hi guys! Any suggestions on how to improve this image? I don't know how to fix it any more. What am i doing wrong? What makes my water turn out like this? i need longer exposition time???? thanks for the suggestions! Hugz, sheila

Nah - longer exposure time would just wash out the color you have in the sky. Just my opinion, but the horiaon seem s a bit out of level - looks like the water's going to drain out of the lower left corner of the image.Another thing (and this is purely personal) - I've never been a big fan of horizons cutting right in the center of a frame - seems you need to either concentrate on the reflections in the shallows on the sand, or concentrate on the color in the sky...this is a bit too much (or not enough) of both. Just my opinion (which isn't worth a whole heck of a lot!) Wolf

hmmm...think you're right about the horizon. is there a way to fix that in PSP7? anything centered in photography is not supposed to good. perhaps it would look better if it wasn't centered. i'll have to see. but personally, i like it like this. Since i feel so "centered" here...so peaceful...so into the moment....i may just leave it like this. let me think about what you said. and, BTW...your opinion IS worth a lot!!! i value everyone's. i learn that way. Thanks Wolf!!!! have great night, sheila

This is what I would of done

I've leveled the horizon using rotate (photoshop CS)

Then croped it, messed about in curves, then shapened it.

that was so thoughtful of you to take the time to do this! the horizon...much better. what are "curves"? i dunno about the crop. I just really love the reflection of the sun in the water...me personally? if i were to crop it, i might crop a little of the right to make the sun less centered. only thing is...only reason i'd do that is because centering is not good in photography. thing is...i like it. go figure. I do thank you SO much for taking the time to do this. You are awesome! i shall have to try to rework this using some of your ideas (leveling horizon and sharpening). Thanks so much! sheila

What's not to like about the first picture! The photo is all about colors which I think are marvelous. Personally I know about that 1/3 rule. BUT personally I like pictures to be centered. Sure it's nice for perspectives ( which this one includes ) but I don't think this rule should be etched in stone. Maybe you could piggy back on Azy's fixs and also just lighten the water and sharpen the entire picture. That might bring out the water colors more and the reflection. Just some ideas. Bsteph

I agree with bsteph2069, the first one is lovely, the colours are wonderful. Ok the horizon is a little off, but its not that bad, I have done much worse, and its easily fixed, if you are concerned about that sort of thing. Dont forget the important thing here is if you like centred composition then that is what you should do. Your photography is for you first and foremost. Personally I would in most cases compose for more sky, for a seascape or landscape shot, and more reflection over still water but a centred horizon works well with sunsets also, especially is these is interesting detail in it, The attached photo is pretty much centred and I think it works well. (Its in my gallery somewhere.) To adjust horizon in PSP7: Image/rotate select free and add a value i.e. 1 or 359 depending on the way you want to tilt the image. LP

Hi Sheila !

i did some postwork,too. i only tried to remove the colour stich.

hugs

gerhard

Just a thought...

LP...thanks for telling me how to fix horizon!!!! Your image is wonderful!!! I love it! Steph & LP...thank you for the words...about doing what i feel right. but sometimes that's my problem. I go with what i feel right but it's not technically as good. conveying emotion is more important to me. i go with my gut on this one. leave it centered. Gerhard: I love what you did...'cept it is drastically different. sometimes i like drastically different. in this case i don't. not because it's not beautiful ('cause it is)...it's just that this scene means so much to me....colors are a big part of that... what i felt while looking at this sunrise was so intense. i wept here...felt those colors strong inside me. hard to explain. sometimes i like to change colors. not for this one though. I so much appreciate what you did!!! (((huggggzzz))) sheila Guys...i shall sharpen, fix horizon. anything more would no longer show what i felt in my heart...which was being filled with incredible joy...where i am bursting inside. awe. thanks to all!!!!!!!!

Actually, you had the right idea to begin with. You need a longer exposure time to pull in the water details (it's underexposed). Wolf is also right that the sky would blow out if you did that. Solution is to get a set of split neutral density filters. These filters are clear on one half and tinted on the other. They are usually rated as .3, .6 and .9 (1-stop, 2-stop and 3-stop difference between clear and tinted areas respectively). And you want the kind that are square and not round (Cokin makes a great set) ... that way, you can move it up and down to where it needs to be. Gives you more creative control.

The way you use them is like this. Set your camera to manual mode and set the aperture you want to use (lets just say F/16 for this example). Now you meter just the sky - lets say it reads 1/250th sec. You then meter the water - again, lets say it reads 1/30th sec. That's a 3-stop difference between the sky and water. You grab a 3-stop (.9) Neutral Density filter and place it over the lens. You set your camera for F/16 @ 1/30th sec, compose your shot and move the ND filter so that the border between the clear and tinted parts line up on the horizon (the border between the light sky and the darker water).

Now you have a shot where both the sky and water are properly exposed without blown highlights or stopped up shadow detail.