I am new to the Fstoppers community and would love some feedback on some of my shots. These pics of sunsets are from a tiny village by the sea call Seisia. it is in the westcoast of the most northly part of mainland Australia. It is an idillic location apart from the crockodiles.
Bother of these shots were taken with a Nikon z7 with 14 - 30mm and using Lee 6 stop ND and medium edge grad filter eposure times are 95sec and 30 sec.
Sunsets
I think they might have been better with less sky in the top, and more sky in the bottom image. There's some vignetting in the top image, not so noticeable in the bottom - Photoshop has a filter - Distort / Lens correction that's supposed to deal with vignetting, I haven't used it yet (lucky, almost no vignettes).
Thanks for your feedback Dennis. I have been try to use negative space more effectiely recently and I think I am stil trying to find the right balance. Athe th moment I am doing my processing with Lightroom CC and Photoshop express on a samsung pad (to save a little weight on my travels) and I have not found it easy to correct a few things like Vignettling. I will keep working on it.
I don't find the vignetting to be a problem, as these are not totally naturalistic images, Jonathan.
Welcome to Fstoppers! I hope you enjoy the friendly discussions here as I do. Both are pleasing images, Jonathan. I prefer the first for its subdued, moody quality.
The second composition has a slight "hole in the middle" effect for me, with my eye darting left and right a bit, where the detail is, with not quite enough in the middle to hold my attention, although that silvery water surface is beautiful. Just possibly a shorter exposure, preserving more wave texture would ameliorate this, but I'm not sure. Both images, especially the second, have an overall cyan cast, which I would dial out, personally. Finally (and many will disagree with me here), in the top image, because of your grad, the reflection of the sky in the sea is brighter than the sky itself, which is an unnatural-looking by-product of ND grads.
These are very personal reactions, Jonathan, and if they don't sound right to you, stick to your guns! They are good images. Hope to see more from you.
Thanks for taking the time to share reflections Chris. I think you make some good points. I am going to try a slight re-edit to correct the colour cast in both pics. I am not sure what I can do about the whole in the middle at this point, but I will keep it in mind in future compositions. I sort of like the negative space but even my eye wonders to the detail on either side.
I agree with whoever said less sky on the top, more sky on the bottom. Color choices are interesting, and not my style but that's personal preference, and I think it looks good and works. Vignette is a bit too much for me also, especially on the top image, but after reading your replies, it seems more of a tools problem than an artistic choice, which you can't help. So all in all I dig the shots, well done.
Thanks for your feedback. I will keep it in mind with future compositions.
Great pictures Jonathan. Thanks for sharing. I prefer the bottom picture. I don't mind the color grading. Sometimes it make for a more interesting picture if you are not trying to portray the exact natural scene. I would suggest maybe a shorter exposure though, especially in the top where you can see the movement of the sun over the time of the exposure.
Thanks Shawn. Yeah, I am not goign for 100% realistic image. I thought the colours made it more interesting and a little more compelling. I was trying to smooth the water as much as possible with the long exposure...... I was trying to find a way to correct the non-round sun in the first pic but with my Samsung pad, LightroomCC and photoshop exprss couldn't realy do it> when I return home I will have a go with the desktop Photoshop.