The Sunset

by Ivonne
(Lancaster, PA, USA)

Sunset

Everyday I pick-up my fiancé from work and I am always mesmerised by the beautiful sunsets.

On this day I decided to bring my camera. I took this picture while driving my vehicle (I know, not a good idea) but the results to me were pretty good.

Any suggestions?


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This is a terrific photo.

Sunsets are more difficult to photograph than you might imagine. They lull you into a false sense of security – they look fabulous, then, a few minutes later they look even more fabulous. And when you print the results, it all seems just s little flat.

Ivonne’s sunset is good for a few reasons. First, she has included something other than the sunset itself into the photo – in this case the trees in silhouette. This always helps.

Second, she has timed her shot well, placing the sun right behind the trees. Can’t have been easy whilst driving a car!

Third, there are some really nice 'lead in lines'. These are the diagonals that run across the photo. In Ivonne’s photo she has captured the telegraph wires, and running parallel to them, the streaks of high level cloud.

Normally wires in the photo would have spoiled the scene a little, but by having them parallel to the clouds they become a part of the scene, rather than an annoyance.

So is there anything that can be done to improve Ivonne’s shot? One thing springs to mind. And it relates to the number of subjects in scenes like this.

There is a photographic rule that states that photos like this look better with an odd number of subjects in them. The trees are what I am referring to in Ivonne’s photo. There are four of them, and I think it would be better with only three.

The one I would clone out would be the one on the far right; the one that doesn’t quite make it fully in the frame. Careful use of the clone tool could remove it, and I think would make a really good photo a great photo!

Click here for a Photoshop tutorial on how to repair photos with the clone stamp tool.

All in all, well done Ivonne!


Ed.
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