A Fiery End of the Day

Image Critiques
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1

Original - DSCN3046_01.jpg
Original - DSCN3046_01.jpg2100×1255 1.2 MB

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical

About This Image

We had a high pressure system settle over Northern California (Bay Area) earlier this month, which has resulted in very warm days and interesting sunsets. I took this photo while walking one of my dogs during the early evening hours. I initially was drawn to the burst of orange above the tree line in the middle of the photo, as it looks almost like there is a fire behind the trees. I then noticed the sweeping nature of the clouds higher up, which to me makes the photo look more expansive. I included the power lines on the right (to balance the photo) and did not remove the road signs (to the left of the power lines) in post.

Photo was taken with a point and shoot camera, a Nikon Coolpix P7800.

Feedback Requested

Does the photo invoke an immediate feeling? Does it convey heat or a sense of calm, as in “Night is finally coming and it’s going to be a bit cooler.”

Are the power lines and highway signs distracting? In looking at the photo, cropping it more at the bottom may help improve the photo.

Technical Details

Photo was taken in Manual mode with a Nikon Coolpix P7800.

Focal length: 6mm (28mm equivalent)
Shutter speed: 1/800s
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 400

Minor processing in On1 Photo Raw 2026

2

I do find the power lines and signs rather distracting, Richard, particularly since they have that wide-angle lean which is very noticeable in the power line towers. The sky is very cool and you could solve it to some extent by cropping from the bottom as you noted, or if that camera has the pixels, you could crop in from the right to the trees and part way down in the clouds-something like this:

Richard A-DSCN3046_01 copy
Richard A-DSCN3046_01 copy1288×851 208 KB

3

Thanks @Dennis_Plank I think this looks great! It puts more emphasis on the sky, which is ultimately the strength of the photo. I appreciate your feedback!