Mozambique Sunset

[Morkel Erasmus]

This is another image taken with my Kodak Z612 Bridge Camera in my pre-DSLR days. This photo was taken during our honeymoon, of which we spent a part in the idyllic Flamingo Bay lodge in Mozambique. The chalets are constructed in the middle of a large tidal lagoon/estuary - so half of the day you are in the middle of the water, and the other half you can walk around on the dry basin. Quite an experience!

This photo was taken was we sat lazily on the back porch of the chalet, looking out over the estuary at the fishermen who were working diligently to supply food to their families - and we felt very privileged to experience this setting and some vacation time (as there are many people in Southern Africa who don't have that luxury).

This simplistic composition will hopefully convey that simplistic gratitude to you, the viewer. All colours on this photo as seen and shot. Only did a little crop and some levels adjustment, reverse s-curve and contrast enhancement.

Your C+C most welcome...

[Rene Quenneville]

beautiful sunset. I like the tonality of the sun. On the comp side of things, I feel that the boat is too far away from the sun, thus making our eyes wandering around the picture. If you like to play with PS, you could bring the boat closer and make a nice vertical crop out of it.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

A very surreal image, Morkel. The vastness and the scale it conveys is very humbling. I wonder what makes sun to have such a color. Is it due to haze? TFS.

regards,
ramesh

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Morkel,
Rene brought up some excellent points about the boat in relation to the sun.......a bit closer may have helped strengthen the image as presented now......the eye does tend to wander the scene. Do realize that you can convey a sense of vastness......while cropping out a majority of an image and yet strengthen the relationships of objects within an image. The re-post to a pano.......for me still kept the sense of vastness and now strengthened the balance between the sun and the boat(w/o photoshopping the boat closer). I would have tried this also.....knowing i would crop to a pano.......and then wait for the boat to come closer and shoot it with the sun......maybe even with a long tele and go vert.......as many shots as i could squeeze in with the wonderful glow of the sun. For me.....the simple pano crop works and stregthens the oveall appeal of the image. Let me know your thoughts on this.
Ramesh....smoke from fires.....haze.....pollution....even a thin layer of clouds... can all have this affect on the sun.

[Rich Ikerd]

Beautiful scene Morkel (even more so with my imagination and your explanation of the area). I like the juxtaposition of the boat and the sun, but there's just a bit too much negative space. Roman has made a great suggestion for an alternative crop that really strengthens the image.

[Robert Amoruso]

Good points and Roman did exactly what I was going to suggest.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for all the great comments, critiques and suggestions everyone! Roman - I like your pano crop. My OP is actually also cropped to a slightly more pano format from the shot as taken. I couldn't get a better position of the boat in relation to the sun as the boat was at anchor and our chalet was almost on the edge of the pier. Will post a new topic to show a panorama I created of the lodge - quite idyllic.

I will try some of Rene's suggestions to 'play with PS' tonight - having a rather hectic week at work.

:)

Oh - and it wasn't very hazy - very little pollution in these rural areas of Mozambique since very few people have the luxury of owning cars. I was just a thin layer of hazy clouds that settled on the horizon. All the other evenings the sunset was blazing crimson.