Sunset from the Dam

[klyvers]

First critique thread and I'm fairly new to this, so please share your opinions...I can handle the truth!
Took this shot last night. Came home and adjusted the color and size in picasa (quicker than PS for me) to make it a little more powerful. Are the clouds too much? Should I crop it more? Or did I overprocess it?

*edited to insert:
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 20 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire


I have also posted the original in Flickr if you wish to view that. Thank you!!



My Flickr: Flickr: klyvers' Photostream

[navcom]

I think it's a pretty good shot. I like the rays. It might be a bit overprocessed as the blue seems a little too blue for this time of day. But I don't feel it's radically overprocessed and depending on what you are trying to achieve might be fine as it is. Of course I'm one that likes lots of color. Some don't.

I would try to straighten the horizon a bit. I know it might be "technically" straight but for the composition, it looks like it leans a bit to the right.

Hope that helps!

[Lightwriter]

Beautiful sky! I love the colors and I don't think it looks over-processed. I agree that it needs a bit of straightening.

[klyvers]

Thank you so much for your reply. I hadn't even noticed the leaning until you pointed it out!! And now I see it plain as day! Duhhh! It was a hill, but it's an easy fix to take care of.

As for the blue--I like the bright blue, but I was trying to get opinions on it...I'll straighten it up and tone it down a bit.

Voila!
Ok, here's the less processed photo: I love it!!

[navcom]

Much better on the horizon! On the colors, probably the second is better...but maybe punch it up just a very little bit for a happy medium.

Nice job.

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi klyvers,

This is a nice image! I think that your improvements are good.

I just wanted to let you know that there are different ways to adjust the color in an image. I don't know how Picasa works, but one advantage of using a program like Photoshop or Lightroom is that you have more precise control over the color. For example, I increase color by using the saturation slider just a little and then use the vibrance and clarity sliders. I find I get better color by using the these sliders. I don't know if Picasa has these controls or not. Here is a link to a quick explanation of the two here on DPS:

Making sense of Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation in Lightroom 2

Like navcom, I like lots of color in my images, especially one like this, but it needs to be realistic color. Anyway, congratulations on a really nice image.

KG

[klyvers]

KansaiGreenie,
Thanks for the nice comment. Yes, Picasa does have saturation controls, as well as Fill light, Highlights, Shadows, and Color Temp. The reason I used Picasa instead of Photoshop was time. I was in quite a hurry and didn't want to mess with getting on the other PC to mess with it. It took 2 mins to do everything and resize to send to a friend.
When I have more time to play around with the photos I do like to dabble in PS. I'm still learning my way around it though but I am looking forward to becoming more familiar with it.

Thank you for the article suggestion. I'll be sure to check it out.

[Aleix]

I think Lightroom would be great for you. Easy, intuitive controls of multiple image aspects such as colour, exposure etc. without the complexity of Photoshop.