Desert Landscape - successful exposure?

[sv_goon]

Week before last we were touring the Mojave National Preserve near the California/Nevada border. Around sunset we were in a part of the park covered with a Joshua tree "forest." I was trying to capture the amazing light from the clear sky as the sun ducked behind the hills but still have some detail in the landscape.

The question for critique is, does this work as a landscape photo? Do the composition and exposure work well enough to provide interest while still showing the color in the sky?

PP work was a little with levels and a crop, but nothing major.

I happen to like it, but I have a hard time judging my own work. Thanks in advance for your honest critiques.



EXIF:
Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture f/16.0
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias -1 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

[shruggy63]

For me the burnt out sun totally overwhelms this shot. I'd crop the right edge away. But it may just be jealousy because I'm in northern england & the weather was so bad today I don't think the sun could be bothered to rise! ;-)

[flytyer57]

I agree that the sun is overpowering in this photo. I'd crop it out.

If you ever go back for a re-shoot, wait a few minutes more so the sun is actually down behind the mountains. There should still be enough light to show the mountains in silouhette and the cacti. Even using a longer exposure if necessary.

[sk66]

IMO, you've tried to do too much with one picture...
For the idea of a beautiful sunset with desert plants I would have gotten lower and closer and either done a silhouette (with the plant large enough to have some defining character in it's shape) or a flash exposure of the subject.

Here's a treatment of the scene focusing on the "colors" with enough detail to give it context....

[TheCheesWizz]

Very nice shot. I don't agree that the sun is overwhelming. I like shots that are close to what the eye would see and I think you nailed that. As a biologist I enjoy seeing the flora in the foreground. The only thing I would suggest is cropping out some of the sky, its a little bland and doesn't add much. Make it a really wide picture and I think it will be excellent. Great shot.

[Doug Sundseth]

The foreground is either underexposed by 2-3 stops (if you want to show detail and color there) or overexposed by around a stop (if you want silhouettes). To get the former, you'll need to significant post work and possibly some exposure stacking or HDR.

If you're trying for silhouettes, I think you need stronger shapes to carry the photo. This could be achieved by getting much closer to a single tree or by finding a better collection to serve as the foreground.

I think the current placement of the sun also doesn't work well. If it were more in-frame, it could be a good image element, but on the edge as you have it, it mostly just pulls me out of the image.

I'd also consider stepping back from the foreground elements you want to include and zooming in to increase the weight of the hills in the background.

[Krusty79]

To me it feels like you have tucked the sun away and I want to see it! You have the old dynamic range issue, as your camera cannot correctly expose the bright sun and darker foreground. You're going to have to do some combination of using a ND grad filter and or bracketing your shots so you can do an exposure blend or HDR.

Even using my 2 stop ND grad filter, I usually have to do an exposure blend to get the ground and relatively bright sky both correctly exposed.

[katia]

am i the only one that feels like this shot is perfect the way it is?

which is strange! because i usually seem to go for overexposure.

i really like it, i tried to block the sun with my hand but i liked it better with the sun in.

[RahulT]

There is too much portion of sky captured in shot(just plain blue) ,instead you could of focused on plants, sun rays.

[milosh]

I think enough is already said about this photo, I couldn't add much more myself.
I agree that the Sun is overwhelming the photo and it's not placed correctly.

I just wanted to correct what Doug wrote here, I believe he made a typo (sort-of), switching the position of the two brackets (in bold). It should go like this:

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

The foreground is either underexposed by 2-3 stops (if you want silhouettes) or overexposed by around a stop (if you want to show detail and color there). To get the former, you'll need to significant post work and possibly some exposure stacking or HDR.