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02-11-2014, 11:13 AM   #1
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Grado sunset
Lens: Samyang 14mm Camera: Pentax K-01 Photo Location: Grado, Italy ISO: 200 Shutter Speed: 1/125s Aperture: F9.5 

I like this shot that I took with my ultra-wide lens. I used a tripod and timer, f9 for big DoF.. but I think like this photo could be improved. Not sure if its the composition or processing. I would love to hear some thoughts on this, whether advice on how to take a better shot next time I find myself in a similar situation, or on how to process this photo to make it look better.



Stone coast (exif, description, location available on 500px)

---------- Post added 11th Feb 2014 at 19:14 ----------

Oh, and its not an HDR jpeg - its a single-shot raw, which I processed like this.

02-11-2014, 11:38 AM   #2
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There is a lot to like about this shot. But it also presents a couple of conflicting views that probably detract from the image. For example, you have a strong set of diagonal lines starting with the reddish wall (or bench), followed by the bricks and the wall of stones. This pulls the eye down and to the right. But the bright sun and sunset colors in the top pulls the eye the other way. The other thing is that the sun is on the top third horizontally, but dead center vertically, and this too seems less than idea. I'm always a fan of playing with cropping to see if it might improve things, although I will usually crop too much as I push on limits to find where they are. Here, if you cropped from the right and bottom you might get an image without the conflicting pulls that still preserves the glorious colors of the sunset.
02-11-2014, 09:49 PM   #3
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I really like the shot - maybe I would take multiple exposures in the future just so that the foreground could be properly exposed as well?
02-12-2014, 06:59 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by ausmoose Quote
I really like the shot - maybe I would take multiple exposures in the future just so that the foreground could be properly exposed as well?
I disagree because I don't think you want everything uniformly lit. Having the lower part of the image darker than the upper gives it additional overall contrast.

02-12-2014, 01:36 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by MSL Quote
I disagree because I don't think you want everything uniformly lit. Having the lower part of the image darker than the upper gives it additional overall contrast.
I suppose - it does work very well as it is.
02-12-2014, 02:57 PM   #6
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Thanks for the comments!

QuoteOriginally posted by MSL Quote
But it also presents a couple of conflicting views that probably detract from the image.
Very insightful! it makes sense. I tried to follow some rules of composition, flow and leading lines, but they don't work together very well. I will definitely keep this in mind from now on. I am still getting the hang of these ultra wide shots
02-12-2014, 03:03 PM   #7
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When I view the image on my particular monitor, I have to scroll down to catch all of it in one view. So I can naturally crop from the bottom as I go. I get the feeling you could radically improve the image just by cropping from the bottom I'd love to see you try two experiments - one is a crop of about 10-20% from the bottom, picking a good spot along the wall/bricks/mortar where a cut would make sense. The other is crop from the bottom until you get a 1:1 aspect ratio. Even if you don't post the images, I'd be interested in hearing what you think.

02-12-2014, 03:27 PM   #8
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I like MSL's idea of a crop but when I scroll down and try to get rid of some of the bottom, I am left with either the wonderful brickwork and a bit of the lower right wall that doesn't make sense for me or I lose most of that wonderful brickwork. I would be tempted to crop the top to just above the contrails if a crop is needed at all (and I am not that sure it is needed.)
02-12-2014, 03:40 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by slowpez Quote
I am left with either the wonderful brickwork and a bit of the lower right wall that doesn't make sense for me or I lose most of that wonderful brickwork
How about this as one possibility of many. My only goal was a 1:1 aspect ratio, so I could have cropped either more or less from the top or bottom.
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02-12-2014, 04:55 PM   #10
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Cool suggestions. I think in that case I would go for the 1:1 crop and just ignore the stairs. That would really change the photo and simplify it a lot, but it would remove the tension. But I'm not sure a crop can really save it at this point, I would have to re-do the shot with a different angle, or the sun being off-centre (more to the left)
02-12-2014, 05:41 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by Na Horuk Quote
Cool suggestions. I think in that case I would go for the 1:1 crop and just ignore the stairs. That would really change the photo and simplify it a lot, but it would remove the tension. But I'm not sure a crop can really save it at this point, I would have to re-do the shot with a different angle, or the sun being off-centre (more to the left)
Your confusing two things. This is a good shot, that has potential to be tweaked in a range of ways to give very different images. I could just as easily have cropped only from the top, leaving a moody picture of the rock wall and bricks, for example.
I hope you go back to this location, but any other shot you take will be different, even if you used exactly the same set up. I've seen a lot of your comments on other threads and you have a lot of good ideas and suggestions so I'm really looking forward to seeing future shots from you.
02-12-2014, 05:47 PM   #12
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Wow, what nice words Thanks for the encouragement!
02-12-2014, 05:53 PM   #13
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Ok, curiosity got the better of me - you may not like the final result, but it is a very different image. I also auto adjusted the colors (maybe should have just been less lazy about it), but could have omitted that step altogether..
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02-13-2014, 09:13 AM   #14
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Yeah, that crop is like a completely different photo. Puts the focus on the textures and the stone
02-13-2014, 10:56 AM   #15
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To me the sun looks un-naturally blown out or over saturated, I have experienced the same thing in many of my sunset shots and would be interested in knowing how to get a more natural look without under exposing the foreground. I have experimented with a ND grad filter but am unhappy with the results so far.
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