Struggling with Sunrise photos . . . Farm life at Sunrise.

[Kathy O]

I struggle with sunrise photos, I admit I need more practice. I have a hard time with the exposure, I get the sky the way I want it but then for foreground is dark and grainy or out of focus. Let me know what you think about the photos. Thank you.

[James G]

Kathy,
I have problems with this type of capture too.I use Photoshop CC and Adobe Camera Raw to process,
My usual 'quick' strategy is to shoot a bracketted series (+2 ,0,-2 stops).

I then either merge/blend best for sky with best for foreground or, when the image is similar to yours, with a relatively clear separation between sky and forground, I select the 'best' of my bracketted shots (based on foreground) and then selectively process for sky and foreground using masks.

I have a general aversion to 'heavy' HDR blending, but to be hones,t there are occasions when blending bracketed captures using HDR techniques does provide good results.

That said your shots look pretty good to me. If they were mine I'd be inclined to select the forerground and brighten slightlly keeping the sky as is.
I've seen many sunrises here in the UK which would be very similar to yours ;

[Kathy O]

Kathy,
I have problems with this type of capture too.I use Photoshop CC and Adobe Camera Raw to process,
My usual 'quick' strategy is to shoot a bracketted series (+2 ,0,-2 stops).

I then either merge/blend best for sky with best for foreground or, when the image is similar to yours, with a relatively clear separation between sky and forground, I select the 'best' of my bracketted shots (based on foreground) and then selectively process for sky and foreground using masks.

I have a general aversion to 'heavy' HDR blending, but to be hones,t there are occasions when blending bracketed captures using HDR techniques does provide good results.

That said your shots look pretty good to me. If they were mine I'd be inclined to select the forerground and brighten slightlly keeping the sky as is.
I've seen many sunrises here in the UK which would be very similar to yours ;

Thank you James. I only have lightroom and I can't blend photos with that software From what I have researched I think that is what most photographers do to get that perfect blend of sky and foreground. I appreciate your input

[FootLoose]

Tricky indeed. Blending is one way; others use graduated filters. In this instance probably a hard grad for the sky, which would then allow a brighter exposure for the foreground.

I don't see much wrong with the first image. It is a little dark in the foreground, perhaps. But the 2nd version looks unnatural to me because it appears to have two light sources - the sunrise and something from the camera position. Maybe if you hadn't brightened it quite so much it might work better. The point is the sun casts shadows and you need to preserve them when applying brightening.

[Kathy O]

Tricky indeed. Blending is one way; others use graduated filters. In this instance probably a hard grad for the sky, which would then allow a brighter exposure for the foreground.

I don't see much wrong with the first image. It is a little dark in the foreground, perhaps. But the 2nd version looks unnatural to me because it appears to have two light sources - the sunrise and something from the camera position. Maybe if you hadn't brightened it quite so much it might work better. The point is the sun casts shadows and you need to preserve them when applying brightening.

Thank you Greg, I was having the same doubts about the second photo, but wasn't sure about the foreground on the first one either. Thank you for your input

[rpcrowe]

I used a series of overlapping NIK Viveza control points covering the grass and ending at the tree line. I grouped the points and used shadow adjustment, upped the contrast a smidgen and then upped the strucure a TAD...