Sunsets

[Ricco]

This is probably one of the first times that I've had a play with longer exposures and sunset shots. I was hoping to get a bit of C&C mixed with some advice for next time please. Be as harsh as you like - I'm a big boy and can take it.

If I can start:
- I don't think I got the focus quite right on a couple of the shots. The foreground is quite soft in areas.
- I thought the composition was OK in most cases
- In terms of PP, I thought I did OK in the colours for most of them


Thanks in advance!

#1


#2


#3 (30sec exp)

[FrankMi]

Hi Ricco, It can sometimes be tricky to get the right exposure this late in the day, particularly as the contrast increases towards dusk. I would try a tripod to help with soft images and if it is too dark to get a good focus, try manual focus using the distance settings on the lens. You may want to also experiment with bracketing exposures, say +2EV, normal, and -2EV. One question I have for all three shots is what do you see as the subject?

[Colin Southern]

Hi Ricco,

Normally, placing the horizon through the centre is "sub-optimal" - also the orientation of the shot is dictated by the lines in the shot - in this case the natural lines (horizon) run horizontally - so a landscape orientation would probably have worked better.

As a rule, shoot at a small aperture (large F number) (F16 is good), and focus about 1/3 of the way into the foreground.

[Colin Southern]

Can't do much to fix the softness, but you get the idea ...