First sunset bracket shots I've ever done

[zkogut]

Hi Everybody,

I'm pretty new to taking "bracket shots" for exposure but since we had a beautiful sunset this evening I was able to practice a little. I took 3 different exposures to get this shot and I think it turned out exactly how it looked out there tonight. Let me know what you think.

Thanks For Looking,
Zak


Sunset over Pittsford, NY 7-26-15

[Manfred M]

Zak - the nice thing about sunset shots is that there is no right or wrong way of doing them, so getting whatever you like is all that really counts. Bracketing the shots in the "traditional" way lets you select the one that looks best to you.

You have a very wide dynamic range to this image; you have both blown highlights and blocked shadow detail; something that is really unavoidable in a single image with these lighting conditions. If you took shots two stops apart, as a next step you might want to look at running them through High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) software to see what that does for you. I can't remember if CS6 has this functionality (I think it did). If you have appropriate images, try it so see how you like the result.

[rpcrowe]

You were able to maintain detail in the foreground and still retain the sky's detail...

[zkogut]

You were able to maintain detail in the foreground and still retain the sky's detail...

Yes. I was able to do that by creating two images. One with great sky detail and one with great foreground detail. I then aligned them in a stack and masked the perfect sky over the perfect foreground and wah lah there ya go.

[zkogut]

Zak - the nice thing about sunset shots is that there is no right or wrong way of doing them, so getting whatever you like is all that really counts. Bracketing the shots in the "traditional" way lets you select the one that looks best to you.

You have a very wide dynamic range to this image; you have both blown highlights and blocked shadow detail; something that is really unavoidable in a single image with these lighting conditions. If you took shots two stops apart, as a next step you might want to look at running them through High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) software to see what that does for you. I can't remember if CS6 has this functionality (I think it did). If you have appropriate images, try it so see how you like the result.

I tried using HDR pro in photoshop but once you're done making adjustments on 16 bit hdr it takes all the nice detail away in the 8 bit jpg when you save.

[bnnrcn]

Great shot Zak A beautiful place.

[Shadowman]

Nice effort, great flare captured.

[Manfred M]

I tried using HDR pro in photoshop but once you're done making adjustments on 16 bit hdr it takes all the nice detail away in the 8 bit jpg when you save.

Really? That has not been my experience. I generally don't do a lot of HDRI work, but have been in lighting situations like the one you have here and did a couple of them over the past few days.

Sunset - Point Pelee National Park - last night

Sunset - Point Pelee National Park

I can't say I had a loss of detail issue and in fact, the reason I used this technique is to get more detail into the images.

[zkogut]

Really? That has not been my experience. I generally don't do a lot of HDRI work, but have been in lighting situations like the one you have here and did a couple of them over the past few days.

Sunset - Point Pelee National Park - last night

Sunset - Point Pelee National Park

I can't say I had a loss of detail issue and in fact, the reason I used this technique is to get more detail into the images.

I clearly need to learn the hdr tool in cs6 from the looks of your images.

[thegman]

Great shot Zak, nice tones.

[Ndukes]

What I like about this one is that my own experience tells me it was not a single straight shot but, at the same time, it doesn't look at all artificial or contrived. It's very convincing.
Manfred mentions HDR in CS6. I have tried using it but never got good results. My own preferred technique is similar to yours. Merge the various elements as needed and painstakingly adjust the levels until they are just right.
Beautiful atmospheric scene.

[zkogut]

What I like about this one is that my own experience tells me it was not a single straight shot but, at the same time, it doesn't look at all artificial or contrived. It's very convincing.
Manfred mentions HDR in CS6. I have tried using it but never got good results. My own preferred technique is similar to yours. Merge the various elements as needed and painstakingly adjust the levels until they are just right.
Beautiful atmospheric scene.

Thanks! I find that by feathering my masks between the sky and foreground by 6 pixels, it makes it very difficult to tell it's multiple exposures combined.

[Manfred M]

What I like about this one is that my own experience tells me it was not a single straight shot but, at the same time, it doesn't look at all artificial or contrived. It's very convincing.
Manfred mentions HDR in CS6. I have tried using it but never got good results. My own preferred technique is similar to yours. Merge the various elements as needed and painstakingly adjust the levels until they are just right.
Beautiful atmospheric scene.

I often use a similar approach as well, something that we used to call "poor man's HDRI", i.e. selective blending of different exposures. Many of my landscapes and portraits use this approach, sometimes with actual multiple images but often by just pulling out some detail that the camera captured but was not processed as well as I would like (i.e. using different blending modes).

I had tired HDR software including NIX HDR Efex Pro, Photomatix Pro and Oloneo Photo Engine. Someone suggested that the Adobe product produced much more subtle and less "HDRI-like" look so I started testing it. Right now, I'll have to agree. The output needs a touch of tuning in Photoshop, but the end result is one I generally like.

[TobyMac]

Always been a sucker for amazing clouds and these ones are great! Nice capture!

[bnnrcn]

Thanks for the tip Zak,a useful way for transition

Thanks! I find that by feathering my masks between the sky and foreground by 6 pixels, it makes it very difficult to tell it's multiple exposures combined.