Calm Waters at Sunset

[plangereis]

Hi there,

I wanted feedback on the photo below. Since I have been back into photography, which has only been about 2 months (after being away for twenty years or so), I have always wondered how some photographers created seascapes with the water looking perfectly smooth. Well, after reading a lot of articles, I learned it had to do with slow shutter speeds, and the use of N/D filters to compensate for overexposure. Many waterfall/ stream photos had a similar effect. I was with my photography buddy tonight when the sun was setting, so we shooed our wives back to the car as we waited for the light levels to decrease enough so we could try this technique without the filters (although I used a polarizer to help a bit). I only decreased the overall exposure a little in Lightroom 2, and adjusted the horizon a bit.

The first photo has no exposure adjustment, but I bumped up fill light a bit (to bring out some more detail in the rocks), and added a gradient filter in the sky to bring down exposure at the top of the sky.



Both photos exif: iso 100/ 18mm/ f22/ 4.0sec exposure (shot with my Sigma lens on a tripod)



In this version i brought down overall exposure, as well as very slight adjustments to vibrance and saturation to try to bring colours out in the sky.



What do you think about the look of the exposure/ adjustment of each photo? Are the rocks in the foreground too dark/ light? Colours for this style of photo?

[MihadAli]

2nd one is better

[ebeard2802]

Great composition! Nice, soft colors, and you definitely achieved the silky water look. Overall, nice work!

[AlanWillis]

I think the image is quite nice as it is, but I wonder if it imight be nicer (or equally nice, at least) if you cropped the foreground out. You still would have the silky water feel, and it would brighten up the overall image. Just a thought.

[plangereis]

Originally Posted by ebeard2802

Great composition! Nice, soft colors, and you definitely achieved the silky water look. Overall, nice work!

Thanks for the compliments, ebeard2802! I chose this shot out of about 50, where I was trying various shutter speeds from 2-5seconds, and adjusting the polarizer to maximize the effect. I think this was one of the last photos I took out of the bunch, which makes sense because there was the least amount of light etc, and I could maximize the length of shutter speed etc.

Originally Posted by Alan Willis

I think the image is quite nice as it is, but I wonder if it imight be nicer (or equally nice, at least) if you cropped the foreground out. You still would have the silky water feel, and it would brighten up the overall image. Just a thought.

Thank you, Alan. I thought about cropping the foreground a little, but I would have only taken a very small amount (possibly to where the grasses ended). I don't think I would have taken all the foreground out as I felt it provided context, and framing. Thank you both for your thoughts.

[plangereis]

Originally Posted by MihadAli

2nd one is better

Thanks, but what do you like better about the second photo? Just curious about people's impressions.

[paid_tourist]

I like the second one better. It all in all is just a smooth flowing picture. In the first one the rocks to me are kinda a harsh setting. In the second one they flow right in with the rest. Maybe could be a little brighter in the shadows but overall looks really good.

[Annie H]

That photo is just about perfect in my eyes! Great work

[SNOOPY]

I quite liked seeing the person standing on the top of the fence thing in the first two... have they jumped in?? there is a water disturbance about where the jump would be.
The person gave it an interesting perspective to think about IMO

[MihadAli]

Originally Posted by plangereis

Thanks, but what do you like better about the second photo? Just curious about people's impressions.

No problem,nothing to do with composition between the two images just simply the colors are more vibrant and distinct.