Home › Forums › Photo Critique › Sunset shot
- This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 1 month ago by
James Staddon.
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August 7, 2023 at 2:12 pm #80889
David Tremain
ParticipantAugust 7, 2023 at 6:25 pm #80899Warrior Princess
ParticipantThose are perfectly lovely colors! I can almost feel the red sun on my face. I also adore the bright orange hues in the water. 🙂
I think the light pole should be edited out- and it can be done in Lightroom by choosing the content-aware tool. Maybe you should also remove the buoy and boats in the water?Good job, David! Landscapes are hard for me here in the desert, as we don’t have any water, and I love photos of water so much.
August 8, 2023 at 8:59 am #80907David Tremain
ParticipantWhere in the desert are you? I loved the desert for photography. Cacti, ghost towns, Indian ruins, buttes, abandoned cars, distant purple mountains. I understand, though. I’m in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Lots of corn, soy beans, and wheat fields. Flat topography. Not much exciting to shoot… 🙂
August 8, 2023 at 5:32 pm #80913Warrior Princess
ParticipantI am in Tucson, Arizona. I was born here, and have lived here for about 17 of my 22 years, the other 5 split between Abingdon, VA, and Prescott Arizona (North of Tucson).
My favorite place is the mountain forest, where streams flow, trees grow, the thick clouds snow, and the golden sunlight glows. 😉
I am so blessed that we actually have a mountain like that near Tucson, called Mt Lemmon, which is about two hours from mine and my parents house.
https://www.visitarizona.com/places/parks-monuments/mount-lemmon/
I long to go there soon and take photos at the top of the mountain where it looks the least deserty. 🙂
I am so glad you like it in the desert! You would love Old Tucson, where many good old movies were filmed. It is perfectly wonderful, and even though I am not a desert girl, I love it.
https://oldtucson.com/western-experience/
My parents, sister, and I have been various times, and usually ride horses, walk through the town, eat delicious food, and shop in the stores. We have been to one concert- The Sons of the Pioneers, but that was all, for the shows and concerts at other times have never looked like they would be good. The stunt shows would be fun to see, though! They actually closed down during COVID, but were recently bought by America Heritage Railways. I am looking forward to seeing what they have done for it.
August 10, 2023 at 6:18 pm #80938Lydia Bennett
KeymasterWow, what a sunset, @dotremain! Looks to me like you edited it well for what you were working with. I’d probably suggest a slight crop on the right side of the photo to exclude the boat that’s heading its way off the edge of the frame, but other than that nothing major comes to mind. Yeah you could get nitpicky and start editing out elements in the photo that give it a slightly busy feel, but I am tending to think they lend themselves to the story the photo is telling. It’s not a landscape photo that you’d put in a calendar, but it tells the story of folks enjoying their time at the lake rather well.
Other than that, the conversation here had me amused as I can SO relate, but in a different way! To me, deserts, corn fields and flat topography sound quite interesting to photograph. I’ve got plenty of trees and hills all over the place and they tend to block any sort of view I could hope to attain. It’s a great illustration of “the grass being greener on the other side”, though. I think wherever we live, it’s easy to get accustomed to our surroundings and see them as plain or boring, whereas others see them as exquisite and unique. The conversation serves as a good reminder to be thankful when we have opportunity to visit other places and see sights that we wouldn’t normally see, but also be content where we are and enjoy capturing the beauty of God’s creation that does surround us! 🙂
August 10, 2023 at 8:55 pm #80945David Tremain
ParticipantRe-edit. New to LrC. Is there a simple way to create a virtual copy of the original picture, rather than with all the edits applied? I created a virtual copy, then cleared the history and re-edited the original. Unfortunately, clearing the history did just that, so I had no idea of what I’d done in the original edit.
I do like it without the boat on the right, but now the sun path and lamp post aren’t on thirds. I also tried removing the boat using Ps, but couldn’t get it to select just the boat – wanted to select more than the boat, and even out into the water. I know its a matter of learning a new tool…
FWIW – the re-edit from scratch turned out thus:August 11, 2023 at 11:41 am #80952Lydia Bennett
KeymasterIs there a simple way to create a virtual copy of the original picture, rather than with all the edits applied? I created a virtual copy, then cleared the history and re-edited the original.
Keyboard shortcut for virtual copies is Ctrl + ‘ for Windows, or Command + ‘ for Mac. It does apply all the edits, but you can reset the edits on the virtual copy to start again from scratch. What I like to do, when working with virtual copies, is:
1. Edit original
2. Create virtual copy
3. (Sometimes) Reset settings on virtual copy OR (other times) make tweaks on edits on virtual copy
4. Tweak to perfectionAnother thing that you could experiment with is “snapshots”. These can be helpful when you want to save edit status before continuing on in the editing process. I’ve attached a screenshot so you can see how it works. Virtual copies and snapshots are both handy, for different reasons.
I also tried removing the boat using Ps, but couldn’t get it to select just the boat
Yes, Photoshop is amazing and powerful but it’s also not the easiest program to master! Not sure which tool you were using, but the clone stamp tool (keyboard shortcut is s) would be what I’d use in that situation. Honestly, you might even be able to clone those things out in LR. They’ve been making a lot of updates that have increased how well you’re able to use the cloning tools right in LR (keyboard shortcut q, when in Develop Module) and I’ve been impressed with the things I’ve been able to do that formerly would have required PS.
August 22, 2023 at 4:19 pm #81085James Staddon
KeymasterWhat a gorgeous scene! I like how you saturated the oranges (without overdoing it, of course). I think it would be really neat if the group in the reflection of the sun (two people and a dog?) were perfectly centered in the reflection! That might help that little group stand out from the rest. Like, they are highlighted, bringing attention to them, thus putting all the other “groups” at a lesser level of attraction, organizing the “chaos” a bit better, making it a bit more intentional feeling. Depending on the freedom you had to walk around at this place, I might try to find a more distinct subject to put in the reflection of the sun. Like, those boys at the picnic table on the left; or wait until the little group with the dog looks a little bit more like a “group with a dog”. Right now, the guy is like standing on one foot… walking maybe? I don’t know, just trying to eliminate clutter, simplifying the scene a bit, are my thoughts!
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