[Schellamo]

I was awake at 3am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up and checked what the weather was going to be like and what time the sun would rise (don't you love the internet, so handy). Anyway, these are some shots that resulted.
Thanks for your comments on composition and post processing and anything else you feel warrants a comment.

[byrt_001]

hi

thanks for posting such great photos

pic.1.needs something of interest
pic.2. much better, but i would like to see a bit more of the stairs ( me fussy)
pic.3. i like it

take care

christian

[adam]

looks good!

[NT73]

I think the first one is tranquil, (or your garden is waterlogged)
The second one looks like a storm is coming.
And the third? Where is the surfer? He's up early too.
Just my take.They are all nice photo's.

[sg]

Love the second shot schell, just makes me want to set the alarm tomorrow morning

[patch17]

pic 1 - too much water for my liking. i'd crop off about a third off the bottom. that black band at the bottom does nothing for the picture as well. with shots like this, a subject with a clearly defined silhouette helps.

pic 2 - better, but the foreground is still a bit dark.

pic 3 - nice capture. it's more of a tranquil shot than the 1st pic, imo.

[Toad]

#2 has a lot of potential - the foreground needs to be lightened up a bit.

Maybe more like this:



- straightened horizon slightly
- selected dark foreground - new layer via copy
- set blend mode of new layer to screen
- set opacity of new layer to 36% - you can lighten up more or less by simply playing with this settting (I like it somewhat dark for this shot)
- flatten and save

total time 30 secs.

Early morning like this is the best time of day for photography - you get magical shots. Most everybody is awake at sunset - but few see these early morning snippets of life.

[wulinka]

Nice shots Schell!!
Nice reward for getting up in the middle of the night.
I like all three:
I like the peacefulness of #1, doesn't lack a think to my taste. I would cut off the bottom though (window sill? banister?)
#2 looks great as is, too. Personally I liked it better in the original version, because there is nothing interesting to see in the forgeground, so lightening it up just distracts the eye from the beautyful beautyful sunrise.
In the original, the foreground is a nice base for it, and the bottom stairs are just visible enough to guide the eye into the picture. so, I love it.

#3 is the slightliest bit tacky and postcardy, but these shots are nice! after all, that's why they end up on postcards


nice work!

uli

[Schellamo]

Thanks all for your comments.

The reason I didn't crop the first one any more than I did was because I like to maintain the original ratio of width to height and I didn't want to crop the light on the water to the left or the silhouetted trees on the right. Maybe I should be a bit less picky and just crop it how I like it. or maybe try an 8x10 ratio...?

I did try lightening up the foreground of the second pic, but then undid it, because I felt that naturally being sunrise, there should be that much light in the foreground, I wasn't sure it looked 'right' if you KWIM but maybe I should have another whack at it.

The third one I don't love, its a bit snapshotty to me, but I liked the seagull being there.

Thanks again for your opinions!!

[shuttertalk]

Beautiful shots, Schell.. the lighting and colours are very dramatic! I love the clouds too...

[wulinka]

I have sympathy, I like the 4x6 (8x12) ratio a lot. and in this case an 8x10 wouldn't help, you would end up with an 8x11.5 or something like that.....

[Petographer]

Fantastic image Schell. A breath of fresh air.