How to improve on Sunset photo

[Fla5h]

This is a photo I took last June whilst camping near Cherbourg, France with a Canon PowerShot SX200 IS


Sunset at Anse Du Brick by Fla5h.Photos, on Flickr

how can I improve this year with a Canon 600D

I've so far now got the following lens

18-55 IS (Kit)
17-85 IS USM
55-250mm IS
50mm II

TIA

 

[Alastair]

From the point of view of exposure, that'e not a bad starting point. Shot raw there's a lot could be done in Lightroom to make that pop (couple of digital ND grads). A reverse ND grad could also be effective.

Compositionally, that's a lot of empty sea when the sky was probably more interesting. I'd have been tepted to give more space to the sky, and I'd probably have shot a portrait orientation as well as landscape (for me the decision as to which works best depends on the cloudscape).

As far as lens, it depends how big you want the sun to look in the frame. I've shot some of my favourite sunsets with a Sigma 105mm macro, but any focal length has its advantages with landscapes.

 

[fitzer]

It's kind of close to the rule of thirds but not there, as per Alastair I'd have had the sun on the bottom third and a little more offset from centre and zoomed in a bit more, so in this case the sun would be moved down and right giving you more of the cloud formation in the top left.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Same as above, work on your compositions, just small adjustments can make big differences.

One of many crops available from your shot as an idea.

The rule of thirds, more a guide, is an odd thing ...its more that your arranging stuff to an idea of an observation, rather than laying stuff on a fixed grid of thirds lines. The observation is the knowledge that we peoples enjoy seeing pretty, symmetrical, patterned and basically neat stuff, because that's how we fancy that stuff, or not. Hmm, wish I hadn't tried to get down with an explanation now, but to put it casually we see all, but are in fact very very choosy, this inevitably also applies to how we see stuff in photographs, and why we might use the ideas of the thirds guide rules.

 

[fitzer]

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that the rule of thirds be applied rigorously but that it's a good starting guideline, especially for such shots where there is one point which will always draw the eye.

 

[Fla5h]

Some very helpful and good advice there realy appreciate your input

On another note with the PowerShot I rarely got out of auto mode, may have set it to sunset but what sort of settings for this scene should I be looking at for manual mode or would that depend on the lighting at the time, then agai nis it just a matter of playing around with the settings until I'm happy with the outcome.

Thanks again

Tony

 

[Craikeybaby]

In addition to the kit above a tripod would be really beneficial for this sort of shot.

 

[DorsetDude]

If you could get some foreground interest in as well would probably help. Even just a silhouette of something recognisable. A boat, a tree, see whats about.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Some very helpful and good advice there realy appreciate your input

On another note with the PowerShot I rarely got out of auto mode, may have set it to sunset but what sort of settings for this scene should I be looking at for manual mode or would that depend on the lighting at the time, then agai nis it just a matter of playing around with the settings until I'm happy with the outcome.

Thanks again

Tony

Yes just follow your light meter and dial in what works at that moment. Also start using your histogram and highlights tool on your preview screen, take a few test shots and check for highlights with these tools, then dial your exposure up or down to correct for the best possible exposure. (ie. As bright as you can without highlights)

Do note that your power shot has a natural leaning towards a large Depth of Field which is probably why all of this shot in in focus. Your newer kit has more scope for DoF choices, so if you want lots of the scene distances in focus like this shot then ensure you actually set an aperture and corresponding DoF range that gives you a large depth of focus.

Generalised guess here.... Say you where shooting at a wide 30mm sort of range. If you where to set your aperture around f4-f7 this would give you a basic, middle and distant focus range a bit like above. (focused on the middle ground say)
Dial in you camera to aperature priority mode and use the setting of your choice as the fixed part of your exposure testings. ...I would also fix my ISO to lowest best , leaving just the shutter to control the final exposure.

 

[simonkit]

As Alistair says a portrait version would have probably worked better with this one, placing more emphasis on the sky - when you're thinking of where to have the horizon in the shot (high or low in the frame) then choose it based on the most interesting part of the shot which in this case is definitely the sky.

Without any available foreground then this is also a strong telephoto shot for me, a short focal length just captures more of the sea - I'd used the 55-250, probably around 250mm - this would make the setting sun much more of a focal point and also bring out more detail in the sky

just my thoughts

Simon

 

[Fla5h]

Yes just follow your light meter and dial in what works at that moment. Also start using your histogram and highlights tool on your preview screen, take a few test shots and check for highlights with these tools, then dial your exposure up or down to correct for the best possible exposure. (ie. As bright as you can without highlights)

Do note that your power shot has a natural leaning towards a large Depth of Field which is probably why all of this shot in in focus. Your newer kit has more scope for DoF choices, so if you want lots of the scene distances in focus like this shot then ensure you actually set an aperture and corresponding DoF range that gives you a large depth of focus.

Generalised guess here.... Say you where shooting at a wide 30mm sort of range. If you where to set your aperture around f4-f7 this would give you a basic, middle and distant focus range a bit like above. (focused on the middle ground say)
Dial in you camera to aperature priority mode and use the setting of your choice as the fixed part of your exposure testings. ...I would also fix my ISO to lowest best , leaving just the shutter to control the final exposure.

As Alistair says a portrait version would have probably worked better with this one, placing more emphasis on the sky - when you're thinking of where to have the horizon in the shot (high or low in the frame) then choose it based on the most interesting part of the shot which in this case is definitely the sky.

Without any available foreground then this is also a strong telephoto shot for me, a short focal length just captures more of the sea - I'd used the 55-250, probably around 250mm - this would make the setting sun much more of a focal point and also bring out more detail in the sky

just my thoughts

Simon

Hi Adam / Simon,

Thanks for the sound advice,

Being trying to get my head around understanding the histogram, I keep reading and hopefully it will click in soon

Found a good article here Understanding camara histograms and theres also an article in the lastest issue of Digital SLR Photogrpahy

 

[Tringa]

A basically well exposed shot and some good advice here, but I think DorsetDude's suggestion is particularly important.

Something in the foreground to catch the eye and lead it into the picture makes all the difference, but I know from the very large number of sunset shots I have deleted that it is easy to be bowled over by just the pretty colours.

Dave