Sunset over LA

[ArkansasDave]

This is my first time posting in the Critique section but really looking forward to improving my skills. I was in the passenger seat of my friends car and saw the sunset thought it looked cool so I got the camera out and snapped some pics while driving down the road. I very new to lightroom but I like how the shot turned out.


Sunset over LA by ArkansasDave, on Flickr

Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm kit lense
ISO 400
f/32
1/60 sec

[Krusty79]

Did you have any specific questions?

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[ArkansasDave]

Just tips for improving my shot and post processing.

[ArkansasDave]

Ok specific question. I wanted to bring out the blues but desaturated the yellow that was further down in the sky. How would I do that smoothly?

[Krusty79]

Well, you're never going to get the ideal composition shooting from a car or balcony. In this case, you have a lot of clutter on the horizon with all of those wires and power poles. The foreground is way underexposed because of the relatively bright sky. A graduated neutral density filter is made for situations like this.

GND filters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

However, you can't use one very well if you're in a car. If you want to get serious about this, you'll get a good tripod so you can bracket your shots and shoot RAW. That way, you can make one jpg for the sky, one for the ground and blend the two using a layer mask. There is too much dynamic range for your camera to capture in one shot.

I would also recommend shooting a little later in the day to get the sunset colors in the clouds. I would also not use any aperture smaller than around f/13 or else you may start to get diffraction, which hurts your sharpness.

I am not good at emphasizing one color and de-emphasizing another, but you should be able to create another layer and adjust the tint or use the channel mixer.

[lostinthewoods]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Well, you're never going to get the ideal composition shooting from a car or balcony. In this case, you have a lot of clutter on the horizon with all of those wires and power poles. The foreground is way underexposed because of the relatively bright sky. A graduated neutral density filter is made for situations like this.

GND filters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thanks for sharing that link! I always wondered what a photo would look like if one used a GND filter. I see them referenced a lot on this website. It was very helpful to get a side by side comparison of filter vs. no filter. Thanks again!

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by lostinthewoods

Thanks for sharing that link! I always wondered what a photo would look like if one used a GND filter. I see them referenced a lot on this website. It was very helpful to get a side by side comparison of filter vs. no filter. Thanks again!

You're welcome. Even though I have a Lee .6 (2 stop) graduated ND filter, I still have to use the exposure blend technique to get the foreground and sky correctly exposed, even shooting in the golden hours. It's a constant problem in landscape photography and will be until they invent a camera that can see the dynamic range your eye can.

I would not recommend getting cheap filters. The Cokin ones do not get good reviews because people said they're not really neutral, they're gray.