Big Meadows Sunrise

[KyleMc569]

Exposure Time 0.3333s (1/3)
Aperture f/22.0
ISO 100
Focal Length 40mm (60mm 35mm)

I know the sky is boring, so I cropped some already. I had hopes of a pretty sunrise but was disappointed with a cloudless sky.

[echo9er]

I am no expert, so take this with a grin of salt.

I like this picture. I think the composition is good. I like the deer. I like the sun flare, but the positioning of the two causes a split as to where I want to focus.

The colors are somewhat flat. Perhaps you could do some color adjustments to bring out the meadow grass. As for the sky, you might want to try and isolate it and make some adjustments to bring out some color or even use a sky from another picture.

[TW1NS]

i agree...the colors are flat.
the hill in the background cuts the deer at the eyes and is distracting...
great capture...love the sunrise...

[StormRider]

This is quite a hard shot to make since you have to decide if you want to expose for the sky or for the deer.
If you really want to make this picture work (without multiple exposures), you have to use a gradual ND-filter, so you can expose the sky and the deer correctly.
Composition-wise I think it's a good shot.

[KyleMc569]

I wanted to get the deer in front of the sunrise, but he was having none of that. The 40mm focal length actually makes him look further away than he really was.

[Palachandra]

IMO the placement looks fine... or a better close up, if you could have moved to your left. as already pointed out color tone seems bit flat, have you tried with Sepia/B&W?

Originally Posted by KyleMc569

I wanted to get the deer in front of the sunrise, but he was having none of that. The 40mm focal length actually makes him look further away than he really was.

[Peach]

I hope you don't mind, Kyle, but I took this picture into CS3 and this is what I came up with.



What I did:
Layers adjustment
Curves adjustment
Layers adjustment again
Curves again
Brightness
Added a Virtual Photographer filter
Layers adjustment
Copied original layer
On original layer, place another Virtual Photographer filter
On new layer adjusted layer style
Adjust opacity
Found sky
Copy/pasted it. Arranged it properly. Lowered opacity to correctly erase where I don't need it.
New layer.
Select sky then switch to new layer. Make a gradient using colors from the sun. Use gradient, light towards the right.
Adjust layer style
Adjust opacity.
Flatten image
Adjust layers.
Adjust brightness
Adjust shadow/highlights.
Crop.
Save.

Not sure if it turned out all that well, so you be the judge.

Again, i apologize if you didn't want anyone to do this and will gladly delete the image if you so desire.

[KyleMc569]

I like the edit, but it makes the buck a little too dark for my taste. I will try to get more color into the grass, but it was so dry in Virginia when I took that shot. Thanks for the comments.