vacation sunrise

[Neon50]

Anything I could have done with exposure or composition to make this more interesting?
First time photographying a sunrise. Any help would be appreciated.


Camera
Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure
0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture
f/22.0
Focal Length
55 mm
ISO Speed
100
Exposure Bias
0 EV
Flash
Off, Did not fire
Date and Time (Modified)
2011:05:31 06:48:17
Exposure Program
Manual

[Doug Sundseth]

As always with critique, what follows is just my opinion. If anything doesn't match your vision, you shouldn't do it. That said:

1) I think the photo needs something in the foreground to grab the viewer's interest. This could be an interesting rock, a seabird, footsteps in the sand, a crashing wave, whatever. Depending on the subject, you might need to work out a way to light it, since you'll be shooting from the shadow side. A large bounce reflector or a fill flash can be used to do this.

2) For me, at least, the sky is more interesting than the water. I would frame the photo so that the sky takes up more of the frame.

3) Even if you frame in more of the sky, you'll still want to see the water all the way to the shore. I'd recommend moving the camera much closer to the ground so that you don't have to reduce the focal length to keep the water in the frame. (Depending on what you put in the foreground, this might not be necessary or desirable; just something to consider.)

4) I'd consider taking the shot with a shorter exposure to bring out more of the color of the sky. You'll fairly rapidly lose the details in the foreground, though, which again brings up the issue of lighting.

5) Depending on the other elements of the shot, you might consider using a longer lens to isolate the most colorful section of the sky. The problem with this is that DOF starts to be a real problem when you use a long lens.

Sunsets are tricky for quite a few reasons, not least because the light changes so quickly. Good luck.

[navcom]

Compositionally, Doug is right...you need a main subject. Most of the time, the sunrise/set or the colorful sky is not in and of itself a good main subject. I completely understand the draw. It's fantastically beautiful! But unfortunately your viewer is only going to see a colorful piece of paper that he/she has seen a thousand times.

I've used the "frosting on the cake" analogy to explain. Most people don't like to eat frosting all by itself...too sweet. And cake without frosting is OK...but combine the two and you get something magical. Think of your main subject (rock, tree, building, whatever) as the cake and think of the sunrise and/or colorful sky as the frosting. Your main subject should stand on it's own even without the sunrise. But add the sun/sky and it spreads over your main subject making the scene magical. It supports your main subject.

Here's the photos I usually use to show this in action.



This first photo is pretty but also fairly boring. It has a centered horizon and sun and no real main subject for the sunrise to "shine down" on.



This second one is of the exact same sunrise taken with the same camera at the same time except this one has a main subject and uses the "rule of thirds" with the horizon, pier, and sun all off-center. The pier leads the eye in and down to the horizon, which then leads the eye to the sun, which shines down on the scene and starts the cycle all over again.

Hope that helps!

[wal]

I had to add something here. The colors and brightness of the picture.. needs some improvements. sunsets should be colorfull and vibrant... the picture seen seems to be too dark and the colors dull flat a longer shutter speed+ tripod. .. would help..

[Neon50]

Thank you so much for taking the time to critique my photo. Wow, those are great tips. I can't wait to try again in late August when I visit South Padre Island.