The sky was spectacular

[AndrewMcD]

Inviting all C&C as I am just beginning to attempt more than simple snapshots. A wildly windy but very bright clear day at Turkey Point overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. I set the exposure by pointing the camera (Sony NEX-6) to the sky. Shutter:1/400, f/13, Focal length:16mm, ISO 100. I haven't sorted out how to embed the EXIF.
Funny thing is that previewing the image in the forum there now appears to be more foreground detail than when looking at it in iPhoto. I liked the dark silhouette foreground as it emphasized the sky.

I probably would have done well to resize this for posting......it's a steep learning curve.

[Brownbear]

I really like the composition, and the beauty, colour and the detail you captured in the sky. I think the foreground below the tree needs something more, lighter or darker, I'm not sure, but I'm sure someone will come along to advise.

[Digital]

IMHO I agree with Christina that the composition is fine; however I believe that the photo needs to be lightened more, especially in the foreground. Bruce

[PhotoRob]

Greetings Andrew, nice shot. May want to try cloning out the people to the left of the tree, and what might be a sign to the right...also would be curious how it looks with about 1/2 the sky cropped out and a little more detail visible in the tree...

[Mike Buckley]

Terrific eye for a dramatic composition.

A few things to consider: Brightening the darkest parts of the sky. Brightening and increasing the saturation of the green tones. Eliminating the thing (whatever it is) that is sticking up on the right side.

I like the idea of eliminating the people and I also like the idea of leaving them as is; it really depends on what story you want to tell and either one is certainly viable in my mind.

[Geoff F]

I don't think you will get the foreground sufficiently lightened, Andrew, although a fraction extra brightness will probably help the whole scene.

In which case, I would crop slightly tighter to reduce the amount of dark foreground.

[AndrewMcD]

Thanks to all for the comments. I too thought the image might be more effective without the people and other artifacts. I would have actually preferred the foreground darker, more of a silhouette. I know that some of these things can be modified in the editing tools available in iPhoto, which is the limit of my software right now, but I'm also leery of making changes. At some level editing tools are more of a danger than a help in the hands of the uneducated novice. A local arts college offers a course in digital photography that I'll take this summer and learn some photography fundamentals and post processing techniques. Meanwhile I'll continue reading, studying and shooting pictures with the occasional submission for your C&C. Thanks for being here!

[Bobobird]

Looks good as is.

[P2O2]

Andrew,

I like to photograph sky with clouds for their contrasting colors. This time I think you tried to catch two ends at once - composition and colors. When looking at the sky you must decide what is more important for you - colors or composition sometimes. Cameras have their limits.

I am also against strong correction of the sky hue with modern software, either you were on the right spot in the right time, or you did make faked images. Such dark deep blue as yours is a very rare phenomenon, perhaps deep in the "woodlands" 100 mi from the nearest busy highways, not even town or city.

Once I have made a shot of clouds which resembled me painters' canvas preprocessed for something "big". I didn't pay attention to the ugly gray housing in the corner of the image (yep, there was during a beginning of my adventure with photography ;-) ). I left the corner untouched, the colors were the main players there. Look for yourself. :-)

Regards