Sunset & night pic C&C pls

Hi,

I've happen to visit a hill in my city along with my friends for a photo session, we took some pics of the sunset & only changes done is changed the WB in DPP for both

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Maybe you should combine them. Take the sky out of the top one and put it on the bottom one and possibly lighten the bottom a little.

I like the first one. I'd crop off the foreground (and then a little bit of the top to balance that out). The second one doesn't hold any interest.

Thanks guys, will try out the suggestions

Welcome to the forum, EnfieldRyder. You have a great vantage point to shoot from there. You've got some good elements in #1 - forground interest (the cracked earth), mid-ground (city) and distant elements (mountains and sunset sky). I think you can do more with these elements as you experiment from this location. Did you use a tripod for this shot and do you own an graduated neutral-density filter for your lens?

My exif viewer can't see the exif data of your photo - do you know what aperture (f-stop) you were using? The image is lacking in sharpness (I realize there is a haze present, but a sharper overall image should be possible). The foreground and city areas are quite dark which limits their contribution to the image. There is far, far too much sky showing in this image. I would crop out literally 2/3's of the sky and trim about 1/4 of the forground at the bottom out. These suggested crops make a strong argument for shooting in landscape orientation from the start to minimize the need to crop the image at all.

If you'd like, you can go into your account settings and turn the "IMAGE EDITING OK" banner on in your posts. This will allow other forum members to perform edits and post a modified version of your photo, which is much more effective than attempting to type a description of techniques to try.

Hope you enjoy your stay in the forums. There is a great deal of experience to benefit from here.

Regards,
Mark

EXIF info for the first Image as below

Aperture: F5.6
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 18mm
Metering: Spot

EXIF of 2nd photograph

Aperture: F8.0
Exposure: 4 seconds
ISO: 200
Focal Lenght: 28mm
Metering: Spot

I have used a tripod which is a cheap plastic one, did not buy it borrowed it from a friend who is not going to use it much. I do not have any ND or GND filters. I tried to play around with the aperture & shutter speed to keep the sky blowing out.

I have enabled Image editing, I do not mind my images being edited

Thanks for the response ImageMogul

I don't care for either one.

In the first one, what is the subject? If it's the sunset, your foreground is dark and empty and your middleground is muddled with all those houses which are boring. It may mean something to you since you live there and are familiar with it, but to others it's just houses and I wish you found somewhere else to take a sunset photo.

The second one is just dark urban sprawl with lights from the houses. Nothing really interesting to me in it at all.

EnfieldRyder wrote in post #13374138
EXIF info for the first Image as below

Aperture: F5.6
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 18mm
Metering: Spot

I have used a tripod which is a cheap plastic one, did not buy it borrowed it from a friend who is not going to use it much. I do not have any ND or GND filters. I tried to play around with the aperture & shutter speed to keep the sky blowing out.

For landscape shots such as this, you will need to use a much smaller (higher numerically) aperature setting and a much slower shutter speed (this is what makes the tripod a must). Experiment with settings of F18 or higher. F5.6 would tend to get a small portion of the image (whatever area you spot focused upon) in focus, but will leave the rest in a blur. Jump on Adorama or whatever your favorite camera site is and order an ND Grad for your lens. You really need one for shots such as this.

Numenorean wrote in post #13374974
I don't care for either one...The second one is just dark urban sprawl with lights from the houses. Nothing really interesting to me in it at all.

I agree that both of these images should probably be "filed". I think the scene in #1 could could work if reshot in the presence of interesting lighting/sun angle/etc. and with proper camera settings, filter and tripod.

Enfield, take your best shot and license the reshot image to the city as a advertising/promo photo...

Regards,
Mark