Hi everyone - happy new year.
I shot this image a few days ago whilst visiting Anglesey. This was the first outing with my new D500 and I have to say I love it.
I’d like some critique on it please. My aim was for the rocks to lead the viewer in from the left and round to the middle where the sun was setting, does this work?
Also any post processing advice would be great to get as much out of the gorgeous sky as possible. I’m in two minds whether to try and add more contrast to the rocks to darken them down so the golden light is more exaggerated but I guess I would just lose all the detail.
Think you did well here with the comp. See what you were going for. For the fg rocks as you mentioned try opening up the shadow slider and a bit of darks and then darkening down the brightness of the area. A way of keeping things dark but not losing detail. Worth messing with. Looks good as is too
Chris, this is really a nice scene! I also would like less shadow in the foreground and agree with Aaron’s suggestions. I am curious if you would share the lens you used on your new D500? Nice to hear you finally made the decision and are satisfied.
Thanks Igor. It was, I’d had a really rubbish day for images and the weather was against me so it was nice that it broke and I was treated to this scene.
Chris, this is a really nice image, I like it a lot. To my eye your processing looks great. The rocks in particular look very natural for a sunset, and I wouldn’t risk losing detail by darkening them any more. And the sky looks very natural as well, I wouldn’t tweak that either.
I think you could emphasize the sky more by changing the composition instead. The sand in the lower right corner is bright relative to the rocks around it, and this brighter area competes a bit with the sky. I would suggest cropping away from the bottom, to minimize this sand area. This would make the foreground darker, and thus give more prominence to the sky. Example attached
I think you accomplished your goal as the rocks to lead around and bring the eye to the setting sun and dynamic sky.
The reflected light on the rocks is key - but I wouldn’t increase the contrast any. There’s already too many dark areas without detail. The shadow areas are a bit on the red side, although given the time of day and conditions isn’t out of the ordinary.
I like Ed’s crop. It doesn’t bring some attention back to the sky and sunset.
