Two trees at sunset

[SteveFromOhio]

Camera Fujifilm FinePix S1500
Exposure 0.037 sec (1/27)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 38.9 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

This is a accident, and to be honest I'm not quite sure what I've got. I cropped some off the left side and the bottom and took a whack at sharpening with Gimp. The original is also on Flickr.

1) How much does not being able to see very much of the trunk of the trees hurt the photo?

2) How is the sharpness of the picture? Too much? Not enough? Is there anything else I should have done with Gimp? I don't know beans about pp.

3) Are the trees in the background distracting?

I think this is a near miss. I should have gotten lower and aimed up at the sky more. Does this sound about right?

Thanks
Steve

[Nicole Hanna]

This is all about personal preference here, but I would love to see a softer look. It's almost too sharp for my likeness. Since the trees are shadowed completely, essentially, you're not enhancing much detail in them by sharpening the photo in software. It seems, in fact, you might have even created some unnecessary noise in the sky, and those sunset colors might appear richer if they are allowed to blend more naturally. I would also try to remove the background trees (though I'm not very good at that sort of thing myself). I can't tell you, however, how to use Gimp for anything because I can't figure that program out no matter how much I cuss at it!

[Krusty79]

Nice shot. I don't think the lack of tree trunks hurts the image. It does look sharp, maybe a little too much. I don't think sharpness is critical for this shot because you're only dealing with silhouettes and clouds. I don't find the trees in the background distracting because they are relatively small and off to the side. They do not interfere with the two main silhouettes.

You could have gotten lower to get more of the tree trunks, but as I said, I don't think that's a major factor here. I would actually like to see more of that sky. You could have zoomed out a bit so the trees take us a smaller part of the image or even take a small panorama where you stitch two or three shots together.

[SwissJon]

1) It would have been better if you'd got lower down.. The treetrunks are not an issue, it's the branches that interfere with the background that distracts.. The lower angle would have separated them.

2) I think the sharpness is fine.. There doesn't appear to be any haloing or fuzzyness.

3) In this photo, yes it does, because of the angle. If the branches were separated from the trees, then they would have been fine.

Yes, that's about right.. Lower.. I wouldn't say you needed to aim at the sky more, your framing is ok, just the angle that you shot from.. unlucky!

[Jonbar18]

I would love to see more more sky, especially to the sides. Give the area a wide, open, inviting feeling.

[Michael_2010]

I think it is a nice, seasonal type of shot. The trees add interest to a beautifully lit sky and kind of ground the viewer.

[SteveFromOhio]

Thank you all for the replies.



Camera Fujifilm FinePix S1500
Exposure 0.022 sec (1/45)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 20 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

Taking your suggestions into account I think this might be the better picture. It's a little tight on the left, I think, and there's a lot of black in the lower right that I'm not sure about. But more of the sky is visible and I think the trees are just the right size to balance with it. I think I still should have got lower, though. (Next time I'll just lay down in the mud and explain it to my wife later. )

As far as pp goes I treaked the curves just a little bit to seperate the top of the smaller tree from the cloud. Otherwise it is sooc.

I guess what I want to know...

1) Is my assessment about right?

2) Does all the black in the bottom right help, hurt, or not matter at all?

3) Is there anything I'm not seeing that I need to know?

Thanks. I appreciate all the help.
Steve

[Mocha]

Steve,
I tend to agree. I think your second post is the better picture of the two, although both are great. Nope, not too tight to the left. The composition makes that fantastic sky the subject. The black at the bottom right balances the dark clouds at the upper left. It also brightens the sky. I can't see anything I would change.

[Jonbar18]

I love the second picture.
Might want to crop a bit off the bottom? Not sure if it will look better so play around a bit

[Krusty79]

The 2nd one is even better. Someone said this on another thread and you might want to keep this in mind. When you use trees or something similar as a subject, it usually works better when you have an odd number of subjects. I don't know why, but it seems that's the way our brains are wired.

I think it might of helped a little to get lower to see the trunks of the trees, but that's a minor point.