Local lake

lukeyboy2606

lukeyboy2606

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Luke
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Hi all,
looking for all feedback on this picture, it’s the first one I’ve shown to someone but really wanting to try and improve.
Would appreciate all your feedback and help, even the most basic of things, I’m just a beginner!
Thanks a lot! IMG_7579.jpg
 
Shooting into the sun is always difficult due to the extreme dynamic range - ie from the brightest part of your picture, the sun - through to the darkest part, the shadows. Your going to lose detail due to parts being blown out (too bright), and also being lost to darkness (the ducks). I perhaps would have waited a little longer, for the sun to lose some of it's power - maybe closer to sunset, or even just after sunset, and maybe used a tripod and used bracketing so you get 3 or more separate shots of the same picture - each shot more suited to getting the most detail out of the bright parts as well as the dark parts of your picture. Afterwards, you can stitch them together using HDR software, and tweak to how you please to create a picture with more detail in the darks and less blowing out in the highlights (the sun and it's reflection) whilst still maintaining the style you are after.

Out of curiosity, what kind of camera & lens did you use, and did you use a tripod?
 
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That’s great feedback, really useful. Thanks a lot.
This was taken on a cannon 60D with a sigma 18-35 lens. It was taken on a tripod but it wasn’t a great one. I’ve since upgraded the tripod. I noticed that a lot of the detail was missing and wondered if it was due to the focus, maybe shake but didn’t know the light could effect it. Thanks again Gil.
 
It’s always hard to get the exposure right and maybe invest in some filters like graduated nd ones. This will darken the brightest part of the shot
 
wave01 said:
his will darken the brightest part of the shot
Click to expand...

… and the dark area as well. In such situation — well descri-
bed by Gil — filters are not my first option but the histogram.
 
That’s why I said graduated so the dark area will not be affected. This is really trial and error to what suits you filters or multiple exposures
 
wave01 said:
That’s why I said
Click to expand...

I did not mean you forgot something …but I realise
I forgot to mention exposure bracketing… :cool:
 
Yes exposure bracketing will work well also and then let the software blend them
 
It pretty much impossible to shoot that with almost any camera. During the very sunset the brightness of the sun is much lower so it is then possible to get a decent exposure with the help of bracketing or using filters.

The shot is like 10X underexposed by the way. I won't even go beyond things like wonky horizon for now.
 
Yes, check out exposure bracketing settings on your camera. It will allow you take 3 or more pictures in very quick succession (remember to set your camera to shoot continuously so when you press the shutter and hold it takes the multiple exposures one straight after the other), for best results you can use a remote trigger so you don't inadvertently introduce movement during the sequence . You can then get software like Lightroom ( or many other HDR specific alternatives that are available) to take the best out of each picture to give you a better detailed final image / merging

One thing I learnt - remember to switch off Auto ISO if you shoot using this - I use Auto ISO in my bird photography, but it spoils the results with noise when using bracketing, so remember to turn it off!!
 
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Unless the ducks are frozen to the spot, they will be blurry when using exposure bracketing.
The main problem is the Sun and its reflection on the water.

I think HDR using one exposure could be better, not that I have tried it, but you will lose highlights in the sun, but that could be quite natural.
 
Thanks a lot! Really interesting. Learning lots. Hopefully I will post more soon and get better, cheers guys
 
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