Sunset today

[Kerry Perkins]

...as seen with new eyes and new gear - 1D Mk IV and 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. Topaz Adjust helped out a bit too.

[Brendan Dozier]

Real nice, Kerry! I like the color, pano crop, where you placed the sun, and the balance/contrast between the sky and rocks. Well done and congratulations on your new eyes and new grear!

[Dennis Bishop]

I really like both the capture and processing -- especially that you let the foreground be the emphasis rather than oversaturating the sunset. The large boulders in the lower left nicely balance the right side. Judging from the unbroken line of the wave and the wide angle lens, it looks like you cropped the top to get the panoramic view. Although it would come at the cost of losing some of the blue, I'd have cropped a bit more -- about half way down to the landform on the right. That would enhance the panoramic effect and put the horizon at a divine proportion line. However, I do like it just the way it is.

[denise ippolito]

Kerry, Nice sunset! While I do like Dennis' crop I also like the deep blue at the top of your OP.

[Roger Clark]

Hi Kerry,

This is a beautiful image. I like your original best (I like a the sky as it opens up the image). But I do not have Topaz Adjust and have no clue how you applied it to your image. Could you post the before Topaz Adjust and explain a little more of what you did?

You might be interested in John's thread regarding plugins over in digital workflow:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...893#post757893

Roger

[Kerry Perkins]

Roger, sorry for the lack of explanation. Here is the image as it came out of Lightroom. In LR I used two graduated filters, one from the top to lower the level, and one from the bottom to raise the blacks and also used a bit of fill light. This gives the look of an HDR image but only uses a single exposure. At that point I sent the image to Photoshop.

In PS I used Topaz Detail 2 to add some pre-sharpening. The settings were these - small detail 0.32 | small boost 0.03 | medium detail 0.04 | medium boost 0.02. Then I used Topaz Adjust 5, starting with the "HDR Sketch - Light" preset from the "Stylized Collection" - too many adjustments in the preset to list... I believe I adjusted the brightness slider and used the curve tool (in the plugin) to bring out the foreground levels a bit. Finally, I re-sized the image for BPN standards and added a light round of USM (60%-0.3-0) to reclaim some detail lost in the scaling.

[Indranil Sircar]

Kerry, this is beautiful! Love the composition and the richness of the colors you have been able to bring out with Adjust. Excellent processing!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Kerry, Great shot. I like the OP. Nice subtle colors, and mood to the image. The crashing waves are a nice contrast to otherwise peaceful setting. Great work.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Kerry, nice sunset and I like the comp as well. The foreground rocks are also quite nice and you were able to bring out some nice details in them. I see a dust bunny in the upper right area of the photo. My vote is for your original post.

[Mitch Carucci]

Classic seascape. Great!