Padden Sunrise

[trooper5010]

Hey DPS! I just took this photo of our Lake Padden early in the morning. Could anyone give me some insight on what could be improved? What's missing? or what could I have done to change anything (different lens? result?).. or if it's just a cool photo

Here it is:

Padden Sunrise by Phil Engel, on Flickr

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 25 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Standard 18-55mm

Thank you!

[iluv2fly1]

I think it is beautiful. I like darker photos like that. I do wonder how it would like just a touch lighter though.

[trooper5010]

thanks! hmm lighter where? in the blues and yellows? yeah i've been thinking that but I'm not sure if people would consider it too "contrasty" or something. honestly I kind of like the softness the whole photo gives off

[Krusty79]

I like the sky and reflection, but I don't like the huge expanse of black with no detail in the shot. Your camera cannot capture the dynamic range of light to dark in this scene, so it just took an average reading. This is a common landscape issue and you generally have to use some combination of a graduated neutral density filter/bracketing your shots/shooting RAW to make an exposure blend or even HDR to overcome the dynamic range issue. However, with the sun that low, a graduated neutral density filter would not really work here - perhaps a reverse one would.

Also, adding foreground interest to your shot helps create depth and draw the viewer in.

[trooper5010]

Thank you! That was great critique, I will definitely take that in to account when I do more landscape. When I try and take bracketed photos it always seems like everything just becomes less saturated/much less contrasted. How do I avoid this when taking HDR/bracketed photos

[Krusty79]

If you shoot RAW and takes shots at -2, 0 & +2, you should have an overexposed and an underexposed image. You can also edit the RAW files to make them lighter/darker. That should give you enough leeway to get the dark and light areas correctly exposed, at least the vast majority of the time. You can always switch to Manual if you are having problems getting a shot exposed for the area that you want.

[Marcus Reinkensmeyer]

A good shooting location and worth returning for some more photos. Composition wise, it would be good to include more water and less black silhouette, either by panning to the left of the image and/or using a wide angle lens. Also, you may want to experiment with your white balance setting, either in your camera settings or in processing. A warmer color temperature will likely bring our more of the yellow and bit of orange/gold in the sunrise. Thanks for sharing ...

[Sean Warnick]

I think it is a beautiful shot, if you were able to take it over again I would recommend moving the shot a bit to the left and adding a focal point, like a small boat or something. just a thought.