This is the Way It was

The color and eminating sun rays are stunning. It may not be technically perfect, but aesthetically it's a beautiful image. Congrats on POW Thomas

I agree with many that this image has some very special elements going for it. Obviously the colors in this scene are unusually rich and quite diverse, going from black to reds to magenta, yellows, orange and even blue. The exploding rays of the sun however are what give this one the wow factor in my mind. Those rays just kind of smacked me once the shot filled my monitor. The gradation of light and tones throughout the scene weaving from near black to bright with all sorts in between again just seems to add more and more whipped cream on top so to speak.

 

However, I too remember looking at this a ways back and after the initial sugar-rush from all the rich elements going for it, I too felt what others have labeled "a bit of muddiness in the middle". It certainly does not ruin the image for me, but definitely loses something in my opinion. I'd like to see a little more separation there. I would guess getting some type of hi-res scan might allow you to find enough detail in that area to complete the potential masterpiece. Even if not however, I think by brightening up the edges some, a little dodging and minor sharpening around the fringes, you can still minimize the blob effect by giving that area added definition. This is only a quick attempt attached.

 

This has all of the elements needed I think for that "once in a lifetime" capture to go along with the very rare opportunity of witnesing something this dramatic. Just a bit more refining would help. I've seen just a handful like this in my life as well. And each time it seems to make me bow in awe to the true artist here... and it's not us. Experiencing something like this just reminds me unequivocally that yes, there is a God.

The way the rays go out from the sun and are reflected in the water make this shot unique and unusual for a sunset picture. It's a shame there isn't just a little more detail in the center, but since the main subject is the sky and reflection, it's minor, imo. Must have been amazing to view in person and you've been able to give us a taste of what it must have been like for you.

What a wonderful shot!

Maybe i am going to say something very silly but it remember to me a sequence from the

old war film Tora, Tora, Tora!

When the japanese pilots going to bomb Pearl Harbour spot a similar scene at dawn on the

ocean and they find it like their own war flag: a red circle with red rays of light. Your shot

is very evocative!

This shows how it is to be at the right place ,on the right time, with good gear and knowledge of photography. The result is beautiful. Though there is not much to see of the photographer's talent, vision, originality. What I mean by that is :many good photographers being on the same spot with the same gear could produce the same result. I give it 7/5 . cheers jana

Jana, I think there may be a 'mark' of the photographer in here, and one I quite like too -

Thomas,

I like (just off centre right) that juxta where you positioned the tree\cloud\rootofbeam into a \, making it not just another pretty sunset. It actually has some photography in it; a clever arrangement that is beyond textbook metering and spirit levels. Something you did.

Well done.

R.

Unusual colours and very good capture but, I'm sorry, I agree with Jana.

 

I'd like to add a comment about the location of the island in the frame. It has been suggested in the critics that it should be better a higher point of view, leaving the island under the horizon. In fact I think that the ideal should be the opposite: A lower point of view to situate the island just on the horizon line, in front of the clouds.

Unfortunately these phenomena is too fast to choose the shooting place...

 

Congratulations Thomas

wow. wow. what can I say more than wow.. and bravo for this magic lighting and beautiful scene. I love how the light is surrounding the Island or the forest in the middle. and yes it is darker, but I dont mind, it is so beautiful as it is. You were blessed dear Thomas!

I love this version ;)Very sublime and brillant colors!!!

congratulations,

B:)liana

I think this is a spectacular photo!

beautiful and intensive color...good position and light...

Excellent!!!

I saw and photographed a similar sky while on Koh Tao in Thailand about 13 years ago. By coincidence, I saw this display approximately 2 hours after trying to describe the Northern Lights to some friends from Austria and Germany who'd never seen them before.

 

Amazing capture!

Gorgeous shot, Id be thrilled to have captured such a sight.

This is definantly a spiritual image. I do have to agree with some other posters here however, in that this is more of a captured image rather that a created image. Certainly a celebration of the craft of photography capturing "the way it was" but not so much the artistic process in creating an image.

Nicely done Id probably have flapped over my gear for the breif time it was there which is certianly not part of the artistic process.

Justin

I might be an odd brick in the wall here. To me, it looks very heavy, in terms of colors [oversaturated] and tones [too dark] and again black frame and orange border [might not be significant, but it has its own effect].

 

It's hard to believe that certain areas are NOT selectively overburnt in postprocessing, it would be helpful if thomas gives before PP and after PP shots of the image. Mind you, i am not talking about manipulation here, but the way image has been post-processed. Post-processing is as important as Pre-processing [not sure such word exists], job is not done untill a photograph has been printer successfully on paper [or any desired media].

Congratulations Thomas. This image dates from the heavy compression phase of PN. if you considered updating it, now might be a good time. It's a successful capture of the sunset one is not likely to forget. Regards,

Several comments seem to suggest that a photograph isn't "yours" unless you do something to it, apparently something that is conspicuous. Others have suggested that the postprocessing might be a bit heavy handed. So which is it? Like so many other images on this site, we're grading our own imagination and experience. I guess it's unavoidable.

