San Francisco HDR Sunset

[PhotoGnat]

Need tips for improving my landscape photography and processing. Any and all feeback welcome and appreciated!

-Exif-
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/16.0
Focal Length 34 mm
ISO Speed 100


Composed of two shots, both tweeked the contrast, color curves and sharpness in Canon Photo Professional

Layered images in Photoshop Elements and gradually deleted the sky from the foreground layer to fether the two layers together and blend them.

Flattened image and duplicated layer to do a high pass with soft light.

Tweeked the colors and darkened in color variations in photoshop.

Added logo and done.

P.S. Lense flare was real, didn't need to add it.

Be honest, constructive critisism is the only way I will learn and grow.

Thanks everyone!

[Krusty79]

Technically, that's called an exposure blend, not HDR, but I think the exposure blends look more realistic. I think you did a good job with it because I can't see the signs of a layer mask. I sometimes see a halo behind objects if I don't paint out the layer mask cleanly. I also like doing the high pass sharpening set to soft light.

There's not much to say about the composition because it looks like you shot this from a rooftop or some elevated area where you couldn't alter the composition much.

There's a little more lens flare than I would prefer personally, but that's a matter of taste. Overall, it looks good!

[BK553]

Just so you know, you can use a graduated ND filter and do this in-camera in about 5 seconds. Looks good for PS though. May want to avoid the horizon in the center look, there is usually a better way to compose sunset photos, either with more sky or more ground, whichever is more interesting. It also helps to have a foreground element.

[PhotoGnat]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Technically, that's called an exposure blend, not HDR, but I think the exposure blends look more realistic. I think you did a good job with it because I can't see the signs of a layer mask. I sometimes see a halo behind objects if I don't paint out the layer mask cleanly. I also like doing the high pass sharpening set to soft light.

There's not much to say about the composition because it looks like you shot this from a rooftop or some elevated area where you couldn't alter the composition much.

There's a little more lens flare than I would prefer personally, but that's a matter of taste. Overall, it looks good!

Thanks for the great feedback and the correction, I'll make sure to changethat going forward.

[PhotoGnat]

Originally Posted by BK553

Just so you know, you can use a graduated ND filter and do this in-camera in about 5 seconds. Looks good for PS though. May want to avoid the horizon in the center look, there is usually a better way to compose sunset photos, either with more sky or more ground, whichever is more interesting. It also helps to have a foreground element.

Thanks for the tip, I actually just got my first set of filters the other day but I don't have any graduates just solid colors, Not to mention the attachment ring doesn't fit my lens so I need a new one. I had taken a couple shots with different placements on the horizon but this one came out the best, but I will keep that in mind in the future. Thanks again for the great advice

[fotomagicstudios]

I love the shot. The colors complement each other. I may have waited a little bit longer, waited till the sun had gone below the mountains. My reasoning for that would be:

1) It almost looks like sunrise,and you may get an awesome effect with the flare
2) The sky would have a gradient range of colors.

Overall its a fantastic shot, take another one if you can with the sun setting behind the mountains. Another thing to try is to capture the stars in the sky then blend them all into one image =)

Good luck and keep up the excellent work!

[PhotoGnat]

Originally Posted by fotomagicstudios

I love the shot. The colors complement each other. I may have waited a little bit longer, waited till the sun had gone below the mountains. My reasoning for that would be:

1) It almost looks like sunrise,and you may get an awesome effect with the flare
2) The sky would have a gradient range of colors.

Overall its a fantastic shot, take another one if you can with the sun setting behind the mountains. Another thing to try is to capture the stars in the sky then blend them all into one image =)

Good luck and keep up the excellent work!

Thanks for the tips and compliments, by the way great portfolio you do awesome work!

[fotomagicstudios]

Originally Posted by PhotoGnat

Thanks for the tips and compliments, by the way great portfolio you do awesome work!

Thanks!!! I am always learning.