Beachfront, Malahide

[dzm]

September 29, 2011 at 12:15 am

Interested in some feedback on this one, guys.

I’m really enjoying night shooting but still so much to learn.

Any tips?

Cheers,

Dave

[5faythe]

November 12, 2011 at 9:41 am

Hi Dave,

Just trawling through unanswered posts and came across your image.

Not too sure I can offer any great insights but maybe others will respond.

I suppose it’s a common photographic problem when one part of a scene you wish to
photograph is much better lit than other parts.
If you drew a diagonal line from the top LH corner to the bottom RH corner most of the
light seems to be shining on the bottom half.
Not an easy problem to solve. :?

Using a graduated filter would not be easy with this scene would be difficult but not impossible and
might be worth a try.

Maybe take 2 frames (one exposed for the dark areas and one for the bright) and blend
them in post processing (PP). Probably difficult here with the movement of the waves.

Maybe use your cameras bracketing facility, if available, and blend them in PP.

Not sure if this is any help.

All the best,

John.

[Rodcunha]

November 19, 2011 at 5:43 am

Here the problem as John said is that the light isn’t balanced. Fortunately though this is of easy solution.

The problem with this image is that it was shot too late and you had no light from the sky to balance the well lit sand part. The solution is easy, pack your camera bag and get to the beachfront a little earlier to catch the last minutes of sunlight.

You’ll soon learn that the hour before and after sunrise and sunset are your best friends, all else you normally shouldn’t be shooting landscapes. I say normally because there are some cases where harsh, direct sunlight or cloud are actually best.

Have a look into low light photography books if you’re into night and low light shots, there’s a good few out there but I can recommend Lee Frost’s Complete Night and Low Light Photography.