Sunset on the Sound (View Large)

A boat sails on the Puget Sound as the sun sets behind the OlympicRange in the distance.

As seen from the Seattle waterfront.

Critique/comments greatly appreciated... Thank you in advance.

This is a spot for some great scenes.  It's a dramatic backdrop, especially if the sun lights up the clouds, and it changes every day.  A ferry boat with internal lights is always one of my favorites.  This is nicely done.

You captured a magic moment very well. Including the boat helps provide a sense of size as well as a spot for the eyes to rest. The purple-blue of the mountains and how you show the varying shades is particuarlly striking. I have one question: the top of the scene with the pale color, is this natural or did you manipulate this? Personally, I find this strip of much lighter color a bit jarring. If it's natural (as I suspect) I might have tried excluding it by lowering the center or changing position somewhat. Despite this one small point, the image is truly beautiful.

Irene

Stephen, Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Happy to know you are from around the Pac-NW. Tell me, do you know any other good spots to catch the sunset in Seattle? :)  If the boat had lights I'm sure it would have been a better pic.

Dear Grigoriy, thank you for looking and commenting.

Irene, Thanks for looking and for your great feedback.

The yellowish band at the top was part of the existing scene (I didn't add it). The two different colors were probably caused by a band of clouds that stopped above the peaks.

At first I thought the composition was cool - with the two colors (almost like a flag!). But now that you mention it, cutting off the yellow at the top may make for a more "harmonious" image without the sudden, distracting yellow.

I cropped it and think it works (although the tips of the mountains are too close to the top). I'm attaching a version here. What do you think?

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/15105652-lg.jpg

Try Kerry Park in Seattle for sunsets:  Great view of the  Space Needle and downtown lights, plus Rainier in the distance.

I knew that top band was natural, but it is a bit jarring, probably because you kept enough light in the photo to have detail on the shadow side of the Olympics.  I don't think your crop works as well because, as you said, it's too close to the peaks.  You might select just the sky and then use the shadow/highlights tool to bring the brightness down a bit as well as reveal some detail in that yellow band.

With great composition and painterly mood!

Best regards an!

PDE

Thank you for your inputs, Stephen and Pierre. Much appreciated!

Personally I like the original, and although the band of yellow is bright, I think the proportions are in keeping with the other layers. As an alternative to cropping it or removing it entirely, perhaps alls thats needed is to reduce the brightnes. and luminance.

Sincere Compliments

Alf