My first sunset *dewy eyes*

[Max von MeiselMaus]

I took a stroll down to the beach yesterday evening and took the camera along, just in case. It was a beautiful evening and I wish I had planned it better and hauled the tripod along. Never mind. I took some hasty, handheld shots and had the typical problem of multiple brightnesses in the image. So, I exposed for the sky (or that would blow out and all would be lost) and then did a sort of hamfisted version of exposure stacking in PS. I made three copies of the image on stacked layers and did a separate Levels adjustment for each zone (sky, sea and shore). I then turned the upper two into layer masks and deleted out the bits I didn't need (so, sea and shore for the sky layer and shore for the sea layer). I was using a mouse and it was tortuous business. I am not sure it is the slickest way to do it.

I had the camera on auto ISO and was paranoically fast with the shutter speed, as I didn't want to blur the moving waves. As it is, I could probably have gone with 1/250. No idea. Never shot waves before.

So, settings were

f/5.6 (in an attempt to maximise light)
1/500 (yes, I know)
ISO 6500 (yes, I know Part II)
Focal length 17mm on my Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens
Shot with a Fujufilm X-E1

I had to denoise it, and the lens (or perhaps camera, I have yet to figure that out) does a strange "watercolour" softening effect (I have read other people complain of it). The result is that the waves in particular are soft (look out towards the horizon). I also blew out the waves nearest the sun in post processing. It was a quick attempt and I was too busy concentrating on which bits I should delete for which layer to notice.

So, is there a better way to do exposure stacking, for those who lack the steady hand and eye required for layer mask tampering? I tried a luminance mask to bring the bright bits down before applying a Levels adjustment, but I am not really sure what I am doing with those, so all the alterations I tried weren't successful.

So, any ideas and C&C would be very welcome.

The aim was to retain the impression of evening, whilst retaining as much detail throughout as I could, and keeping that sheen on the waves nearest the sun, which I was enjoying.



And, putting this in here as well (although not for C&C as it is rubbish, but gives you an impression of what I want to shoot). On the way back, I was taken with all the lights on in the houses and blocks of flats against the blue, evening sky and took a quick shot as a reminder that I need to look at this properly. The exact same issues arose with respect to three, distinct areas of brightness; sky, structure and windows. I didn't bother to PP this one with care, as it is so blurry and noisy that it was not worth it. So, an overall Level adjustment (it was dark, even on highest ISO and at f/5.6) and deleted out the window part on this via a layer mask, as it blew out completely.



So, I want to have a go at this properly and will take a tripod along this time. Any ideas on how to tackle it? If I have a tripod, I can take bracketed shots and try HDRing them. However, I find HDR looses depth. It all looks pretty flat. I will try it, though. Anyone got any further ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[Rob Ekins]

I would shoot multiple exposures of the building and blend them manually in PS. Not using HDR blendimg software.

You will need to be setup and eeady to shoot half an hour before sunset and going through till about half an hour afterwards. The more experience you get in this feild the narrower these times will become.

Consider that if many of the internal lights in the buildimg are not turned on the image will not look great, adding the lights in post is painful.

Take a look here for some tips

[TonyW]

I quite like that second shot except for the blurriness. With a tripod, or even without in this case, you could use a longer shutter speed. I would then keep the ISO down so that you can do more adjustments later without introducing noise. I also find that the shadows/highlights adjustments in Photoshop does a good job and reduces the need for HDR methods. I also use gradients in images like first one.

[IzzieK]

I like #1 for the way it is right now...and no, I do not think it needs further editing because you have succeeded in what you were trying to achieve there. I like #2 even with its shakes and blurs because it looks sort of "spooky" -- a shot made for horror movies...don't you think? I think it's cute...

[Shadowman]

The softness of the waves doesn't bother me as it's not the main subject, you don't want them so soft that they are a distraction though. How much detail could you recover from your single shot which you exposed for the sky? Nice efforts.

[FootLoose]

I agree with John about the waves in the first shot.

Re the 2nd one: I would probably try to tackle the pp with luminosity masks.

[Max von MeiselMaus]

Robbie, thanks for that. Yes, I agree. Bracketed shots have to be the way forwards. Now, I used a DIY method of blending manually in PS (detailed above). There has to be a better way. Any ideas? And, yes, the yellow, lit windows contrasting with the rich, blue sky is the purpose of this, so it has to be late enough. And thanks for that link. No idea why I didn't realise this would be called twilight photography!

Thanks Tony. Yup, I will try that. Just ordering my travel tripod, but might have a go dragging my Manfrotto out soon, as the houses are just down the road. Need a windless day, or the clouds will blur with a long exposure. So much to think about!

Izzie, I like spooky. I do. And it is somewhat spooky. But I also get a feeling of cosiness from this sort of thing and that is what I want to have a go at. Warm interiors against cold exteriors, with a feel of the lives going on in each.

John, I could get more out of the sky. Definitely. As I say, I got a little overwhelmed trying to remember what I was doing with each layer and really didn't do a good job of editing. I will have another go. No one will notice a difference but me, I suspect, but it is all good practice.

Greg, I tried with Luminosity masks and couldn't bring the windows down satisfactorily. However, when I first explored this technique, I was confused by what people were doing with them. Some used different blend modes (tried them all and none got rid of the brightest highlight in the window, as it was blown out and beyond retrieval), some plugins, which I don't want to use as I want full control. I also tried a brightness/contrast adjustment on the mask layer. Nope. So, I am not sure what else to try . Any ideas would be very welcome.

Thank you all for your suggestions. *Rolls sleeves up and prepares to get down to work*

[Max von MeiselMaus]

Robbie, I have been reading through some of the threads in that link you gave me. So much useful information on there. That has really helped figure out how to do those twilight lit interiors shots. Thank you very much for that.

[arith]

I really like the seascape, it is a cut above. Done lots of HDR but can't really give advice about it. Take a remote trigger with you, fix the focus and aperture, the exposure is the hardest thing white balance virtually impossible. If you have a grey card turn it to catch the light.

I almost always forget, turn off stability. Nothing you didn't already find out on the internet I suppose.

[Max von MeiselMaus]

Actually, Steve, I didn't know about switching off IS when using a tripod. Now you mention it, it makes perfect sense. Thanks for that. Travel tripod ordered and preparing to get back out there.

[Rob Ekins]

You are welcome,
Flick me a PM if you think I can help or reply here and we can all thrash out the issues

[bnnrcn]

Hi Max. I like #1 as is. Your PP work seems fine