The Tree!

[ebeard2802]

I drive by this tree every day on the way home from work and have always admired it, but yesterday when I saw the sun low on the horizon behind it, I thought I'd stop and try and get a shot going for a blown out sun look in the background with the rays illuminating the tree. I got one shot in before the clouds covered the sun toning it down a bit, and then got a couple more. I took them handheld with a polarizer. These two pictures are actually two different pictures taken within about a minute of eachother of the same subject, one with a more blown out sun than the other. Just wondering which ya'll like better and what I can do to improve them.



I toned down the exposure on the first one in Photoshop Raw. Originally, the sun was a lot more blown out and the rays were more pronounced.



Exif:
Pic 1
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 39 mm
Exposure: -1.60
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Pic 2
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
Exposure: -0.80
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Thanks for your help,
Eric

[t blanchard]

Hmm, I'm sort of torn. I like the exposure on the tree better in #1, but there is a blob of lens flare right in the middle of the tree that is distracting. There is obviously some flare from the rays of the sun on the edge of the photo, but it doesn't bother me on the edge of the photo because you can tell it is coming from the rays.

The overall exposure in #2 is more even and consistent across the photo, and the colors are richer. So I guess #2.

[ebeard2802]

Thanks for your reply. I thought the same thing about the flare in the middle of the tree, but haven't had time to try and tone it down yet. I think you hit on my feelings about the two exactly. I liked the exposure better on the first one as well but liked the second one for the evenness. Also, I don't know how your monitor is, but on my computer at home when I edited the RAW image, I though I had some great exposure on the second picture until I got to work and looked at it on my work computer, and then it looked a little dark. I'm wondering if my home computer is a little too bright which is throwing me off a bit. If I get time tonight I will re-edit them both and see if I can get some better results.

Thanks,
Eric