Thursday, July 27, 2006

How to take more awesome photos: Sunsets

Welcome to the first in a series of Cynicor Photo School lessons. Today we look at taking the perfect sunset photo.

Most photogs don't expose sunsets properly, or they take boring shots without interest. Figure 1 shows a typical shot. It is OK-maybe a bit too bright-and lacks interest.

The first step is to boost the color a bit. open the shot in Photoshop and crank up the saturation as far as it will go. Don't worry about overdoing it. People love bright colors. Pretty!

Step 2 adds interest to the shot. Why have a dull, flat horizon? Sunsets come alive with subtle silhouettes In the foreground. You can even add your own. Notice what I've done In Figure 3. Nice. Notice how the silhouette looks natural. It adds interest without looking out of place.

Finally, you should always crop to the area of interest. Be selective! A busy photo is a poor photo. Figure 4 shows the outcome: a TOTALLY awesome photo!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

No comment! I am speechless. Not usual, but that's the way it is on this morning, at precisely 8:36:39 AM on Thursday, July 27, 2006 PDT

john mcwilliams

Anonymous said...

Hmmnnggghhhhh

Anonymous said...

Cool! Can't wait to get to the beach. I'm so tired of reading the advice from photo experts without an adventursome streak.

Now we're talking

Anonymous said...

I'm stunned speechless by your obvious skill in this area. I feel like such a padawan.

Anonymous said...

I... finally understand photography. Thank you, my friend.