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chromasia.com

If you follow me on either Facebook or Twitter you will know that I'm back in the UK at the moment, providing some one-to-one training for Jason Kotecha. I first met Jason out in Dubai – he was as a student on my landscape photography workshop for Gulf Photo Plus – and we've spent the last few days shooting and working on post-production. Jason hasn't blogged any of his shots from this trip yet, but you can see some of the work he produced from the urban landscape workshop in Dubai here:

http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=238
http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=236
http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=233
http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=234
http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=232

As for this image: it was taken up at Fleetwood a few days ago and was shot to demonstrate the benefits of exposing to the right, one of the key topics I cover in my Digital Workflow tutorials. As you can see from the original, which you can see by hovering your mouse over the 'show the original image' link beneath it, the transformation is quite dramatic.

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
11.36am on 10/4/10
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
24mm
f/8.0
1/50
aperture priority
+1 1/3
evaluative
100
no
RAW
ACR
no
 
3x2 + fylde coast [scenic] + show the original
comment by Garry at 07:53 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

That is an incredible difference between the original and the final image! Who would think that you could capture so much detail form something as bright as that sky!

comment by Matt Thomas at 08:01 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

This is brilliant David, definatley one of my favourites! Love the sky! :D

comment by Frida at 08:22 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

Absolutely gorgeous sky.

comment by Nicki at 10:01 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

First time I stranded here (one year ago) I was catched by shots like this. And I'm still love this kind of work yet. Really great. Have a good time there, lot of fun and of course - great captures like this one! Cheers ...

comment by Carlos Garcia at 11:18 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

David!

The "show original image" feature is great. I would say that this is my "favorite", but there are already a pile of favorites from your work :) What a wonderful example of taking a very "okay" image and making it into a "wow" image. Love the tones and the way the sky and ocean gently meet at the horizon. Great artwork!

Carlos

comment by steve deer at 11:41 AM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

dave... you've given two shutter speeds here for some reason?

comment by Shawn Bierman at 12:49 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

Gorgeous.

comment by djib at 12:58 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

Wow, great post processing. Your composition is great and the lighting is awesome: it has this incredibly powerful halo of light that gives a great contrast to the image.

comment by Gary Eddleston at 02:51 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

Again, such honesty with the "show original" feature, and yes - I would have looked at that image and gone - Bugger, I've messed that one up. You have shown that there truly is detail in there, its just about finding it!

comment by Rebecca at 04:05 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

So lovely!

comment by Claus Petersen at 04:12 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

This really gives you a feeling of endlessness!

comment by steve deer at 07:02 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2010

Dave... one thing I often notice (with my images) is that the centre of the horizon line often dips down slightly (it's happening in this image too), I think it must be some slight lens distortion. Are you ever tempted to correct this, perhaps with the warp tool?

comment by Eduard Crispi at 04:57 AM (GMT) on 13 April, 2010

Excellent composition!

comment by Megha at 09:54 AM (GMT) on 13 April, 2010

Divine....

comment by Andrey Samolinov at 02:48 PM (GMT) on 13 April, 2010

Absolutely stunning picture

comment by Charles Dastodd at 03:45 PM (GMT) on 13 April, 2010

This is an amazing sky! wow!

comment by djn1 at 05:14 PM (GMT) on 13 April, 2010

Thanks everyone.

Steve: thanks, I've fixed it now. As for your question: yes, sometimes I do fix the horizon, but the Lens Correction filter is normally a better option than the Warp Tool.

comment by Eddie at 09:29 AM (GMT) on 14 April, 2010

La vue est impressionnante

comment by Justin Photis at 10:29 AM (GMT) on 14 April, 2010

Looking lovely David.
I also really like the 'show original' feature you've added but wonder if also showing the Curve you used or somehting like that could become a feature too. I know you use many curves sometimes, so that would be tricky...

comment by Carlos Bohorquez Nassar at 04:11 AM (GMT) on 15 April, 2010

Lovely postprocessing, jeez... must have been some heavy work. Lovely image.

comment by djn1 at 07:45 AM (GMT) on 15 April, 2010

Justin: that's a good idea, and I did think about it, but it wouldn't work all that well as I often use more than one curve, would need to show the masks as well, and so on. I'd be happy to consider adding it as a Min-PSD though :)

comment by 9 at 09:59 AM (GMT) on 15 April, 2010

sublime!

comment by ApoChromatic at 11:42 AM (GMT) on 15 April, 2010

Wow, nice sky...

comment by Ronny at 10:11 AM (GMT) on 17 April, 2010

awesome work!

comment by mooch at 03:33 PM (GMT) on 19 April, 2010

I really rather like this. I like the trails in the sky (of particular poignancy right now!) and I love that really bright patch bottom left. The water really has a great sheen.

comment by pierre at 06:27 PM (GMT) on 20 May, 2010

wonderful image, well done