Last night's sunset was incredible!

sjt269 · 27 Apr 2008 at 19:04

...and I bloody missed it.

One of the best sunsets I've ever seen in my life, and I was stuck behind the wheel of a car, without a camera, and without anywhere to pull over and get some shots. By the time I was able to go location-hunting, the sky was already going dull and the sun was virtually gone, so I just put the car in the garage and went to the house. Of course, 20 minutes later, there was a surprise repeat performance as another group of clouds just caught the last gasp of light and lit up the sky in an array of brilliant colours. Just my luck.

But here are some from the last few weeks to make up for it:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

There are a few more of those sunset ones on my webpage (in sig) but I've done something bizarre to the gallery page with the last upload, and the page isn't loading right. Pictures still work, though. Anyways, the usual C&C would be welcome, and if anyone can tell me whether the castle pic is level or not, please do. I've stared at it for so long, I can't make up my mind if it looks any better rotated slightly or not. But go easy on me, I haven't posted here in ages.

Thanks in advance
tTz

SDK^ · 27 Apr 2008 at 19:33

Where were these taken?

Number 6 is good.
The balance of a sunlit foreground fading to a hazy background is perfect

Raikiri · 27 Apr 2008 at 19:48

You're right it was bloody awesome looking, I was out at the time though with no camera.

ChroniC · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:44

I would recommend that you PP number 6. if you would like some help, i can give some guidance.

Doran · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:54

It was really amazing here tonight, I just did a snap out my window but it was really spectacular:

sjt269 · 28 Apr 2008 at 16:27

ChroniC said:
I would recommend that you PP number 6. if you would like some help, i can give some guidance.

Go for it, I'd be interested to see what improvements can be made.

:edit:

SDK^ said:
Where were these taken?

Um...excellent question. They're all in and around Edinburgh. For anyone familiar with the area, I think the locations are:

1, 2, 3, 4 - all taken at Longniddry beach, with the windy ones and the sunset ones being done on different days.

5 - North Berwick. Was the same day as the other windy shots, but that was a more sheltered bay, so no crazy waves.

6 - Blackford Hill, near the observatory. It's Edinburgh Castle, with the Firth of Forth and then Fife behind it. I was really pleased with the way it came out, actually, it's not an angle of the castle I'm familiar with, given that I live on the other side of Edinburgh.

ChroniC · 29 Apr 2008 at 17:17

tTz said:
Go for it, I'd be interested to see what improvements can be made.

It should look something a little more like this, however excuse the sloppy work around the top of the building, i did it quickly.
Essentially there is nothing wrong with the contrast or level, it just has a blue cast over it which is a side effect of bright sunlight.

greengiant · 29 Apr 2008 at 19:18

Number 6 is good! I remember many a happy day as a wee boy climbing the Binn Hill (which is the hill with the transmitter in the background) and coming home nice and muddy!

sjt269 · 29 Apr 2008 at 20:11

ChroniC said:
It should look something a little more like this, however excuse the sloppy work around the top of the building, i did it quickly.
Essentially there is nothing wrong with the contrast or level, it just has a blue cast over it which is a side effect of bright sunlight.

Funnily enough, it never ocurred to me to remove the colour cast, I just took it as part of the 'atmosphere' of the image. I must admit, I find your version a little harsh, but I take the point - there's definitely some benefit to be had by playing with that a little.

I'm noticing a disappointing lack of comments on number 3 - after the amount of tries it took to catch a wave splashing up at just the right time, I'd thought it might catch more attention that it seems to. Is it just because I was there, in the freezing cold and howling wind, that I find it interesting? I've got plenty of opportunity to return to these places, so any tips on making those images a bit more special would be much appreciated. I'd really like to get myself an ND filter for some long exposures of seascapey things, but I can't really justify splashing the cash atm.

:edit:

And while I'm at it, there's another shot I just can't seem to get right.

Trying to get an image of the Edinburgh skyline, but it's just not working for me. Planning on going back a little earlier one day to try and catch it with the sun more behind it to get a better silhouette, and I might zoom in a little and stitch the images together to get a higher res image of the bit that interests me, and junk the sea and sky. Any other tips for this type of thing?