This photo was taken in October, on Skye as a hand-held 5 photo panorama. I've struggled somewhat with the colors; I don't like the overused HDR look, though in my memory the scene was very vibrant. Eventually I toned down the reds a bit, but every attempt to further tone it down makes it too flat I think. What do you think?
Overall, I don't know if it's as much the color as it is the exposure. Perhaps bringing down the shadows, using a linear grad filter, or some dodging and burning can create the drama that naturally richens the tones.
In terms of the color, perhaps moving some yellow a tad more toward orange? Beautiful scene and must have been a treat to see in person.
Hi Pieter! It does look a little too strong to me (but I generally prefer fairly subdued colours compared to many).
In particular, the hilliside on the left looks a bit too pink to have been illuminated by that sunset. This effect may have crept in during processing, but even if it was real, I'd tone down that as it LOOKS a bit unreal, detracting from the overall effect of the image.
I agree with Robert about the tonal range, which may indeed be more important. You're pretty close already, though!
Thanks for the feedback! I'll have another go at it. For comparison, this is the same sunrise, just a few minutes earlier and 30m further down. You can see why I toned down the reds a bit.
I can indeed, Pieter! Are you shooting RAW? I assume you wouild, but camera jpegs are often highly saturated. In reality it's necessary to process, but the more we process, the more "issues" can creep in, so more processing, and more...
Although I've never done panos, HDR or focus-stacking so far, I can spend hours to get a print that non-photographers think is SOOC.
Although people often don't like over-processed-LOOKING images, attention to detail to get a natural-looking and pleasing final result can require a lot of time and work i.e. processing. Just like the darkroom days.
So I appreciate where you're coming from!
Just came across this post. Personally, I wouldn't change a thing. The red in the sunset is strong, but it's balanced by the earthy foreground. A nice photo that grabs the eye but isn't over-baked. In other words Pieter, time to quit fussing with it, you're already 'there'. :-)