Tree Silhouette - how to improve.

I took this as the sun was setting. I feel that this could have been a good photo, but turned out fairly mediocre. C&C welcome and any advice on improving this photo or if you had to reshoot it, how would you go about it.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/24344071@N00/8​166171959/

timing is everything. maybe 10 - 15 minutes earlier would have given you a bit more sunset light to contrast against the tree. still a nice photo though.

I like that you caught the moon.

garydogwood wrote in post #15365568
timing is everything. maybe 10 - 15 minutes earlier would have given you a bit more sunset light to contrast against the tree. still a nice photo though.

So is Photoshop enhancements and often the better way.
You can WoW it.

Just a heads-up. Oeijur does not have "Image editing OK". (Still I like the adjustment)

ammdigital wrote in post #15368126
Just a heads-up. Oeijur does not have "Image editing OK".

Good point.
Try cropping about 20% off the right side.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #15368356
Good point.
Try cropping about 20% off the right side.

This......I like the original shot.

Thanks for the feedback. Image editing is ok by me, I just haven't edited my profile yet. Unfortunately, I don't own photoshop, so my PP options are limited.

Oeijur wrote in post #15375909
Thanks for the feedback. Image editing is ok by me, I just haven't edited my profile yet. Unfortunately, I don't own photoshop, so my PP options are limited.

Just get it - any PP will be a step in the forward direction and there are many out there.
Also note the time of shot if you do sunset ...
there is a special time just after and its often called "golden time".

GIMP is a poor [Smart???] person's PhotoShop. It can be downloaded for free. It doesn't have the whiz-bang features of some of the newer, ex$pen$ive editing packages, but is priced right.

Another option would be Photoshop Elements. Which is a limited version of PS, but much less money.

Another program is Preview, which comes with a Mac--at least it came with this one--and enables basic changes such as increasing or decreasing exposure.

If you are a student or educator in K-college, or a parent of a student in K-12, check out Adobe's educational pricing. PS CS6 can get gotten for $250 (I believe that's what it was). The educational license also allows commercial usage. Homeschool parents/students count as well.

Creative Cloud, with educational discount, was $19.99, it may have gone up to $30. But, it's another option.

If you don't qualify for the educational discounts, Corel Paintshop Photo Pro and Corel AfterShot Pro (their versions of PS and LR) are in the range of $60-100 each depending on when you catch their sales.

You needed to have the lower limbs also in the silhouette, getting the full form of the tree. Also, what is that ghostly image on the lower left limb? Grasses in the foreground?

Flo wrote in post #15381876
You needed to have the lower limbs also in the silhouette, getting the full form of the tree. Also, what is that ghostly image on the lower left limb? Grasses in the foreground?

I think the blurry images are grasses in the foreground. Good suggestion on the limbs being more in the silhouette. In retrospect, it would have been better if I shot at a lower angle looking up. I wish I had more time to set up and compose the shot, but the sun had already set by the time I got to this spot, and I set up quickly to try to get some of the fading sunlight in the picture.

For PP, right now I use the i-photo editing tools on the MAC. I'll probably end up buying Aperture when I upgrade to a new computer next summer.