Glorious Sunset

[Judy Howle]

This is one of my favorites from tonight, more to come! The colors were glorious!
f9, 1/100s, ISO 500 - 5D2

[Robert Amoruso]

Judy,

Great sky - best so far. For these types of images w/o a lot of FG interest or a good reflection I will do one of two things. Lessen the FG or go with a really slow shutter speed to blur the water from motion. As this looks like a lake, the slow shutter speed will probably not work out well as apposed to say the ocean with more water movement. And you might think that that would blur the clouds - and it will. What I do is two exposures - one faster to freeze the clouds and one slower to blur the water. Merge them in PS and mask out along the dark strip of land. Anyway, just some to consider trying in the future.

What lens are you using? For this image I am thinking minimize the FG water and aim high into the sky. First I would use my widest non-fisheye, 24mm aimed up and later correct for distortion in PS. I would try a fisheye but aimed at the horizon so it remains level - no distortion but tons of sky and FG - later crop the FG out.

Looking forward to the next image.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Judy, The colors are glorious and your forunate to be getting these. Good job on the techs where color and tonality are dominant.
Looks like your dealing with a large shoreline thats accesible to you. Not sure if you have scouted the area in the daytime but it might pay off in finding some other foregrounds to play with
Robert gave some excellent points for one to explore....

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Robert. Those are good suggestions but the problem is that I'm shooting from a floating dock for most of the images which has a better point of view than standing on the shore further south and where I have to deal with the foliage in the water and a large log I have to clone out. I can't use a tripod to get a slow shutter speed on the dock - a pro photographer friend tried it and said it didn't work. In fact the bobbing action messes with the stabilization and it jumps around sometimes before settling. I hope that won't damage it!

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Dave. The shoreline where I'm shooting from is very limited as it's L shaped with only a couple hundred feet on the east side of a sort of cove and the rest of it is the south side of the lake which has the floating dock going out into the lake so that is the best place to shoot from. Now that the sun is so far South I soon won't be able to shoot it at all without going all the way to the lock and dam and that is not good with the lock and dam up close and in the way. I have done it before with a few really nice sunsets just showing the tree tops and eliminating the lock and dam. I will definitely have sunset photography withdrawal when I have to quit until next spring/summer!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Judy, thanks for the explanation. Have no idea what the area really looks like...

[Judy Howle]

Dave, here's a couple of my posts that show other views. This one posted in OOTB http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?67004-Summer-Sunset&highlight= was made from the overlook just above the dam on the east side of the river looking north/northwest. The entrance to the lock is "spoiling" the view and the main river channel is the one on the left side and the lake veers off to the right.
This one was made from the dock which is T shaped and I was on the west end, looking southwest. http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?68815-Flaming-Clouds&highlight= The protrusion at the left is where the shore turns back to the east. You can see the overlook at the right side and barely see the glint of a car parked up there. It's a popular spot for watching sunsets :)

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Judy,
Thanks for the explanation on the location. You've got to get a "pretty" log out there....just kidding!;). I like the pano format you chose and the colors are super! You did a nice job minimizing the water and the proportions work very nicely for me. Well done!