Sunset before and after

[pasusan]

I'm a sucker for sunsets. Here is one from the Thousand Islands area across the St. Lawrence River.

Just to see what is preferred I put up the original and a couple edited versions using LR4.

SOOC:


Edit 1 lowering highlights and blacks and adding presence:


Edit 2 lowering highlights and blacks and adding red and orange in the HSL panel:


Which do you prefer?

Or... Edit it to your preferences, put it up, and tell me what you did.

Thanks for any and all input!

[easternlight]

I like the first edit, the colors and overall appearance is better.

[GiacomoD]

Susan,
I like very much the composition. The foliage creates a sort of natural vignetting...

Edit 1 looks better to me, in edit 2 I see a bit too much magenta on the water

[splashy]

I like your picture very much.



LR 4.3
Temp +28, shadow +56, black +30, Clarity 35, Vibrance +33, HSL, Orange Hue +29

[jeeperman]

Susan, I had to have a little play as well and while I also use LR4 I will post just what I did. My taste goes just to the darker side on some images and this one was no exception. I realise it won't be for everyone. It is just one more way to see the same image.

Temp +2, tint -6, exposure -.30, contrast +6, whites -16, blacks -6, clearity +12, vibrance +36, saturation +4

color panel
Saturation.....red +8, yellow +6
Luminance....Red -23, orange -19, yellow -36, purple -4

Post crop Vignetting -10

And to finish...a 16x9 crop losing a tiny bit of the left side and much of the bottom.

[kdoc856]

Hi, Susan

It's a very nice sunset but falls short of being oustanding due to the lack of a strong and interesting compositional main element.

Yov have the sky and water in about equal proportion which may lessen the impact a bit, and the sun is in the exact center of the bulls-eye. It might be a little more dramatic with a crop off the top or bottom and whichever side you choose.

I personally prefer a little less magenta and keeping the highlights down to subdue the water reflection and make the clouds a little more dramatic. It's a low light shot with a fair amount of noise, so any attempt at bringing up the shadows is going to magnify the noise there, as Mike's edit demonstrates in the darker portion of the sky.

Good job, hope this helps a smidge

Kevin

[pasusan]

I like the first edit, the colors and overall appearance is better.

Susan,
I like very much the composition. The foliage creates a sort of natural vignetting...

Edit 1 looks better to me, in edit 2 I see a bit too much magenta on the water

Thanks Koos and Giacomo - I also prefer that one. It seems more real to me. That's one thing I'm trying to do - edit so it looks more natural and like the original image to my eye.

[Geoff F]

My first thought was to reduce the amount of water; then I saw that Paul had done virtually the same thing.

A similar edit but with lighter shadows would be another option which could work.

[pasusan]

I like your picture very much.

{Image removed for space}

LR 4.3
Temp +28, shadow +56, black +30, Clarity 35, Vibrance +33, HSL, Orange Hue +29

Thanks Mike - I'm glad you like it. It's interesting to see what you did.

[pasusan]

Susan, I had to have a little play as well and while I also use LR4 I will post just what I did. My taste goes just to the darker side on some images and this one was no exception. I realise it won't be for everyone. It is just one more way to see the same image.

Temp +2, tint -6, exposure -.30, contrast +6, whites -16, blacks -6, clearity +12, vibrance +36, saturation +4

color panel
Saturation.....red +8, yellow +6
Luminance....Red -23, orange -19, yellow -36, purple -4

Post crop Vignetting -10

And to finish...a 16x9 crop losing a tiny bit of the left side and much of the bottom.

{Image removed for space}

Thanks very much Paul - I really like your crop and I too lean towards the dark look. Thanks for including your edits! I admit I tend to keep the same aspect ratio when I do crop - I have to learn to loosen up.

[jeeperman]

No worries, Susan. Geoff was right about a little shadow recovery helping. I was trying to avoid added noise but recovering shadows about +34 and using some noise reduction about 22 on both luminance and color works well.

[pasusan]

Thanks a lot Kevin and Geoff for giving your critiques. They make a lot of sense and I'm learning a lot from you.

[ucci]

A comment from a lower level of expertise, for what it is worth. For me in edit 1 there is a far more pleasing range of hues on the water. In edit 2 they seem somewhat compressed into a less discriminatory range giving a 'flatter' effect.
Normally I would agree with the comment that there was too much water on show. However, in this case I believe the obverse is true. In Edit 1 there is a most attractive subtle play of light in the shape of a cross which caught my eye as a focal point and drew it into the picture. Without this I do feel that your capture could have lost much of its dramatic drawing power and been just another 'nice' sunset.
This has nothing to do with me being some sort of religious fanatic looking for hidden mystical apparitions. Just a very pleasing light effect you have captured. This effect is not nearly as evident after cropping. Just an opinion anyway. Nice sunset capture.

[JPS]

Hi Susan,
No.1 is the best IMO.

Cheers
John

[pasusan]

Here is a new version with some cropping to get the horizon out of the center, but keeping the cross/arrow on the water, and using some of the editing technique given by Paul:



Thanks to all who gave advice - I learned new things about LR and composition.

Cheers!

[tbob]

I would go for the slightly darker look that Paul has done. The bright water surface is a bit too bright. I do like the framing with the trees

[pasusan]

Thanks Trevor - I actually do have one of those too with the new crop:



I gotta say I love Lightroom...

[Dave Humphries]

I like this last one best Susan,

Cheers,

[tbob]

I think the last one is by far the best. Spot on.

[jeeperman]

I would agree, the last is the top of the bunch for sure. Well done.