Sunset at the Royal Cresent in Bath

[Jim Kuo]

This is a picture I took recently at the Royal Cresent in Bath, UK.

I used a gradual ND filter (Cokin P 121S, not entirely sure if it was really needed in this shot), Canon 70-200 F4 lens and a 5D2 body.

I quite like this photo, particularly how the cloud patterns look at the time, but am wondering if there is anything else I could do to make it more striking.

Any feedback or criticisms are extremely welcome, thanks!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Hi Jim
welcome to the forum!
dont forget to pop in to the welcome area and say hi to everyone

in the mean while, i think the photo has actually come out quite nicely, nice subtle tones!
are you asking for help using software to tweak the image?

 

[Jim Kuo]

Thanks Hamish, I will go say hi shortly

I realise that my question is a bit vague, I guess I am after people's ideas on what would they personally do differently both in software and at point of taking the picture, to improve the "impact" of the shot.

 

[Darren Turner]

its a bit of a difficult one this as there is a fair bit of cloud in the sky, i do like the silhouette effect of the tree & houses.

Maybe if your location could have been change slightly to try and get a bit of something, tree or building to be closer & more prominent to the left 3rd of the image to show as a silhouette also

I hope you dont mind but i have just increased the saturation in Photoshop and i think this make a big difference.

I hope this makes sense

Daz

 

[Hamish Gill]

its a hard question to answer ...nd grad are usefull for sunsets, but im not sure you have got the best out of the use of one here ... the foreground still being in shade is what you would use the nd grad to try to avoid really

you could try lightening the image and upping the contrast ... that should give it a bit more depth??
just try not to end up with the sun being just burnt out white

do you shoot in raw?
what pp software do you use?

 

[Jim Kuo]

Thanks Darren, your example shows me exactly how increased saturation helps in this picture, it does look a lot more striking

I will also think about maybe a different view point to get a more prominent silhouette effect next time I am in similar situation.

Yes Hamish, I do shoot in RAW, I use Aperture 3 to do post processing.

This is my 2nd attempt, I played with Saturation setting in Aperture, but I couldn't get it to look closer to what Darren has done...

I pushed highlights to 100%, increased shadows, exposure, constrast a little, increased vibrancy a bit more. Is there anything else I should try?

Edit: The image above was later post processed in lightroom.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yours is now better than Darrens!
Best tip...
Have faith in your own eye!
Play with all those little sliders and options in aperture until it looks nice to your eye!
Look at peoples work that you like and try to emulate it ... Your own style will develop ... And change ... And develop ... And change!
Nothing is wrong, this is an art form... Create what you like!
You have a great set of kit, and shooting raw and using aperture you have all you need to create great images ... You just need to trust that what matters is your own eye and your own taste... If you like a photo you have taken and edited it doesn't matter if others don't like it, it's a good photo because you like it... Remember that and you will get better and better very quickly!!

We are all here to help each other ... If you see any photo that anyone has taken, just ask how they did it.. We are all willing to advise as much as we can here!!

 

[Jim Kuo]

Thanks for your kind words. It wasn't a fair comparison to Darren as only a tiny JPEG file was available to him....

Much appreciated for all your tips and examples. It sure opened my mind on things to try

 

[Chris Dodkin]

It's amazing how a bit of post processing can take a good shot and give it an extra edge.