African Village Sunset

Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
edited May 28, 2013 in Landscapes
I'm posting this photo here first for some feedback before I share on Facebook and my website because I'm not 100% sure which crop I like better. I felt rushed in the moment because it had started raining and my 24mm does not have a lens hood. And I knew the colour wasn't going to stick around for long so in my haste I neglected to pay careful attention to the composition. I would have preferred the far left hut to be fully in the frame...

So I've cropped it nearly all out, losing some sky in the process and increasing the relative size of the foreground hut. Which one works for you?

I'd love to have your input on the crop and any other tips before I share it further... Thanks.

Nikon D600
1/25 sec @ f/8 and ISO 100
24mm (Nikkor 24mm f/2.8)

20130518-kanzama-sunset.jpg

20130518-kanzama-sunset-2.jpg
Karl Lindsay
Nikon D600
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
Induro CT-014 Tripod
karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px

Comments

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2013
    What an incredible shot!

    You can't go wrong with either, but #1 has more info/view of the village so makes it more dreamy and beautiful for me! Have always dreamed of getting sunset in Africa! I am greedy so wish you had gotten some person or some other object in foreground on left side like drum or donkey or dog or something. ;o)

    Then again second one appears more brighter and glistening.....so post both!

    Where were you in Africa when you got this? Thanks.
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2013
    Stumblebum wrote: »
    What an incredible shot!

    You can't go wrong with either, but #1 has more info/view of the village so makes it more dreamy and beautiful for me! Have always dreamed of getting sunset in Africa! I am greedy so wish you had gotten some person or some other object in foreground on left side like drum or donkey or dog or something. ;o)

    Then again second one appears more brighter and glistening.....so post both!

    Where were you in Africa when you got this? Thanks.

    Thanks Stumblebum! I'm leaning towards number 1 too as the hut on the right doesn't dominate the frame and allows more of the incredible sky to work on its own. I think you are right, in that a human element or something extra could add more. Maybe next time... I'm hoping there'll be plenty more! I'm living in Zambia for 8-10 months.

    This was taken between the Eastern province town of Katete and the Mozambique border.
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2013
    Love the shot, but think it can benefit from some additional processing. Please ignore the halos. This is just to provide some food for thought.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • bristleconebristlecone Registered Users Posts: 451 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2013
    Sam wrote: »
    Love the shot, but think it can benefit from some additional processing. Please ignore the halos. This is just to provide some food for thought.

    I agree with Sam. Don't crop but adjust the converging lines. Nice shot.
    http://lamiller.smugmug.com
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2013
    Sam wrote: »
    Love the shot, but think it can benefit from some additional processing. Please ignore the halos. This is just to provide some food for thought.

    Sam
    bristlecone wrote: »
    I agree with Sam. Don't crop but adjust the converging lines. Nice shot.

    Thanks Sam and Bristlecone

    I like the edit you posted but want to know which tools you used in PS. headscratch.gif Was it a plain brightness adjustment? And did you use lens correction or the warp function. After looking at your version, my hut really looks like it's leaning over!

    Thanks for your help
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2013
    Not that I'm qualified... but I like #2. Especially the golden light on the straw. The brightened up edit makes it seem... flatter.
  • FlyNavyFlyNavy Registered Users Posts: 1,350 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2013
    I like #1 clap.gif
    http://jmledy.com/


    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003085685580
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2013
    Alpha_Plus wrote: »
    Thanks Sam and Bristlecone

    I like the edit you posted but want to know which tools you used in PS. headscratch.gif Was it a plain brightness adjustment? And did you use lens correction or the warp function. After looking at your version, my hut really looks like it's leaning over!

    Thanks for your help

    Karl,

    I am more of an intuitive post processor than a scientific one, hence I don't have any standard approach, and sometimes I can't even remember the tools I used. headscratch.gif

    That said I used the lens correction tools to adjust the perspective. Then I made a quick selection of the sky (reason for the halos) and procssed the sky and ground selections separately with curves. I also ran a Nik plugin to warm up the image, added some selective sharpening.

    I hope that helps.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 22, 2013
    Sam wrote: »
    Karl,

    I am more of an intuitive post processor than a scientific one, hence I don't have any standard approach, and sometimes I can't even remember the tools I used. headscratch.gif

    That said I used the lens correction tools to adjust the perspective. Then I made a quick selection of the sky (reason for the halos) and procssed the sky and ground selections separately with curves. I also ran a Nik plugin to warm up the image, added some selective sharpening.

    I hope that helps.

    Sam

    Thanks Sam. I'll have another look at the file today and post a re-edit later..
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2013
    Thanks for all the input everyone. I've made some adjustments and here is my new version. I like this one a whole lot better!

    20130518-kanzama-sunset-4.jpg
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2013
    Awesome job of reprocessing it! Love it!
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited May 27, 2013
    Karl, this is really a magnificent image. The sky and composition are just unreal. thumb.gif However, you should to lose the halos, particularly around the larger hut on the foreground to completely finish this image. Just my opinion of course.
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 28, 2013
    Stumblebum wrote: »
    Awesome job of reprocessing it! Love it!
    kdog wrote: »
    Karl, this is really a magnificent image. The sky and composition are just unreal. thumb.gif However, you should to lose the halos, particularly around the larger hut on the foreground to completely finish this image. Just my opinion of course.

    Thanks! Joel, how do you get rid of halos? I've already used dodging and burning for that edge around the hut and was struggling to remove that last little hint of the halo...
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited May 28, 2013
    Alpha_Plus wrote: »
    Thanks! Joel, how do you get rid of halos? I've already used dodging and burning for that edge around the hut and was struggling to remove that last little hint of the halo...
    Karl, my usual weapon of choice is the clone tool for this. There are some tricks to make it easier like blowing up the image to 400% or more so you can see individual pixels, and/or careful use of masking. I did play around with it and there are two things that work against you on this image. One is that the thatched roof on the hut and the individual pieces of straw are a real bugger to deal with. Plus the sky is heavily textured with almost a random pattern so you have to be careful of repeating patterns and elongating details which look unnatural. I did take a quick crack at it just to see if I could improve it and I think I did. Although it would still take some doing to get perfect.

    i-zQMd9r9-X2.jpg

    So it's harder than I thought it would be, but not impossible! I do think it's worth spending the time and good practice to boot. deal.gif
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
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