Sunset silhouette

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Could I have improved this shot at all? Am I being picky, but I would have liked the rock slightly to the right and holding it's own silhouette. Thanks for looking.



Exif data
Camera Sony DSLR-A350
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 22 mm
ISO Speed 200

[frisby]

There is one thing you could do, you could make the sun a sunstar:

• Stop the aperture down to something like f/22
• Obsure the sun a little more behind the pier end

Someone wrote about it this recently here:

Sunstars

;-)

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by frisby

There is one thing you could do, you could make the sun a sunstar:

• Stop the aperture down to something like f/22
• Obsure the sun a little more behind the pier end

Someone wrote about it this recently here:

Sunstars

;-)

Wow, that guy is good, writes a darn good piece! Thanks for the info.

Will this do? Totally by accident, not planned at all. Just playing around with settings, taken at the same time.

f/18


f/20

[Krusty79]

I like the composition and flow of the 1st shot better. I also think you could crop some off the top of the 1st one and emphasize the sun more without losing any important details. Nice shot!

[frisby]

You've got the sunstar thing happening in the second f20 shot. Maybe needs something in the foreground or a cleaner reflection of the sun. Good seeing some photos from NZ ;-)

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I like the composition and flow of the 1st shot better. I also think you could crop some off the top of the 1st one and emphasize the sun more without losing any important details. Nice shot!

Thanks for your thoughts krusty, how does this look? I like that the sun is brighter too. I still struggle to know where to crop to allow for the thirds rule. I didn't want to drop in too far down from the top otherwise I'd lose the boat shed roof eave.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by frisby

You've got the sunstar thing happening in the second f20 shot. Maybe needs something in the foreground or a cleaner reflection of the sun. Good seeing some photos from NZ ;-)

Pretty good considering I didn't even know there was such a thing as a sun-star wouldn't you say? Next time I'll be trying for it for real and composing the shot better. Glad you're enjoying some NZ photos, I'm off around the East Cape next week so fingers crossed I'll return with some awesome shots to show!

Thanks for your help and have a Happy Easter!

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by FlyingKiwiGirl

Thanks for your thoughts krusty, how does this look? I like that the sun is brighter too. I still struggle to know where to crop to allow for the thirds rule. I didn't want to drop in too far down from the top otherwise I'd lose the boat shed roof eave.

Well, now I'm not sure which one I like better. I thought the first one had some area at the top that wasn't really adding to the image, but now that I compare it to the 2nd one, it did have a nice flow from the roof of the shack on the left, down to the main platform of the pier and down to the sun. The 2nd image is good because the sun doesn't feel so distant, but the flow down from the upper left corner down to the sun is not the same. I guess at this point, it comes down to personal preference, as both are good.

[SwissJon]

Hmm.. Whenever Krusty posts I tend to get stuck with nothing to say about the image because he's usually spot on.. As he is here.. So I'm not going to comment much about the photo except to say I wonder what this would have looked like if you had waited for a few more mins and taken the photo AFTER the sun had gone.. The "blue hour" as it's known, is that bit just after the golden hour, when there's no sun in the sky, and you get incredible blues and purples.

I like what you have here, but just as a different idea, try going out and shooting then, see what you come back with.. You'll need a tripod.

Oh, and another thing, I'm not sure if I should mention it, but I will.. Something struck me about your approach here.. It may be just the way you are, but 'veI înterpreted some of the posts you made to mean that you're not really sure what you're looking for in a photo. I think you need to take a close look at your work and self critique a little, see if you can predict what kind of comments peopel are going to make, it's a ery important part of the learning process. You're actually showing us some quite good photos, I think you've got an eye for this, you just need to perhaps develop some confidence in your work and see if you can improve the photos at the time you take them..

Keep posting.

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Hmm.. Whenever Krusty posts I tend to get stuck with nothing to say about the image because he's usually spot on..

Keep posting.

Wow, thanks Jon, it's good to hear that my critiques are accurate. I thought at this point you were going to say, "except this time."

Usually, I like sunsets that have clouds to capture the reddish/pinkish color, but I would not want that in this shot because that would disrupt the flow from the shack down to the sun. But I would be curious to see what this would look like shot 15-30 minutes later. The tradeoff would be losing the sun as a focal point, though.