Sky ablaze

[stevoarnold]

Just thought I would share a shot i took last weekend and just uploaded to flickr with you guys from Cremorne Point on the north side of the Sydney Harbor.

This was one of the few times I've actually had an interesting sky to shoot when I've been out photographing sunsets around Sydney - only since I have had a camera have I started to curse those clear blue skies

[nathanbarlow]

really nice photo there. Like how the clouds are just tinged with the glow of the sun. and they seem to comeout of the picture towards you (not flat 2d image)

[Preacherman]

Hi Steve. Love the shot. As a newbie I would love to know all the settings (if that's the right word) you used to get this looking as good as this. Thanks. PAUL

[fstopMike]

Steve, that's a really good looking shot. The skyline is perfectly placed, adding dimension to the shot and giving enough space to really show off that sky.

[stevoarnold]

Originally Posted by Preacherman

Hi Steve. Love the shot. As a newbie I would love to know all the settings (if that's the right word) you used to get this looking as good as this. Thanks. PAUL

Hey there preacher man. Thanks for asking, I'd be glad to tell you how I got the shot

I nearly always shoot in Aperture Priority mode, to ensure the depth of field is as I want it. This shot was at f11, at ISO 100 which gave a shutter speed of 6 seconds. My lens was zoomed to 26mm.

Thats only half the story though, as I was using a polarising filter which has many benefits but also the side effect of lengthening the exposure by about 2 stops. I was also using on top of that a 2 stop gradual neutral density filter to even out the exposure between the sky and the water because even though it was cloudy, the sky was still a fair way brighter than the foreground.

It was actually the first time I was using the GND filter as I have just bought my first ones off ebay - I thought I would try the cheap $10 ones first just so I could get an appreciation of what they can do before I spend more on the better and more expensive ones. I am no pro, but I have to say that I was impressed with how reasonable the final image looked having used the cheap type.

Anyway, to complete the image, I brought the RAW file into Lightroom, adjusted the exposure, contrast, brought up the vibrance a little and that was pretty much it

[scootsmom]

Wow, this is an awesome shot! It looks like if you stood on the bridge, you could reach the clouds. Great shot!

Allyson

[Ella1267]

This is wonderful....absolutely beautiful sky shot.

[MSidPhoto]

Amazing wide angle landscape shot, i simply love it !!!!

[Preacherman]

I'll get there one day! Thanks mate.

[filmoreha]

i love this shot! Nice one man!