Colorado Sunset

[David Stephens]

I was out at Cherry Creek State Park, in a Southern suburb of Denver, chasing raptors, chickadees and deer when I thought I'd go down to the Western shore of the reservoire to see what birds and animals were there and saw this very interesting scenic opportunity, with water, geese, driftwood, the Rocky Mountains, sunset and a nice range of colors:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/4161068863_d9cec75f4c_b.jpg

Taken with my Canon 5D MkII with the EF 24-105mm f4L at 24mm and f4, ISO 800 and 1/5000-second hand held, -1/3EV, processed with DxO's Optics Pro 5.6, only perfecting the water horizon and a touch of lighting adjustment and light NR. After the fact I noticed that my ISO could be reduced and took other shots at lower ISOs, but this was the only one with the geese in perfect position. The differnce in noise was very minor anyway.

This is my first time in this section of the forum and I've only recently been thinking about getting equally serious about scenic photography, so I'm looking forward to suggestions and critique.

Thanks in advance.

Dave

[Dave Mills]

Hi David,Welcome to landscapes and glad to know about your interest in scenic photography. First off you had a nice scene in front of you which you handled well technically and the capture of the flock added interest. I'm also glad you left the log reflection in tact and didn't cut it . If this were mine I would of taken the log off center and moved it to the left. Secondly, I would have eliminated the partial tree and rocks on the right. Finally, since the upper sky doesn't have much interest I would crop it down just below the wispy cloud above the flock. Good effort!!

[Robert Amoruso]

I live the point the geese form in the sky. All good suggestions from David that I agree with. I would suggest cropping this into a vertical two ways. First with the log and geese in the center with some off the top. Second with the log and geese towards the right of the crop. Try some different options and see what you think.

One thing you could have done in the field was get the camera higher or moved towards the log some, this would have gotten rid of the merge of the top of the log with the BG. In this instance, separating the log from the dark BG and have it completed in front of the water would be preferable.

Welcome to the forum and looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[David Stephens]

Thanks Dave and Robert.

So Dave, are you suggesting that I should have moved to my right and shot across with the log to the left of center and the sunset to the right?

Robert, the ice was too thin to get closer and higher, but I see what you have in mind, I think.

I'll relook at some of my other options. I DID walk around in front of that tree on the right and shot across the driftwood log in a more Southernly direction, but the results didn't strike me on my first review as having as much impact as I got here. It may have been the light which, as you know, was changing real fast. I actually ran (well trotted) down to the water to not miss this light.

I'll work with some different crops tonight after work. I'm thinking that a tighter square might be nice. No doubt, reducing that empty sky will add some impact.

Dave

[Dave Mills]

Hi David, Yes, that would have put the log more to your left than compose accordingly.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi David,
I agree with David's and Robert's assesment.....I have shown 3 possible crops/interpretations for you to try next time out......the white is my favorite. Do remember that a different sky will call for a reassesment.
PS...for some reason the blue didn't go alll the way down...but it is to the bottom of frame.

[David Stephens]

Thanks Roman, I too prefer the white one. I'll try that and a more squared one focused in the middle. I'm not too keen on the tall red and blue (too much sky). We'll see.

Dave

[David Stephens]

Here's my favorite recrop, a combination of a couple of Roman's suggestions:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2625/4167286643_654b2654a8_b.jpg

The geese kept pulling me toward centering them horizontally. I had about 20 other shots from a few different perspectives, but I think this one is the strongest. I think that the additional cropping did add power.

Thanks,

Dave

[Morkel Erasmus]

hi David - very moody scene and I like your repost more. I think ideally it would have been super if the geese were flying in from the right and the stump was an offset bottom left of the image (in other words, taking the shot a few seconds earlier :))