lot more. Positive comments do nothing to improve my photography.

Yes, I accept the trees are there and you can't move them but my approach would be to use them to strengthen the image, rather than shooting through them. So I think a square crop greatly increases the impact of the image and make the trees more of a focal point as opposed to an obstruction. Hope you don't mind my edit to show you what I mean.


Nope - don't mind the edits, at all. In fact, I encourage them, so your otherwise snarky comment MIGHT make some sense. However, your edit does not do the photo justice, at all, as you got rid of a lot of the contrast that I was going after, in the first place.

Keep in mind - what is "art" to you doesn't make it "right". Positive comments ARE constructive, by the way. They tell the photographer that they understand what the photographer was attempting to do and the photographer executed their goal with technical accuracy. Explaining how to tone down the highlights that you considered "too bright" WAS creative. However, I had to yank it out of you, as "the yellows are too bright" does not give me much to go on. The sunset had a lot of yellows - of course the yellows are going to be bright. But taking the time to EXPLAIN what you mean makes for a constructive comment, rather than a simple opinion.

Your edit looks decent, but as I said, it eliminates many of the features I was aiming for (the deep blues at the top, the deep contrast, etc.).

[slitherjef]

The original posters photo was FINE THE WAY IT WAS POSTED. If the OP was satisfied with the image, then EVERYONE else needs to drop it!!
Who cares if you don't find the photo artistic!? The photo recorded a scene the OP liked. Are most photographers so self-centered that you can't take a photo for what it is? A photograph!? Even if said photograph don't strike YOUR fancy, it does not mean the person who took the photo is a lesser photographer.

A camera RECORDS the image. A painter Makes one.

[hawaiiboy]

Thanks! I bet you get some awesome sunsets in Hawaii.I'm not in Hawaii......just happen to love it there.....live
in the Vancouver area of BC.

[710 Studio]

The original posters photo was FINE THE WAY IT WAS POSTED. If the OP was satisfied with the image, then EVERYONE else needs to drop it!!
Who cares if you don't find the photo artistic!? The photo recorded a scene the OP liked. Are most photographers so self-centered that you can't take a photo for what it is? A photograph!? Even if said photograph don't strike YOUR fancy, it does not mean the person who took the photo is a lesser photographer.

A camera RECORDS the image. A painter Makes one.
Wow... well said! =]

[710 Studio]

I'm not in Hawaii......just happen to love it there.....live
in the Vancouver area of BC.
Ah... ha ha ha... Vancouver is a bit different than Hawaii, isn't it? I've never been to Hawaii, nor have I been to Vancouver. Both are definitely on my places to visit, though. Hawaii for the beautiful scenery, Vancouver for its rich Industrial music history (I'm a big fan of Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly - both originally from Vancouver). But, oops... my mistake. I guess it pays to read the blurb under your profile info on the left. =P