Pollution

[ik631]

I caught one of the best sunsets I have seen in a while last night.


After reviewing them my wife said they look fake and looking back at them I agree they look it even though they are SOOC. I didn't touch this in anyway but should I dial it down it a bit to make it more believable? There are a series of them and the oranage is very intense. Also, I like the clouds and the factory, since it is the pollution that comes out of it that creates these sunsets, but should I of only focused on the factory?

By the way I know I need to fix the horizon but I was balancing my tripod on a cliff and this is SOCC. Any other comments are welcome.

EXIF
Canon T1i
1/30
f/18
iso 100
130mm

Thanks for the help

[flytyer57]

Most photographs of sunsets and sunrises are manipulated to add the fiery reds and oranges. If this is an untouched photo, I'd leave it alone.

What did the sky look like after the sun went down below the horizon? Sometimes that can help soften the sunsets without that bright sun in the picture.

As for your picture of just the factory on the horizon, the bright yellows to the left of the picture draw my eye and take away from the factory. If you could have gotten them behind the factory it would look a lot better. But I still like both of them pictures.

[EOBeav]

It would have been nice to see the factory placed more prominently in the picture, but it doesn't look like that was possible. If those colors are SOOC, I'd leave them alone. You don't want to upset the saturation and luminance gods.

[Jonbar18]

It does look kinda fake! But the colours are b-e-a-utiful. As for the factory, I didn't even notice it until flytyer57 helped me out, and even then I had to search.
Also, the top bit, where you can see some sky looks like a totally different image. At first I only saw that part, since I'm on a smaller screen. When I scrolled down, I did a double take. Maybe try and soften where it meets the rest of the image to meek it look more realistic.

[ik631]

Thanks for the tips, my wife was making me second guess it. Luck won out over skill on this one, and to think I almost didn't go out to shoot this night. Looking back on it this morning I thought if ain't broke don't fix it cus I'll probably just screw it up. Unfortunately I couldn't do much to compose better since I was lacking a boat and my jet ski is not a great or dry platform to shoot from.

[illuminatingenigma]

It's funny how destroying the earth with pollution can make it look so beautiful. Deep reds are much more common in sunrises/sunsets in big cities because of all the stuff in the air.