Island Sunrise

[Colin Knight]

I don't have an eye for landscapes so help me out please! 5D III, 10 stop ND, 30 seconds, ISO 100 f/7.1, single exposure.

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[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Colin...
I like the dramatic display of light here, plus your composition is compelling with the dead trees on this 'beach' (?)...
I always like seeing images taken with a 10-stop ND and should get my butt in action to obtain one myself.
I feel some of the highlights in the sky are just a tad too hot - could you perhaps blend some detail back there with another RAW file slightly underexposed?
I would have also liked a variation taken with the camera set up a bit higher to get more of the water in the shot...
Just thinking out loud here...

[Colin Knight]

Thanks! I could make an HDR with the other images for sure. However, I end up with ghosting in the clouds due to the long exposure. I'll have to figure something out. I suspected the brights would be too much- thanks for confirming.

[Tim F Williams]

Hey Colin-- what an awesome setting for a sunrise. Love those boneyard beaches! Great idea to go for a LE with the nice clouds. I think you just needed to stack on a GND filter to keep the sky under control. My sunrise/sunset images have improved immensely since I added those. Oh, and a circular polarizer is nearly always on my lens for a landscape :). Still a tough scenario if the sun had already broken the horizon to get a 30sec exposure. Nonetheless, very well composed and a beautiful start to the day...

[Colin Knight]

I had a two stop graduated ND filter and polarizer in my bag. But I always wonder about using too many filters at once due to flare....etc. I will get to work on the HDR version of this.

[Robert Amoruso]

Colin,

A polarizer is not needed if you are facing directly towards the sun or 180 degrees from it. Only when you are at an angle to the sun does a polarizer have an effect with the greatest effect being at 90 degrees to the sun.

You would have needed a "Reverse" GND filter here as a standard GND filter would have darkened the sky.

Good use of the 10-stop ND filter. I like the flow of the clouds.

I to would have like to have seen a higher POV. I also feel the hot spot in the sky is too hot and distracts the viewer.

I think simplifying the composition would be in order here as the eye has a rather haphazard path through the image as it tries to follow all the trees. You should look to arrange the trees in a balance pattern using leading lines or perhaps juxtaposition to lead the eye through the image. Too many things to look at confuses the composition.

[Colin Knight]

Thanks Robert! Isn't darkening the sky part of the goal here?

I put some of the files through PM to get a quick idea:

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[Tim F Williams]

Oh yeah, terrific sky. Tones are improved (to my eye), and you achieved a nice warm color on the water as well. Beach exposure raised a little closer to the original and I think you're there. Nice initial retake with the processing... I should get into this HDR thing.

You might not have had enough direct sun with the cloud cover to get flare with the stacked filters... but I have certainly experienced it, and you don't want to go all experimental when you have perfect light in front of you, haha. Comes and goes quickly. Bracketing is a great technique.

[Robert Amoruso]

Colin,

Nice redo. I would blend the sky with the FG of the original image of mask out the sky and even out/brighten the FG beach.

My reference to darkening the clouds is yes you want to do that but the luminance values near the sun are much higher then those at the top of the image. Holding back the bright sky areas need a lot more filteration than the darker portions. So correcting for the sun area places the darker clouds very low on the histogram. That is why I suggested the Reverse GND filter.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice repost, Colin! I would now just dodge the FG a bit, particularly the stumps - to get the same amount of detail as in your OP...
:bg3:

[Colin Knight]

Thanks for following up! I'm not a fan at all of Photomatix and will work on a hand blend coming up.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Repost work alot better, lovely cloud movement TFS :cheers: