Lake Erie sunset

[Dennis Bishop]

I've shot some spectacular sunrises from the Marblehead Peninsula but haven't had my camera with me for the best sunsets. Maybe one of these days . . .

Nikon D3s, ISO 640, f/11, 9-exposure HDR at 1 EV intervals, zoom at 14mm for the sunset
Nikon Coolpix P7000, ISO 200, f/8, 1/2000 sec (-2 exposure compensation) 200mm (35mm film equivalent) for the two gulls taken from a river boat in France four months earlier

processing highlights

• Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset, partially masked
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Linear Light blend mode (instead of the normal Color), 22% opacity
• orange from the sunset -- Soft Light, 75%
• the two gulls on the right -- Multiply, 79%
• same orange -- Overlay, 37% masked to the two gulls and foreground boats
• Belle Fleur texture -- Overlay, 33%
• Photo Filter adjustment layer -- Warming 85 at 62% density and 100% opacity, masked to immediate foreground and foreground boats
• Kim Klassen texture -- Multiply, 39%
• Fractalius -- three saved black & white presets, Multiply, various opacities
• Snap Art Line Art -- saved preset, orange & white, Multiply, 56%
• Simplify -- saved edges preset, Multiply 39%

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Love the depth, love the colours, the subtle light on the canoes, and the composition. Really nice work Dennis.

[Mitch Carucci]

The processing of this image is so well controlled! A beautiful image.

[Wendy Kates]

Dennis, I too love the composition and the colors of this image. Excellent processing.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, another outstanding image. Your work is so well thought out and executed that I sometimes get an inferiority complex. Your photoshop skills are light years ahead of mine but it inspires me to get better so that's a good thing. The only part of the image that distracts me a little bit is the top of the tree. I could see croppping the straggly part out and you'd probably have to move the top bird down a bit to balance it. But I'm sure you've got a perfect reason to present it the way it is so please don't think it's a criticism. I think it's wonderful the way it is.

[Hazel Grant]

ditto all the compliments. thanks again for the details re processing.

[Dennis Bishop]

Dennis, another outstanding image. Your work is so well thought out and executed that I sometimes get an inferior complex. Your photoshop skills are light years ahead of mine but it inspires me to get better so that's a good thing. The only part of the image that distracts me a little bit is the top of the tree. I could see croppping the straggly part out and you'd probably have to move the top bird down a bit to balance it. But I'm sure you've got a perfect reason to present it the way it is so please don't think it's a criticism. I think it's wonderful the way it is.

Cheryl, you're right. About the top of the tree, that is. I'm not so sure about some of the other things you said. I have a couple ideas -- one being a lot easier, but maybe not as good, as the other. Hopefully, I'll get around to trying them out soon. (I played around with cropping, but I'd rather not resort to that.) Thank you.

[Nancy Bell]

This is classic Dennis! Your eye for composition and careful & creative processing are awesome! Love those repeating lines & shapes of the small boats, and the soft glow of the sunset. Cheryl has a good observation about those top most scraggly branches. BTW, I just purchased Alien Skin Snap Art since I have seen it so often on your processing list. If anyone is interested it is 35% off until Friday, I believe.

[Paul Lagasi]

Dennis lovely work as always, agree with everything above. Personally I like a clean horizon and generally take out any hand of man objects on the horizon. Not sure if it works but I took the liberty with your image and am posting it below.

Your use of effects and textures is crazy. But like us all we enjoy doing this work and it gives us and other great pleasure. TFS

[Anita Bower]

Don't you just hate it when you don't have the camera with you for something gorgeous? At those times, I just try to soak up the beauty.
This has your excellent signature look. I like how the center of the image is the sunset, and moves out from there in all directions. There is a lot going on in this image: different shapes, tonalities, colors, etc. for the eye to explore, so much that the sunset gets a little lost. The tree branches and building on the horizon don't bother me.
I think many of us would enjoy a day with you learning your techniques. But then, your images would no longer be uniquely Dennis, which would be a shame.

[Dennis Bishop]

[QUOTE=Paul Lagasi;1030473 . . . I like a clean horizon and generally take out any hand of man objects on the horizon. Not sure if it works but I took the liberty with your image and am posting it below . . . [/QUOTE]

I like what you've done, Paul. If you'd posted an image like this, I have to say I wouldn't have wanted to add the building, the things on the horizon, or the other things you removed. In fact, I usually have no hesitation about removing or adding things (like the two gulls on the right, in this case) to my images. This image is an exception for me, though. The place has become too much a part of me. Actually, I wish the building, where a friend of mine once worked customizing boats, weren't there. Nobody else would know it, but the dark thing that was near the end of the pier that juts out horizontally was a couple holding hands while they enjoyed the sunset. The dark thing on the pier you removed was people either fishing or looking out over the lake. It's all part of life, there, and -- because I hope that never changes -- I can't change it in the image. Even though it might otherwise be a good idea.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

[Anita Bower]

Dennis: Your comments about the meaning of the elements in this image are a good example of one reason we like or dislike an image--the subjects in the image have emotional resonance for us, or, they don't.