Sunset at Andrew Haydon park

[Round Tuit]

I went out a couple of days ago to try a brand new 10-18mm lens. I hadn't taken a landscape shot for quite a while with the exception of one last December. This is the result of manually blending two shots with the sky needing a -2 EV exposure. I would particuliarly welcome comments on the composition but all comments will be appreciated.

[Wavelength]

Nice shot; i would prefer removal of 1/5th part from bottom to remove the bottom flowers struggling to be within the frame

[Manfred M]

It is a nice shot, André,

What I find is not working as well as it could are the differences in brightness between the sky and the bottom areas that are more shaded. While a strong crop of the top would help, that would ruin the framing of the shot.

I would be tempted to darken the sky and lighten the shaded areas to get this shot to open up more and have a better balance.

[Round Tuit]

Thank you Nandakumar and Manfred.
I can see that eliminating the lowest flowers would improve the composition and a crop is the easiest way to achieve that. I also like the idea of darkening the sky. I am less sure about brightening the shadows because I tried that in one of my drafts and resulting image ended up looking like a daytime picture rather than a dusk scene. It might work better once the sky is darker.

[xpatUSA]

... the bottom flowers struggling to be within the frame

I like that "struggling" usage!

[xpatUSA]

I am less sure about brightening the shadows because I tried that in one of my drafts and resulting image ended up looking like a daytime picture rather than a dusk scene. It might work better once [only] the sky is darker.

I agree with that, André. It is a well-known effect in human vision articles.

I tried it on a darkened-sky only version of your image and you do have to get close to the image plus shield your eyes so as to see only sky and greenery. Even then, the effect is not pronounced.

[Manfred M]

I am less sure about brightening the shadows because I tried that in one of my drafts and resulting image ended up looking like a daytime picture rather than a dusk scene

I should have been more clear André. I'm looking at some very precise local areas where that needs to be done, rather than something global (LR / ACR "shadows" slider is global. Dodging is local). Doing it locally will bring out more textures.

[rpcrowe]

I used NIK Viveza 2 to locally:

1. reduce the brightness of the sunset area over the lake - additionally warming that area and increasing the saturation of the sunset area
2. open the shadows a bit among the trees and flowers in addition to brightening the flowers a bit



Of course the frame is totally optional - some folks like it while others don't.

I am thinking that if the original had been a series of shots to combine into an HDR image - that might have been the best way to capture the sunset while still retaining some definition in the trees and flowers. I tried the NIK HDR presets but, did not like them...

[Round Tuit]

Ted,
I find your knowledge of the physics of light and of human vision astounding.
Manfred,
Not only did I misunderstood what you wrote but I also missed the subtil yet effective changes that you demonstrated on your version of my picture; until I looked at it on my main monitor. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It helps me a lot.
Richard,
Thanks for providing another interesting interpretation of the scene. BTW, I did combine three shots at -2,0 and +2 EV to create my version. Someone more skilled at it would likely have had better success. However, there is much pleasure to be had in the process of learning.

[Manfred M]

Manfred,
Not only did I misunderstood what you wrote but I also missed the subtil yet effective changes that you demonstrated on your version of my picture; until I looked at it on my main monitor. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It helps me a lot

As I have developed as a photographer, the most important thing I have learned is that the difference between a good image and a great image is usually all about how the details are handled. The downside is, unfortunately, its the details that take the time and effort.

[DanK]

BTW, I did combine three shots at -2,0 and +2 EV to create my version.

Combining images with more than one exposure often leads to a composite that has a wonky distribution of tones. This is because pixels are being selected based on exposure rather than how you want them to look. You can see this, for example, if you use the LR merge-to-HDR function. Run it once with "auto" turned off, and the histogram and appearance are likely to leave something to be desired. Run it with "auto", and you'll get a very different image, with LR's algorithm for correcting this applied.

I don't use the auto setting much, and when I do, I treat it as a starting point. (with a parametric editor, you can always go backwards.) I just assume that some tonality adjustments will be needed and that some of them will be local adjustments.

[Round Tuit]

Combining images with more than one exposure often leads to a composite that has a wonky distribution of tones. This is because pixels are being selected based on exposure rather than how you want them to look. You can see this, for example, if you use the LR merge-to-HDR function. Run it once with "auto" turned off, and the histogram and appearance are likely to leave something to be desired. Run it with "auto", and you'll get a very different image, with LR's algorithm for correcting this applied.

I don't use the auto setting much, and when I do, I treat it as a starting point. (with a parametric editor, you can always go backwards.) I just assume that some tonality adjustments will be needed and that some of them will be local adjustments.

I don't use automatic HDR blending. I manually select the parts that I want from each exposure using masks.

[Manfred M]

I don't use automatic HDR blending. I manually select the parts that I want from each exposure using masks.

That is generally my preferred workflow as well, although I will turn to either HDR or use the Enfuse Lightroom plugin. Not all HDRI looks terrible, but one has to be careful, depending on the software used.

[xpatUSA]

Ted,
I find your knowledge of the physics of light and of human vision astounding.

Thank you, André, you are too kind ...

[Round Tuit]

I reprocessed the image basically starting from scratch. I recropped, dodged, burned, cloned, adjusted tonality and enhanced local and mid tone contrast. Here is the latest version which I find much improved over the original.


This is the original for comparison.


Of course, C & C is always welcomed.