Sunset over the Zambezi - Mana Pools

[Douglas Bolt]

Canon 5tDm3, Canon 24-105 f4@f5.6 @5/6. 1/60s, ISO 500, HH. PP: Bridge/CC. Seeing the sun set over the Zambezi was nice ending to a day in Mana Pools.

[Don Railton]

Hi Doug

Very beautiful sky... Must be something about this place & sunsets, Morkel posted a cracker from here as well. I think you need to crop from the bottom to just above the OOF boulder LLC. In my opinion any OOF foreground kills any landscape, this just catches my eye. The is also a strong magenta cast on the ground in front of the trees which I think needs taming ... Hope you had a great time there, very envious..

DON

[Mike Herdman]

Really colorful scene...but lacks detail...I would have used a higher ISO to get get to at least f8, getting to f 11, even better...a 5D3 will handle it and would give you a sharper image than at 5.6.

I would have also either moved/zoomed forward or cloned or cropped, the fallen tree out...it really does not add anything and kind of drags your eye away form the scene. ;)

[Don Lacy]

.I would have used a higher ISO to get get to at least f8, getting to f 11, even better...a 5D3 will handle it and would give you a sharper image than at 5.6.
Or a tripod so you could shoot at any ISO and aperture you wanted:S3:
I agree with a tighter crop to eliminate the fallen tree branch would strengthen the composition, but to my eye the image looks over processed and has what i would call the crunchy look, was this a HDR image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

This was a splendid sunset, eh Doug? I would crop from the bottom as suggested, the OOF stump isn't really doing much for me, and I would then clone out the wayward upward twig that would still be there. I am fine with the silhouetted, darker look as presented here - a good alternative to blending and exposing for the shadows and highlights separately.

Was this one of your in-camera HDR shots or a single exposure?

[Douglas Bolt]

Morkel, This is from one exposure. The in-camera HDR suffered from being hand held.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Douglas, good suggestions already given above. I too would crop the fallen branch from this scene. Love the clouds in the sky.