Sunrise at Coral Cove Beach in Black and White

[andresleon]

Visited the beach a few days ago and decided to play with NIK's silver effects. I really liked the way this one turned out. I had to clone out quite a bit of sand due to some ugly tire tracks that were made just a few minutes before I took the shot. I also realized that my camera sensor is really dirty, so I had to do a lot of dust removal in LR.

Details:
Canon 1D X
24-105 L lens
ISO 50
f/18
Used LR and PS to blend to different exposures one of 21 seconds and another of 5 seconds
Used NIKs silver effects to convert to B&W, define for noise reduction, and Color Effects to increase detail

Thanks for your feedback!

[Dave Mills]

Nice composition Andres. I like the B&W conversion which works well with this type of image. The image looks alot stronger to my eye with the moon cropped out. I would crop it just above the first cloud outcrop thats almost in line with the moon.

[Diane Miller]

A lovely view! I think several compositions are equally possible here. I like the moon but it is a bit inconspicuous at this size. (I 'm always tempted to put in a bigger one -- everyone needs a vice.)

I was wondering about various crops from the bottom. Also curious if you had a chance to get closer to those rocks while that wonderful cloud formation remained.

The tonal softness conveys an after-sunset look but I wonder about just a little more punch. I pulled the right-hand slider on a Curve (same as on a Levels) to the left to the edge of the histogram. Usually an image reads better with a full tonal range. Your histogram here is very nice, a nice bell shape well-tapered at both ends, so the contrast boost worked well technically, Purely a matter of taste.

[andresleon]

Nice composition Andres. I like the B&W conversion which works well with this type of image. The image looks alot stronger to my eye with the moon cropped out. I would crop it just above the first cloud outcrop thats almost in line with the moon.

Thank you Dave. I kept the moon because I really liked its simplicity. I think it may have been better if I had made it larger, but I was happy with the how it came out. Thanks for your feedback!

[andresleon]

A lovely view! I think several compositions are equally possible here. I like the moon but it is a bit inconspicuous at this size. (I 'm always tempted to put in a bigger one -- everyone needs a vice.)

I was wondering about various crops from the bottom. Also curious if you had a chance to get closer to those rocks while that wonderful cloud formation remained.

The tonal softness conveys an after-sunset look but I wonder about just a little more punch. I pulled the right-hand slider on a Curve (same as on a Levels) to the left to the edge of the histogram. Usually an image reads better with a full tonal range. Your histogram here is very nice, a nice bell shape well-tapered at both ends, so the contrast boost worked well technically, Purely a matter of taste.

Hi Dianne, Thank so much for your comments. I think your version is more interesting and bring more detail information to the image. For some reason, perhaps it was how I export it out of LR, the image in the forum looks a less detailed than the one I have on my screen. But your version is lovely. Again, thanks very much!

[Andrew McLachlan]

I like the B&W conversion here and do agree with Diane that there are several various compositional opportunities available here...I look forward to seeing the various scenes you may have captured. My preference would be for one whereby the foreground is of only the smooth section of the beach to eliminate the footprints in the sand. I do not mind the inclusion of the moon, but would prefer if it were lower and more toward the left within this scene. Looking forward to more.

[Don Lacy]

I see your playing on my beach:S3: I like the composition I have never thought of shooting that far back from the rocks good choice and like Diane my first thought was the tonal balance was a little flat i would play with it even more if it where mine. One question why would you need ti use NR at ISO 50 as stated in your techs there should be no noise in your files from at that setting.

[Don Railton]

Another vote for cropping off the bottom foot printed FG... well some of it anyway.. I would also take off a bit from the top, as I think the moon is not a strong enough element as presented to deserve all the space it has been given.

DON.

[andresleon]

Thank you Don and Don :) for your comments and ideas. I think I will play with the tones a bit more as well as with the cropping. I liked the contrast between the soft and smooth sand smoothed by the water and the undisturbed and rippled sand away from the rocks, but I can see your perspective as well.

When I noticed the moon above the rocks, it reminded me of Ansel Adams' famous shot of the moon over halfdome. (http://shop.anseladams.com/v/vspfiles/photos/5010117-U-2.jpg) I know this image is not even close due to a lot of factors, but it still reminded me of it and wanted to try to emulate it. That's one of the reasons I didn't crop it out.

[andresleon]

One question why would you need ti use NR at ISO 50 as stated in your techs there should be no noise in your files from at that setting.

Don, I noticed noise when I converted the image to B&W. I also noticed that my sensor was (is still) extremely dirty. I need to get it cleaned. Lastly, I also noticed that it is producing some hot pixels. Bottom line is that I need to send my camera to Canon for cleaning and to make sure it is working properly as these hot pixels are more predominant in this body than any other camera i've owned.

[Diane Miller]

I'm surprised a 1DX would show hot pixels. LR/ACR removes hot pixels in routine processing, at least with halfway recent cameras. But maybe extreme ones get through....

An exported image on the forum should look the same as the master file in LR. Exporting from LR is about as foolproof as it gets. But different screen backgrounds can really skew our perception. I like to rely on the histogram for darks and lights.

[Don Lacy]

Any hot pixels would be mapped out by ACR and Dpp4 you can also if I am remembering this right put you body cap on and put the camera in manual set it for a 30 second exposure and this will also map out any hot and dead pixels.

[Diane Miller]

The intensity (thus number) of the hot pixels will vary with exposure time so the time would need to be the same. You can subtract them from the image in PS by stacking your dark frame and putting it in Difference mode. Or easier, use the long-exposure noise reduction setting in camera, which will take a second frame of the same time duration as the image frame, and subtract in-camera.

[Diane Miller]

Another thought --maybe ISO 50 has caused some issues here. I don't have time to look it up but have heard that IQ suffers at ISOs below the native ISO of 100. Lower is better up to the point of native ISO but not lower. Don't know if that is still significant -- my info was several years ago.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Andres. I am late to this one...
I like the composition/design here, but felt your original was very "grey" with not enough tonal contrast. Diane's repost has improved it in that regard.