Sillouette at Sunset

[SwissJon]

I wasn't sure if I should post this in this thread or the People thread, but since it's primarily a landscape photo, I guess here.

I'm really after comments on the foreground sillouette. last night I went out with my camera and got a bit creative.. It was nearly dark and I wanted to do something a bit different. So I put the camera on a 10 second timer, then ran in front of it.. Obviously I couldn't see my pose in the lens, and it took me a few exposures before I came up with something I liked. So the question is, does the sillouetted figure (me) add or detract from the over all feeling of the photo? My desire as to get the observer to want to come over and enjoy the sunset with me, come and stand in the photo, next to the lake and look out at the peaceful view with me. Does it do that? Is the sillouette too big, too small, just right, is it in the right place?

Obviously I appreciate your other comments too, but since the exposure was 30 seconds and the camera was showing a 1 stop under exposure on the widest aperture my lens has, I'm not sure I could do much about the exposure except put it on "Bulb" mode.. And I couldn't do that because I needed to be in front of the camera!

Exif:
Camera: SLT-A55V
Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
Software: SLT-A55V v1.10
Dimension: 4928 x 3280*px*(16.2 MP, 3:2)
Focal length: 18*mm*(equiv. 27*mm)
Aperture: F4
Exposure time: 30"
ISO speed rating: 100/21°
Program: Manual
Image Stabilizer: Off
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode


10th February 2011 by SwissJon, on Flickr

[windrider86]

I like it but because the bright lights are to the right the eye automatically goes to that area right away and ignores the rest. Naturally we look from left to right. Try a simple mirroring the image and see what that does

[SwissJon]

LoL.. Well I must be doing something right, that's the first time you've commented on one of my photos Windrider

Especially for you, here's the reversed photo.. I don't normally like to flip the photo as I feel like I'm cheating, I like to keep things as close to reality as I can, and let nature take the credit.. But I think you're right, my eye now moves into the darker area and studies the reflections, it creates a feeling of space. How odd..

Maybe I should have arranged the camera so that the tree and me were in the darker area away from the lights, and taken this a little earlier in the evening? (So you could still see me!)

Is it my imagination or does the photo now feel like it's leaning to the left?


10th February 2011 by SwissJon, on Flickr

[windrider86]

lol, you are right it does feel like its tipped now.After looking closer at the original its tipped as well, just wasnt as noticeable. Easy fix but I do like it quite a bit more this way!

[dvtldav]

I agree that in the original the tree appears to be leaning just a little to the left but other facets of the photo appear to be leaning to the right.
As for exposure, I know you like to shoot at the lowest ISO, you could gain a stop or two by increasing the ISO to 200 or 400 just to see if that helped any and how much noise it would add. You could then remove some of the noise in LR3. Just my thoughts.

Dave

[SwissJon]

Thanks Dave.. The difference between long exposure digital noise in 30 seconds compared to 8 seconds (As you'd obtain going from 100 to 400 ISO) compensates for the increased noise in the different ISO settings, so I think I could probably have done so without degrading the image quality.. I just didn't think about it.

I could have gained a stop by removing the polarising filter I forgot about too! I did in a later photo, but by then the sun had gone.. The after sun glow only hangs around for 30 mins after official sunset here, and I stopped here while on my way home from another site because the sunset had gone.. I'll be passing this way tonight, so I'll have another chance to get this..

I've twisted the photo every which way, but because the horizon is receding, it's not level, the tree isn't upright, and I'm not upright, so the photo looks wonky.. I've altered them both to the best I can.. How does that look?

[Krusty79]

I think the converging/diverging lines of the shoreline and hills in the background are always going to make this look a bit "wonky," as you would say. It's a subtle thing, but noticeable. Nice shot, though.