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Jonathan Ashton
10-20-2015, 11:37 AM
Composite Image from exposure bracket sequence of 3, loaded from Bridge to CS6 (hand held - shock horror!) Canon 1DX Canon 24-105mm ISO 400 1/800 sec f8 no filters used.
I noticed we had a couple of interesting sunsets recently so when I took Barney for an evening stroll I took my camera along.
This is the River Dee not the Scottish one, but the one that runs between the Wirral peninsula (NW England) and North Wales, it's about 7 min walk from my back garden. North Wales is in the distance on the left of the image. - all C&C welcome.

Dvir Barkay
10-20-2015, 11:40 AM
Cool shot. The sky is a little too dark for me, just a tad. I know our eyes see things with much more dynamic range. but even so, the sky always look quite bright. The foreground OOF plants are not helping make the shot better, though I think overall, the shot is still nice, even with them.

dankearl
10-20-2015, 12:40 PM
I like the sky, I would have used a slow SS for the water but that is personal preference.
I would have stepped in front of the weeds.......

Jonathan Ashton
10-21-2015, 05:41 AM
Thanks for the feedback, I agree regards the grasses. If I had been taking a natural history shot the first thing I would have done would be to move to get the grasses out of the way, but I was in landscape mode and it didn't even occur to me - even when I thought they were in the way!! I will ensure I engage my brain next time!

Rachel Hollander
10-21-2015, 06:46 AM
Hi Jon - We've all been there, done that when it comes to some distracting element that we could have avoided but for some reason did not. I am a little surprised at how dark the clouds are when you were bracketing and the sun had not set completely yet. I think you can probably lighten them and bring out more detail. Fortunately it is close so you have the opportunity to go back and experiment a bit more.

TFS,
Rachel

Don Railton
10-21-2015, 11:28 PM
Agree with all of the above Jonathan.. The weeds need a trim and the sky is too dark, as is the hill side RHS mid frame.. Still, its a lovely setting and Barney is going to need another walk soon so.. I dont mind the detail in the water this SS gives.. but would take another at slower SS anyway..

DON

Jonathan Ashton
10-22-2015, 03:42 AM
Thanks Rachel & Don, I hope to take some more images as soon as we get some decent sunsets - I have a set of filters arriving shortly so maybe I will get a better balance of light.

Diane Miller
10-22-2015, 12:37 PM
I love the river and the light on it. Should be very easy to lighten the darks a little in the clouds. Did you hand-mask the three exposures or use software?

andresleon
10-22-2015, 12:53 PM
I congratulate you for getting such a sharp image and having a steady arm to hand-hold a 1dx and the 24-105 lens. For landscapes like these a tripod is almost an absolute must, but you still manage to create a very nice image nonetheless. As many have said before, I think the bushes sticking in front of the center right are a little distracting and take away from the composition. Perhaps cloning those out may be enough. I also agree that the sky is a little dark, but I think its current form gives a really dramatic feel to the image. perhaps increasing the aperture in the whole image and reducing the highlights a bit may open the image up?

thanks for sharing!

Morkel Erasmus
10-24-2015, 06:00 AM
Hi Jonathan
I too would have liked to not see the weeds/grass in front.
I think you could have blended these better - it's a tad too dark and the overall luminosity doesn't balance for me. I think you can brighten it a bit more, especially the midground and sky.
Lovely clouds and sky though!

David Cowling
10-24-2015, 12:08 PM
Great action on the clouds Jonathan, although I agree they could do with lightening a touch. The setting sun is nicely placed in the image. I like the grass bank lower let hand side, it stops the eye from wandering out of the picture, but not too keen on the loose grasses in front of the camera. Taken near Thurstaston?

Jonathan Ashton
10-25-2015, 04:50 PM
Thanks very much everyone for your comments. You are spot on David - half way between my house and Thurstaston.

Andrew McLachlan
11-02-2015, 08:48 PM
Hi Jonathan...a beautiful sunset that would have been better without the foreground weeds...I been there and done that myself too :)