Feedback wanted on a sunset

Dael_Pix

Dael_Pix

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David
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Here's a comparison of a sunset I took near Little Stainforth near Settle.

Please note I already processed the right photo in PS3 and I used Lightroom, on the right photo, 5 for the first time today.

Yes I realize there's a lot of noise on the photos.


Lightroom5 by DaelPix, on Flickr
 
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It's a nice scene, but the processing has spoilt it somewhat for me. Recovering the detail from the dark portions has resulted in a huge amount of colour noise and a general loss of detail, and there's some fringing along the horizon when viewed at smaller sizes. The colours are also a bit un-natural.

I can't help thinking that it would have been better to either control the sky with a graduated filter or just let the sun blow out a bit (it's the sun, it's supposed to be bright) or, if that's not acceptable, wait until the sun either hides behind a cloud or dips a little below the horizon.
 
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I like the idea of the photo with the road on the moors and the setting sun but pulling that much out of the shadows has spoiled the image for me. The use of a grad filter is ideal in this situation but failing that two separate exposures one for the sky and the other for the foreground and blending them in PS. This would have improved the image considerably

Steve
 
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pwhysall said:
It's a nice scene, but the processing has spoilt it somewhat for me. Recovering the detail from the dark portions has resulted in a huge amount of colour noise and a general loss of detail, and there's some fringing along the horizon when viewed at smaller sizes. The colours are also a bit un-natural.

I can't help thinking that it would have been better to either control the sky with a graduated filter or just let the sun blow out a bit (it's the sun, it's supposed to be bright) or, if that's not acceptable, wait until the sun either hides behind a cloud or dips a little below the horizon.
Click to expand...

Whoops beaten to it.
 
Yes I agree with the fringing between the sky on the horizon.
I like the scene, with the road going off into the distance, but looking at the photo again, the colours are a little overpowering.
I did add a grad filter in Lightroom, but I don't think it turned out well.

I have some other photos like this, so I might have a look and see what I can do with them.
 
Dael_Pix said:
I did add a grad filter in Lightroom, but I don't think it turned out well.
.
Click to expand...

When people say "grad filter" above they mean a real one on the front of your camera - like the cokin/ hitech/or lee systems. Lightroom does a good job of emulating one but its better to get it right with an ND grad in the first place.

inaddition to that i'd also say you've overcooked the saturation and brightness, it looks very artificial , particularly the shape in the middle of the sun
 
big soft moose said:
When people say "grad filter" above they mean a real one on the front of your camera - like the cokin/ hitech/or lee systems. Lightroom does a good job of emulating one but its better to get it right with an ND grad in the first place.

inaddition to that i'd also say you've overcooked the saturation and brightness, it looks very artificial , particularly the shape in the middle of the sun
Click to expand...

Yes I knew that :)
 
You just can't recover that much shadow detail in post process. Your right hand picture is a great demonstration of this. The shadow areas are noisy, and very low in quality, and there's a great deal of processing artefacts such as fringing and edge contrast issues. Take two exposures, one for the foreground, and one for the sky and merge them later, or use a graduated filter when shooting.

Great photos don't happen in the computer.... they just don't. Post processing is to enhance and compliment a shot, not make it.
 
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For me, the interest in a sunset shot is the sky. Silhouettes against it are sometimes good but IMO there's far too much foreground in your shot. Try using a piece of paper as a mask and see what different crops do to the shot, to my eyes and taste, a crop just below the lowest point of the horizon works quite well (but, as I say, that's my taste!)
 
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