Sunset in the Marsh

[Paul Pagano]

If you frame this right you can't tell it's roadside with power lines around...I've eyeballed this spot many evenings driving by. This is a 3 frame HDR in Photamix Pro 3 that was tweaked to try and avoid the 'gotham city' color effect (as I like to call it) and make it more natural.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Paul,
That is one killer sky! I'm thinkin' the Fg could use a little more light..........as the sky would be reflecting a bit downward and it looks a tad dark on my monitor. The effect you call gotham..... is very subjective............landscapes are a funny thing............the film/sensor.........can not record what our eye naturally sees at this time of day...........therefore........the HDR (or grad ND filter) allow our cameras to capture what is more true to life! As an added benefit........most people like jacked up colors to hang up on the wall.........they were not there when you took the picture...........they don't know what natural was!...........even if we were all standing there together...........we would all see it differently!..........I'll quote Sheryl Crow.........If it makes you happy..............it can't be that bad! .....I digress...........nicely done!

[Roman Kurywczak]

I'll add the PS here........I was going to comment on the bright water........#1 I like it as it is natural looking.......and minimal........by bringing up the FG grasses more.......it will minimize the effect!

[Judd Patterson]

Paul, this is quite a grand vista, especially considering the human modified surroundings that you describe. Great work to capture such a vivid sky in a way that looks very realistic to me. I like the very bright reflections off the water and the silhouetted trees. I agree that perhaps a little more light reflecting from the foreground might be an improvement...but still a great piece. :)

[Paul Pagano]

Thanks Roman and Judd. I agree it could use some light at the bottom. To the immediate left (literally just out of the frame) is a bridge and some power lines, a fence and other stuff. I wanted to get as much of that tree line to the left w/o including man made stuff.

I tried to add a bit of flash to open up the floor.

[Robert Amoruso]

Gotham City look - that's a good one Paul and good description of the look.

I like what you did with the FG - subtle and effective. Perhaps it is just me but I think I see some lens distortion along the horizon - most apparent in the lower right. Please post equipment and settings used in the future as that helps to evaluate images.

Very dramatic sky and if you did not mention this was HDR I would figure you used one of Roman;s 3 stop GND filters. GOod use of HDR and making it look natural and not like a Batman movie.

Thanks for posting.

[Paul Pagano]

Robert I think you are right, the right side is curving a bit. Not sure how to fix that to be honest.

On this one I actually used two ND filters also. I used Hi-tech 1 and 2 stop soft grad filters stacked and made three exposures at -1, 0, +1. Here is the cam data for the 0EV. 40D, ISO200 (extended dynamic range on), Manual, f/16, 1/8s, tripod. Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 at 17mm

[Robert Amoruso]

Paul,

PS menu FILTER > DISTORT > LENS CORRECTION. Use Remove Distortion.

[Grady Weed]

This is one dramatic cloud formation. It looks liek a place to go back, a lot! thanks for posting this one. All of the nits are covered.

[Rich Ikerd]

Dramatic sky with just the right amount of silhouetted foreground. I like the change to the foreground, as subtle as it is. Super HDR work.