took some pics today

[Misty-Bug]

but I am not feeling very confident. I tried really hard. I need pointers. I guess with the sun I need a filter hey? Here are a couple and I will post more later when I do some more editing. LOL

[tegan]

With the first shot, you did well with what you had in composing the shot.
Although not under your control, clouds give the sky more depth in sunrise or sunset situation. The filter for this situation is a graduated neutral density filter which keeps the sky colour as is, and allows you to give more exposure to the dark areas below the horizon. The result is more detail in the foreground and that contributes to depth in the scene as well. Compositionally the problem is no centre of interest. That means that there should be some item in the photo that draws the immediate attention of the viewer. If you had waited, it might have been possible to catch a small piece of the sun but that also presents other photographic problems such as flare.

Tegan

[tegan]

In the second shot I would have used a polarizing filter which would give the sky a richer blue colour and make the clouds stand out more. I would move the moon down lower in the image in postprocessing...select, copy, paste and then crop some of the top and the tree branches and stuff on the left side. Multiple snow hills in this scene would have been interesting to go with the clouds but then you can only work with what you have.

The combination of blue and white, the hill and the clouds and the moon was a great idea. The challenge of course is to put it all together and that is the difficult part for every photographer.

Tegan

[Misty-Bug]

With the first shot, you did well with what you had in composing the shot.
Although not under your control, clouds give the sky more depth in sunrise or sunset situation. The filter for this situation is a graduated neutral density filter which keeps the sky colour as is, and allows you to give more exposure to the dark areas below the horizon. The result is more detail in the foreground and that contributes to depth in the scene as well. Compositionally the problem is no centre of interest. That means that there should be some item in the photo that draws the immediate attention of the viewer. If you had waited, it might have been possible to catch a small piece of the sun but that also presents other photographic problems such as flare.

Tegan

this was a sunset.
I did get the sun as it was going down but as you said you face other problems.

[tegan]

Actually this one works better than the former one because the sun does draw the attention of the viewer. The reflection on the water is also good. The red around the bottom of the sun by the way can be cloned out in Photoshop if you don't like it.

Tegan

[Misty-Bug]

Actually this one works better than the former one because the sun does draw the attention of the viewer. The reflection on the water is also good. The red around the bottom of the sun by the way can be cloned out in Photoshop if you don't like it.

Tegan

I personally don't mind it but was wondering if you guys that are more professional then me would like it or not

[tegan]

I personally don't mind it but was wondering if you guys that are more professional then me would like it or not

Spending a lot of time in lake country, I find that it looks natural the way it is now.

BTW. I notice that it needs a little straightening.

Tegan

[Marko]

I VERY much like shot #2. I love the use of space and the moon in the upper corner.

I think the shot would be a wee bit stronger through if you cropped or cloned out the tree and wood on the lower left...for me thay are distracting elements.

marko