Sunset Panorama

[Rita]

I went away for a few days and there were some beautiful sunsets. I have never done a panorama before so I intentionally took for shots of this scene with the intent of trying it. This was done with 4 images. Really liked the sky as it was here.
Any feedback is appreciated (good and bad)

[Kodiak]

Any feedback is appreciated (good and bad)

You' get both from me.

GOOD: composition, stitching and choice of moment.
BAD: There is so much drama and majesty in this scene that you didn't need
really to overcook it in pp.

[dragonswing]

I think it looks great. Does not look overprocessed to me.

[Brownbear]

Hi Rita,

I think this is a beautiful image. I especially love the composition for the gorgeous sky. If it were my image I might bring tame the sky in the center just a wee bit. I'm not sure how I feel about the curved foreground.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Mike Buckley]

Very good job, Rita!

Do me a favor, please: Select the brightest areas of the sky. Those are the areas that your histogram indicates are clipped highlights and perhaps another tool on your software does the same. Darken those areas just enough so the tools in your software indicate no clipped highlights. Then the most important part: review the image and decide if you like it better.

If the image was mine, I would crop just enough off the right side to eliminate the boat at the edge of the frame.

[ied]

I really like it- great composition and stunning sky.

Irene

[deetheturk]

Very well done Rita, I like it

[dje]

Very nice Rita, wonderful sky.

Well done

Dave

[Rita]

Thanks all for your feedback.

Kodak, most of what I did in PP was to tame the sky down. It did look pretty close to this but far mor vibrant.

Mike and Christina, I will work on toning it down some more tomorrow afternoon and I'll post my result

[Stagecoach]

What a wonderful sky Rita.

Well done on your 1st panorama, it may be worthwhile having another look at the stitching between the images where the anomalies show up primarily in the sea area.

Grahame

[Donald]

That is very impressive. Well done, Rita

... it may be worthwhile having another look at the stitching between the images where the anomalies show up primarily in the sea area.

I'm not seeing any. Can someone point out where they are?

Like Christina, the curved foreground is, for me, the weakest part of the image. It just doesn't feel natural. If you now reply and say that is exactly how it, I'm going to look a bit stupid!

[Stagecoach]

That is very impressive. Well done, Rita


I'm not seeing any. Can someone point out where they are?

Like Christina, the curved foreground is, for me, the weakest part of the image. It just doesn't feel natural. If you now reply and say that is exactly how it, I'm going to look a bit stupid!

Donald, looking from the left side the first shows clearly just a short way in at the horizon area and water. There's then another before the one in centre right under the sun but I then see nothing between centre to far right.

What I find surprising is these are not noticeable in the 1/3 to far upper sky area.

Grahame

[TonyW]

This looks to be a good image to me. If those are the original colours, I would be happy with them.

The curve of the shoreline is not ideal, as others have pointed out. I noticed it too before I read the comments. However, given that is how it is in reality, I would forgive it.

I did not notice the stitching lines until Grahame pointed them out. Even now, I still find it hard to be certain about the middle one. There seems to be a very small difference in scale between the far left image and the one next to it. Also, as I have found out in similar situations, it is very difficult to match up waves when they have moved between shots.

[Stagecoach]

The reasons for the misalignment could be varied and results could be dependent upon merge method, overlap variations and whether hand or tripod shot but the discrepancies can easily be sorted with a bit of cloning.

Fully agree that waves are going to be difficult.

I'm no expert at panoramas but what I see is very significant in this image is the excellent handling of exposure between frames considering the intense light at centre and hopefully Rita can let us know how she dealt with this.

Grahame

[IzzieK]

All the while, I was thinking this shot was accomplished via a fish lens because of the curve of the foreground. Apart from that minor distraction, I like the sky, the clouds makes it interesting to find the drama in with it...Now you know that with sunset and sunrise one can be accused of using HDR super effects... but HDR or not, this is an excellent shot ... well, apart from the foreground that is...the little red bouy (I do not know what that is called..) at the left gave the image a break from the dominance of the other colours presence.

[Rebel]

I really like this, very relaxing!

The sky looks amazing.

[Nicks Pics]

Very nice. I really like the sky (I have no idea why one would make the sky more dull than was natural except to darken highlights to avoid clipping, or to correct what a camera may have gotten incorrect color wise). Would not have known you stitched it.

[bnnrcn]

Lovely image Rita, the sky and the sea seems a bit bright but a super image with lovely colors indeed. I agree with Mike about the boat at the edge of the frame

[Rita]

Grahame, thank you, I took care of the anomalies in the sky but missed them in the water. I see the one on the left but I sure don't see the one below the sun, I will keep looking To deal with the exposures of the 4 frames I got them as close as possible to each other in ACR. When I stitched them the far left was still quit different so I selected it and played with the brightness slider until I good it close to the next image. I see now that I need to tweak it a bit more. As I am still learning photoshop cc I am sure there is a better way to do this but I did what I know. Also, the shots were taken using a tripod

Donald, I hate to say this but, that is how it was. However, to be honest, I wasn't sure about leaving it in either. The reason I left it there was because I was thinking that I had to have foreground (the shore), middle ground (the water), and then the sunset. Now that I have some time just to sit I am going to rework it without the shore in and also with the suggestions I have received here.

Izzie, no fisheye lens and no HDR. Just shot with my kit lens.

Tony, Matt, and Binnur, thank you.

Nick, darkening highlights and attempting to avoid clipping is exactly why it was darkened.