Serenity Exposure fusion

[hazard22083]

This photo i call "Serenity" is an Exposure fusion project. i like the natural look exposure fusion has opposed to HDR. i would like critiques on the overall saturation and exposure of this particular scene. Any other comment/critique is also greatly appreciated as i am only an amateur photographer (only 3 month of DSLR experience) willing to put time and effort into enhancing my art of photography.
thank you in advance,
Rik



Camera- Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure- 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture- f/8.0
Focal Length- 18 mm
ISO Speed- 100
Exposure Bias +4/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Orientation Unknown (0)
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi
Software PaintShop Photo Pro 13.00
Date and Time (Modified) 2011:01:09 13:59:28
Artist -Rik Zangri Photography
YCbCr Positioning Co-sited
Copyright 2011
Exposure Program Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original) 2011:01:07 18:26:49
Date and Time (Digitized) 2011:01:07 18:26:49
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time 20
Sub Sec Time Original 20
Sub Sec Time Digitized 20
Color Space Uncalibrated
Focal Plane X-Resolution 5728.176796 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 5808.403361 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode- Auto bracket
White Balance- Manual
Scene Capture Type- Standard
Compression -JPEG (old-style)

[tomdinning]

1. Blown out sections of the image are not a good idea. If you are going to use exposure blending of any sort, the main objective is to get all the exposures necessary to get detail in all the areas you want. Check your histogram on the camera after each exposure to see this happens. This will give you all the information you need to avoid loss of deail in areas such as your sky and water and the tree.
2. Keep your horizon level.
3. There's too much in the picture, especially in the foreground which distracts from the main theme of the photograph. Shift your feet a bit to avoid the grass (which is slightly blurred anyway).
4. The black branches don't really do a great deal since they come out of no-where, go no-where and have no real connection to the scene. You may have been better off stepping back and including the tree, maybe even making it the subject of the photo. After all, we've all seen sunsets before but that may be a very interesting tree we have never seen in this way before. Use the light from this time of the day but don't get over-awed by the brilliance of it all. I have a thing in my head at sunset time that says ' While everyone else is taking pictures of the sunset, turn around. The interesting light is just behind me'.
5. Clean up the rubbish before you take the shot, unless that's the point of the picture.

Overall, I would say you are trying to put too much into the image and trying the tricky stuff before you have learnt the basics. We all do that when we get a new toy. That's OK. Experiment all you like. But each time you go out photogrpahing, select a simple subject and work on photogrpahing it well. Try lots of different things you have learnt and see what effect it has. Learn to crawl before you walk.

[hazard22083]

awesome, thanks for the criticism and i will definitely start small and expand from there. thats the kind of critique you dont get from flickr or the like. i appreciate the straight-forwardness. lets see if i can put it to use.

[dandellion]

I like the sky and the water, but I'd like to see a bit more contrast in the grass area. What really bothers me is the rubbish. Too many times the job of photographer is to grab a bag and pick the litter around. think of it as a exercise in perception as well. We are used to small papers and other trash and our minds are filtering it out. But they are in the picture, and just the same as we check the corners and borders of the frame, we should learn to detect unwanted details in the photo.

[oceanillusion42]

The sky is blown out here, causing you to lose detail in the branches. I wouldn't have shot with a + exposure compensation, as this is probably causing the image to be over exposed.

[Krusty79]

I like that you included some foreground interest in the shot, but the foreground is so busy, I don't know if you wanted the viewer to focus on that or the sunset in the background. If you shot it a bit later in the day, you would have a more colorful sky and less dynamic range in the shot, so you might not have to do the exposure blending, or least do it without having to bracket so much. You might also think about getting a graduated neutral density filter for these type of shots when you want to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the ground. A good shot for a beginner, though, keep it up!

p.s. - I agree with Tom about keeping the horizon level

[hazard22083]

thanks alot for everyones continued constructive criticism, its exactly what i need . i will post another picture sometime soon and try to incorporate all or most of the critiques. keep em coming!