First try with PS - Sunset pic

[mnealtx]

Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Lens: 18-55mm kit lens
Focal length: 27mm
Mode: Manual
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
F-stop: F/11
Aperture value: F/11
ISO 200
Handheld shot

Converted from RAW by RAWshooter - adjusted levels and applied unsharp mask (defaults) in Photoshop.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Becca]

I like this very much. Nice job!

[mnealtx]

Thank you! I was trying to catch that one ray of sunlight coming through the clouds without making the rest too dark.

I'm still an absolute beginner at this - if I can get even 1/4 as good at photography and post-processing as some of y'all I'll be more than satisfied!

[Burodsx]

Since you mentioned you were trying to capture that ray of light, I cropped the picture to look more like a vertical shot. Though really horizontal works best with pictures of Sunup and Sundown, I thought this might inspire you some since you really wanted that ray of light.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/7964/sunsetbondsteel4dv.jpg

I somewhat lost interest in the picture with all of the dark clouds. I found the white clouds and the orange clouds to be VERY interesting though.

[mnealtx]

I like that crop - it captures the light really well. I think I may play with it a bit and re-post - thanks for the idea!

[mnealtx]

Changed the crop, brought the lower end up just a bit with curves, added USM, although perhaps a bit much with the JPG compression added in... your thoughts?