life on the docks Shrimp Boat Sunset

Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated!

The sunset this day was obviously spectacular--honestly one of the best I've ever seen. I was initially not thrilled about this shot (which is part of a 100 frame series of compositions and exposures from this night) but it had grown on me immensely. What I would have liked is a bit more detail in the shrimp boat. I think a silhouette could work, but the problem is that the boat blends with the foreground marsh grass and makes a big black blob in the bottom of the shot. The silhouette has grown on me though. What I'm wondering is if there are any tricks to getting detail in the boat without loosing too much detail in the sky. I bracketed this shot by about 4 stops and the sky and boat differ by about 3 stops. I tried HDR with Photomatix and it blows out the sky, especially the bright yellow spot where the sun set. I know normally ND Grad filters are useful for sunsets--mine have no arrived yet (they are ordered) but would they have helped this shot? I was thinking they would be of not help because the brightest spot in the picture is the same level as the darkest spot--ie-the top part of the sky is not the problem, it is the yellow on the horizon. Are there tricks I haven't thought of, or is the shot I'm thinking about pretty much impossible? I know you can do layers in photoshop but can you really make that look perfect so you can't tell it was altered? Will the shot look real and not fake? When I was there shooting, the sky looked exactly like it does right now but I could still see (with my eye) plenty of shrimp boat detail. I'd love to reproduce what my eye saw--if there are tricks with filters, please enlighten me!

VERY NATURAL... VERY GOOD CAPTURE....

Thanks Rob! I appreciate your kind words and definitely agree with your assessment! I find so often when shooting sunrise and sunset that I'm trying to tweak things to make them dramatic and pleasing--this was one of those nights where all I had to worry about was composition and exposure...the drama and color took care of themselves. Thanks for stopping by to comment!

Definitely a dramatic shot with the shrimp boat in complete shadow here. I like how you composed this with the boat on the far right. The inclination would typically be to center it, or push it to the left. As it is, you've made it look like the boat is yearning to go toward something that is beyond reach. Great colors too (guess I wasn't imagining it over at the marina)! :)

 

Since we're talking really minor nits on each others shots here - I personally like it better with stronger blues to help offset the amazing strength of the oranges and reds in the scene. Gives the eyes an "out" while staying with the image.

Jason--Thanks for the comments and critique. I know Thomas (or someone on scphotogs) had suggested removing the blue. I didn't take the blue out for composition reasons, because like yourself I think it's a neat look to have "sky blue" and "sunset red" in the same shot. The reason I did a little tiny crop was to better position the boat in the shot and also make the boat a bit more prominent. I'll have to go back and look at the original--I really didn't crop that much but like yourself, I agree that the blue adds a nice touch. I tried to leave a wee bit up top but maybe I can rethink my crop so I can keep all of the blue. Thanks again for stopping by!

 

PS-I was heading to for the top 2 on Top Rated Photos until some anonymous rocket scientist decided that my shot was below average--THANKS! That's ok...I know the ratings are a bit arbitrary and don't always mean anything but it's still fun to play with them and see how high you can get. I'm still top 5 currently but I was hoping to make the top 2...I've only done that once...

Ya know...I really love this shot. I like how the boat doesnt have much detail...The sky.....ahhhh just beautiful. Its PERFECT. What I like about your shots is that they are natural....Dont get into changing your photos tooo much. I want this picture added to my order....please...thank you! :-) I know the perfect place to hang this on my wall!!!!

really excellent colors, great work. very sharp and well composed!

Tyler, I love this shot. Sky is fantastic and I like the position of the boat. It would be very difficult if at all possibile to do a two exposure blend on this because of the complex outline of the boat. Less complex horizons can be blended with layer masks and still look natural. I still have not seen an HDR image that does not let itself be known right away.

 

Thanks for your comments on my gallery. I just got back from a trip to Grand Canyon and Moab Utah. Check it out. www.winephoto.smugmug.com

 

later

 

Jeff