 

Anyway, I can't imagine anyone, not even Vuk (despite his comments on a recent POW regarding precisely this issue) would not want to capture this scene if he had the opportunity.

 

. . and some of y'all should get over these jpeg compression or monitor calibration issues. Tom got the shot and I'm sure he could produce a print that he would like. Maybe you would print it differently, but that's a different issue, and more to the point, I'm confident that the original capture has all the information anyone would need to bring out whatever aspects of the scene they find appealing.

This is an absolutely fabulous photograph. The comments are interesting, as are the responses. The only problem that I see is that film has not progessed to the point of having a great enough range to truly capture all of the colors (we all suffer this in our photos). I don't think that you would have had enough time to carve out the center of a ND filter to boost the colors of the island in the middle, either!!!

i am genuinely shocked that people find this picture attractive (though i'm quite sure the original scene had its merits to the naked eye). the clashing red and yellow make it all very disturbing to me--like a badly done sunburst guitar decoration. throw in the unresolved black of the middle into the mix, along with the kitschy border, and it's not far off from a velvet oil-painting [iMO].

Its a great shot. Yes it definitely helps to be at the right place at the right time.

 

Heres one I took in November but its only half as good.

I get the feeling that Agnes, Vuk, and some others are either asleep or enjoying their dinner at sunrise and/or sunset. Shooting weather is, of course, very different from model shoots and other setups. I suppose we could get into a long religious/philosophical discussion about the predispositions of those who prefer artificial controlled lighting to the whims of nature and the Almighty.

carl.

 

99.9% of my pictures are shot in natural lighting. on VERY rare occasions, i supplement with one little hot light.

 

btw--it's one thing to see a sunset/rainbow/fireworks, quite another to take a picture.

Amazing light and colour.

 

However its under exposed in my opinion - if only you had a ND filter, or had bracketed so that you could have made a multi-exposure composite image afterwards in post processing.

 

As it is I would suggest cropping some of the bottom off to improve composition.

 

All comments are CONSRUCTIVE criticism - I am not bashing - its a great shot !!! 5 & 6.

Beautiful Photo. Nothing like being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

First of all I would like to thank the elves for choosing my image for POW but I might add that there are many others more deserving OF THE EXPOSURE,whether that exposure may be positive or negative. My first time around I was a newbie both to digitalization and to forums and was appalled that some people would actually like to make you out as a real jerk and say horrible things about you on a public forum..LOL.This time around I have seasoned a little and my skin is as thick as a bear's and at least I have an idea where I am going now with photography.

I really do appreciate all the HONEST and SINCERE remarks and helpful suggestions regarding this particular image and yes Vincent,I like how you sharpened your version and I should do the same with mine.None of you who mentioned throwing your camera away should do so but should pray that someday you should be so lucky as to witness such a spectacular sunrise.I do not claim that the image is a masterpiece because it does have obvious flaws but I do claim this to be an honest documentary of what I saw and am in no way ashamed of the end product.

I had only 7 or 8 minutes to catch what you see here but managed to fire off all 12 exposures with some bracketing...the one you see here is about 1 and a third stops under if I remember correctly and I chose this one for it's saturation and delineation of the rays.In reality this was shot with a 500CM and I used a Sekonic L508 meter in the spot mode for proper exposure values.I have just been too lazy to change the info on my equipment list so forgive me.

 

I would like to reiterate that there was no time to change vantage points or think about could of should of or would of.Yes..the island is a blob but for goodness sake!!..take a look at that light show people!This is what I am presenting to you to remind us all that there are still wonders in this world.It's dark but thats my style and I choose to shoot dark images because maybe I am a dark person and maybe thats because in my travels around this world I have seen and been in too many dark places both physically and spiritually.This is who I am and what my photography is all about On the lighter side to all those who have helped me through constructive criticism over the years and to those of you who just enjoy nature at it's best...thanks again!

It pleases the patience to me that a photographer must to capture certain moments like this which never they become to repeat equal. The scene is totally natural and sometimes it is practicaly impossible to give detail to each part of the scene to photograph. In this case I believe that the photographer was surprised by the beauty of the moment and wished to mainly catch the rays of the sun that are observed with great impression on the sky and the water. The desirable option but to improve the image is to give a 25 percent him but of resistance to even resartar but rays although the details in the shades in means of the photo are losen.. Perharps that the photographer had made but in the opening and speed variable. Anyway this is a huge picture that not very often is observed.

>However its under exposed in my opinion - if only you had a ND

>filter, or had bracketed so that you could have made a multi

>exposure composite image afterwards in post processing.

 

I've just viewed it on a second, calibrated monitor and I retract my above statement. I can see the colour in the refections now and the composition works !TOP work and sorry !

Good skills, great camera, great timing = a unique, possibly, once in a lifetime, capture. Well done. But, agree with you and others, this isn't anywhere near your best technical work. This is one of your best "captures" by being there with your skills and camera. These shots aren't easy to pull off and get an out of the camera photo. You and I have had a few discussion on capturing the light, and this you did.

Just wish I'd had the colors when I caught Desert View Rays....