An October workshop in Bandon, Oregon, led by @John_Pedersen was quite the treat. We had wonderful weather and conditions.
The group of us were about to head back to the hotel after the sun fell below the horizon. But John encouraged us to wait…most didn’t listen, but I’m glad I took his advice because we had the most sensational sunset sky that I’ve ever seen there. Thanks John.
Specific Feedback Requested
This is a fairly static composition, the subject is the sky and the colors. The raw file was fairly flat and dull, but a simple curves adjustment brought out an explosion of color. Any comments appreciated.
Wow. I can count on one hand (I don’t even need all five finger ) how many dramatic sunsets I’ve seen at the Oregon Coast, despite years of visiting. (I’m looking at you, marine layer !)
Congratulations on catching such a good one. That image is all about the color, and that’s pretty spectacular. In my experience, those really late colors need processing to shine and it looks like you’ve done a good job here.
Looks like a lovely place to take a nap for the night. Glad you stuck around as John recommended you do. What a riot of color. I love the yellow/orange band coming out of the rock on the right side. The long 15 second exposure is terrific for both the sky and the water. You have just enough light on the rocks. Sweet!
Oooh weee, those colors are stunning!! Like @John_Williams said, this photo is all about the colors and they blend in so well. You did a great job of processing. Love it!!
Generally I don’t go for this kind of image as they tend to be overdone and often taken. But I make an exception for this one because of the wonderful sense of movement and flow it has. Because of the bright yellow, everything seems to be moving from left to right. The diagonals formed in the clouds add dynamism, which also sets this image apart in my experience of it. It feels carefully composed such that all the elements interact coherently which makes this image much more than, “wow, look at the colours”, although I have also to say, “wow, look at the colours!”
Really awesome image. It never gets old to get those types of conditions no mater where you are. I like the image how it is. The only thing I would experiment with is burning the sky a hair? Hard to find any tweaks with this one. Also I like how you can see slight detail in the rock. Nice image.
You’re welcome David! It was one of the most colorful sunsets I’ve ever had on that beach, I’m glad there were a few of us that stuck around to capture it! You did an amazing job with the colors and comp here!
Remembering you’re red-green color-challenged, I pulled it up to look at color tweaks. My cue was the yellow, which I’ve never been sure is realistic in a sunset – and of course there is so much color interpretation necessary for a raw file. (There was for film, too, but it was baked in and rarely questioned.)
Without the raw file I couldn’t do much to the overall WB to change the yellows, but going more magenta and more blue tamed it a little, and pulling down highlights helped a little more. That made the red/magenta in the sky even more gorgeously prominent, but not unrealistically so.
I’m curious if @John_Pedersen processed the scene with the same colors? I’ve always found these almost-monchromatic (or strongly color-biased) images frustrating to balance.
At any rate – a beautiful image and well worth staying for! The simple composition works well here with the dramatic rocks and long-exposure waves. Well done!
) how many dramatic sunsets I’ve seen at the Oregon Coast, despite years of visiting. (I’m looking at you, marine layer 
!)