Sunset on the lake

[Camuru]

I took this shot as the sun was setting over Lake Waukewan in New Hampshire. It was my first attempt at a sunset on a water setting. Any ideas on how to improve and get a better shot of the sunlight playing on the water?


Camera: Kodak EasyShare Z8612 IS
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 22.2 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire





Thanks in advance for any help you can give, I appreciate all comments!

[Createbeauty]

Beautiful, I think I would prefer for the entire shot to be in focus though.

[Camuru]

Would this be a better composition? There isn't as much of the orange from the sunset but the focus is better.

[ednorm]

I really like the first shot better, it to me sets a dreamy mood to the picture capturing the feeling of the day wearing down and slumber time ahead.

ed

[theArchitect]

I prefer the second one - there's no point of interest for the eye to settle on in the first one.

[Camuru]

Thanks for the help guys

[abhijnanm]

Originally Posted by theArchitect

I prefer the second one - there's no point of interest for the eye to settle on in the first one.

I agree with the architect.The first photo does sort have a dreamy feeling but in the second one the contrast of red and blue and the trees on the left of the frame adds a lot to it as a picture. Nice work.

[navcom]

I think your shots work well for practicing color and settings, etc., but the composition is not compelling if that is what you are going for. One of the best pieces of advice you can get in photography is to compose an image first and foremost and then set your camera settings and choose a lens, etc.

You need a center of interest...something to draw you in. A sunset or colorful sky is not usually a very good center of interest. It looks wonderful when you are standing there looking at it but it is usually quite boring in a photograph. We've all seen pretty skies. It's akin to taking a picture of just a tree or a hill.

I always compare a sunset to frosting on a cake. Most people don't eat plain frosting, but when you put it on a cake, it sets off the cake and makes it even more enjoyable than cake alone. A sunset or colorful sky needs to "set off" something else...shine down on the center of interest to add to the picture.

Here is an example. This first picture is just a sunrise. It doesn't look that bad, but there is no subject to draw you in...just a pretty sunrise....



Here is the exact same sunrise, but this time I've included a pier which point towards the sunrise. It also uses the rule of thirds quite extensively (position of the sun, the pier, the horizon, etc.) The sunrise and the colors add dramatics to the scene, but the pier is what pulls you in...



As for color, I would recommend using the "shade" white balance setting for sunrises or colorful skies. It produces a warmer tone and usually pulls out the reds and yellows of a sunset better than "daylight" or other settings. Or better yet, custom set the WB for the scene if your camera is capable.

And use a tripod whenever possible. I'm assuming that you didn't on the first one and had it zoomed in quite a bit?

Hope that helps!

[Camuru]

Originally Posted by navcom

As for color, I would recommend using the "shade" white balance setting for sunrises or colorful skies. It produces a warmer tone and usually pulls out the reds and yellows of a sunset better than "daylight" or other settings. Or better yet, custom set the WB for the scene if your camera is capable.

And use a tripod whenever possible. I'm assuming that you didn't on the first one and had it zoomed in quite a bit?

Hope that helps!

I'm a newbie to digital photography as a serious hobby and so am working with a cheap Kodak easy share, and am still attempting to figure out the best settings for each photo I take.

I'm unsure what you mean by "shade white balance"-- can you explain that? My camera has a "sunset" setting, but as you can see only works when not zoomed in (as I was int the first).

I don't have a tripod yet, but it's the first thing on my wish list. Thankfully the Kodak had a screw in for one


Thank you so much for the constructive criticism/suggestions... I truly appreciate them and the chance they give me for making myself a better photographer.

[navcom]

Most cameras come with preset white balance settings...usually something along the lines of "daylight", "shade", "cloudy", "incandescent", "fluorescent", etc. which will use a preset white balance program to approximate the color tones for that type of scene. They are not always accurate but are a good starting point. Many cameras come with a "custom" setting where you can manually set the white balance exactly to the scene.

The "shade" setting is usually warmer than other settings...that is, it has more reddish tones than bluish tones.

Point and shoot cameras are great cameras but they are designed to be as simple as possible (thus the term "point and shoot"). This means that by default there is a lot of decisions automatically decided by the camera so the user doesn't have to know that much about the mechanics of photography and still have the best chance of getting a good picture. A SLR type camera has more manual options that give more control to the photographer. Both are still cameras and have no control over photo composition. That's still in your hands.

Good luck and happy photography!