Sunset Reflections

This is from my 2nd time out shooting night/low-light shots--this

image is unmanipulated. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions are

greatly appreciated!

Very good composition and excellent exposure, colors are great as well! Did you use a tripod?

Gee, that is a good shot, particularly in terms of angle of view. 6/7 from me, only because I think there is a bit of wasted space at the bottom of the picture. Perhaps a small amount of black space was necessary to convey the mood but a little less. Best wishes. Taha

Thanks for the comments. In response, yes, I did use a tripod (almost always do...if not for shutter speed then just in order to allow me to slightly adjust my composition and take multiple exposures with the same composition). Here is was necessary because I'm pretty sure this exposure was in the 10 second range. The black space at the bottom is the clouds reflecting. I agree now that you point it out that it may be a little much. I wanted to show the reflection and shot this with many compositions and liked this one with the horizon very high best. To the right and left of the cloud reflections are commercial fishing boats and yachts...I wanted to focus on the shrimp and fishing boats (my own bias...I like them better for pictures) so that is what I didn't zoom out a bit....perhaps doing so would have given some interest to the lower portion of the shot. Looking back now I think what I would do differently is crop out a small portion of the cloud reflection and create more of a square composition (not square....but closer to it). Thanks for the comments...it was a new shooting spot and a new composition for me in many ways so I appreciate all the suggestions and help I can get!

The top 2/3s of this photo is stunning for color, exposure, light, and interest. I just read your bio. When you get that software, you might want to trim much of the dark cloud reflection as it distracts the eye from the main interest of the composition.

Thanks again for the comments--I do appreciate them and they have been remarkably helpful on this picture. Attached is an alternate cropped version of the shot. I will also post another differently cropped version. In the first one (attached to this msg) I cropped out some of the black cloud reflection at the bottom. In the second, I cropped out even more of the black cloud reflection but also some of the more boring part of the sky--this kept the horizon about 1/3 down from the top. I'd be very interested to hear what you guys think...I'll hold my opinion until I get some thoughts so I don't influence your thoughts. Thanks again for the help!

My fault...messed up the upload...here is #1.

Here is cropped version #2...all thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated!

By the way...since I haven't finished cleaning out my computer and thus haven't reloaded photoshop I can't resize the picture attachments...sorry about that! They may be best viewed if you save them to your desktop and open them so they aren't 4 times the size of the screen. Thanks again for all the help!

Just for fun, here is a 3rd cropped version with the horizon lower, more sky, and the shrimp boats more prominent. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Hi, Tyler,

 

I like no. 2 best because the composition is excellent. The sky is about 1/3 and the creek area is about 2/3. You left just enough cloud in to hint at the approaching dark soon to envelop the scene and yet not enough to distract from the beauty of twilight. This adds a little carpe diem tension. No. 1 still has too much attention to distracting clouds, although the proportions are about right for the composition. No. 3 is about half sky and half other, although the scene is still beautiful. This causes the eye to jump from one part to the other, instead of flowing smoothly up or down over the scene. One rule of thumb is not to let the horizon divide your landscape into two parts. One part should have greater focus and interest, and the other should compliment it. Great effort!

 

Tommy

Thanks for stopping back by, Tommy! I appreciate your input and advice! I tend to agree with your assessment of things, although I admit that I do like #4 even though the horizon is nearly centered. Thanks again for your thoughts and comments--I really do appreciate them!

Great shots, Tyler. I thought that this must be Shem Creek even before you identified it. Since I was born in Charleston (St. Francis Hospital), some of my earliest memories are of the old Cooper River Bridge and of Folly Island and Isle of Palms before they were ruined by either development or erosion control. We moved away early, but we kept coming back.

 

You asked about printers and framing. I have had the matting done by people who do that locally, but it is hard to know whom to recommend in the Charleston area. I'm sure that there are a lot of qualified people right there. There is probably also a good professional lab if you do not want to print your own--and printing is time-consuming, and so some pros never bother to print. They just send or take the digital files to a good lab. The best labs would put to shame anything that I can print on my old Epson 2000P, which was a decent printer for its day.

 

I love this picture with all of the water visible. Yes, the composition is not "by the book," but the reality is right there. It is like you can walk right into the picture, and so I can appreciate both takes on the same subject. The kind with the tight compositions usually sell better, but if you are like me you don't do this for the money. I hope that I never have to. I like teaching and don't think that I would enjoy photography so much if it were my job. I like above all the sense of "being there" even after I have come home for the day from the waterfront, or wherever. I like to browse across big files just to have that sense of being outside and looking around.

 

I will be interested in seeing what you might get of or from the light on Hunting Island, as well as Savannah or points south.

 

By the way, my mother just told me to tell you that two of her ancestors (both Bogans) are in the museum or whatever it is that is there where you work. I was not aware that we had any known MDs in our lineage.

 

Keep shooting, Tyler. This is great stuff.

 

--Lannie

Lannie--Thanks again for the response. I'm not opposed to doing my own printing, but to be honest, I don't have the money right now to buy the printer (after I finish residency I'm sure it will be no problem, but right now I don't make much). I like this composition as well--I can see where the other one would be pleasing to most but I like how this shows the long, narrow, waterway at Shem Creek. Plus, I think the cloud reflections are a unique aspect that give some foreground interest.

 

Like yourself, I don't do this for money. I do agree and realize that no matter how much you love something, it becomes less enjoyable (maybe not "no fun" but LESS) if you do it for work. I love playing baseball but if I were playing in the pro's as soon as someone started telling me I HAVE to show up and hit in the batting cage, have to go running, and start breathing down my neck because I'm not playing well I would probably start to not enjoy it as much. Likewise, I enjoy handy man tasks and working on antique cars but if I did it professionally it would lose some luster. I'm sure the same is true for photography or anything you enjoy. With that said, I won't lie and say I haven't started thinking about selling a few prints here or there. The reason I've started thinking about that is 1) I just think it would be neat for someone to think a picture of mine was good enough to buy and 2) I could buy new equipment if the hobby would support itself (again, after residency it will be easier but if I want a new lens or filter now I can't get it).

 

I'm anxious to get down to some of the places south of here an shoot as well. Huntington Island Light will be a priority target. That lighthouse is still lit, right? I'll probably try to get there an hour or so before sunset so I can shoot some shots in good evening light and then as dusk sets in, get some night captures, since I've been enjoying that recently. I was down at Yonges Island this past weekend for an engagement party--lots of good photo opportunities down in those less developed islands. I remember you had a shrimp boat picture from St. Helena. If you have any specific places that are really strong photo spots, please let me know. I bought some books on the area and have been reading about the places but it's hard to know where the best photo opportunities are. And, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to take a day trip down there so I want to make the most of it and especially want to make sure I'm at a prime place for sunset so I don't waste a trip.

 

I actually met a guy shooting Shem Creek from the same spot I was set up the night I took this shot. I started talking to him and turns out he runs the Charleston Photography Club. He gave me a few new spots to try out. To be honest, at this point I have more spots I want to shoot (or reshoot) than I do sunsets but I'm sure after a week of pretty weather and pleasing sunsets I'll be looking for new locations.

 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving more comments, encouragement, and advice. I appreciate your input and friendship--you're a really nice guy and hopefully one day I'll get to meet you.