Ok so once in awhile I like to go crazy with the processing! I took a few bracketed photos, merged them in Nik HDR and used a very subtle setting. I then opened it in photoshop and added some sharpening and added some secret sauce.
Abandoned in Miller/Knox Regional Park – Richmond
Some of you may wonder how to capture a sunset so that the foreground (in this case the water) and the sky are properly exposed without one or the other being too dark or blown out. There are a few different ways of doing this. Below are some common ways of achieving a properly balanced sunset.
I use Method #3 mostly because I really don’t like the look of HDR for sunsets anymore and I don’t have an ND Grad Filter. But all is not lost! Method #3 works really well. 🙂
In short (because it would be a horribly long post if I tried to go into detail), when you take each shot as described in #3 above, it’s important to look at your histogram after a couple test shots to make sure the highlights aren’t blown out in the sky and the foreground is not too dark. I no longer rely on my preview image on the camera LCD mostly because I can’t see it too well when the sun is up. A histogram is a way to ensure you’re getting the proper exposure. Don’t be afraid of the histogram. I was afraid of it for a long time. I’m not even sure why except it could’ve been to much information as I was learning.
One thing to remember is that it’s easier to recover shadows than to dial down blown highlights. In fact, you really can’t dial down blown highlights lol. Also, when I take sunset photos, I slightly underexpose for the sky (using my exposure compensation button on my Nikon) to allow the colors to be more saturated. I can then brighten the sky and clouds as I wish in post processing.
Once you’ve taken your photos, they are now ready to be blended in photoshop via layer masks. After I come up with one blended image, I then heal, clone and/or adjust the image as desired. My suggestion would be to shoot in RAW because the images contain a lot more information than jpegs, and it gives you a lot more flexibility in post processing. I always shoot in RAW unless I mess up and inadvertently change my camera settings which has happened!
Hope this was helpful!
Over to the Sun – Miller/Knox Regional Park
Laura Macky Photography 