Nikon D200. Sigma 10-20mm @ 10mm.
1/5th sec @ f/8. ISO 100. Nikon Evaluative Metering.
.9 ND grad over the sky.
Split RAW exposure blend.
One RAW conversion for the sky. One RAW conversion for the foreground.
Merged together in Photoshop.
This was shot in the evening of March 19th, 2008, at Lee-on-Solent, a sea front village just down the road from where I live.
Lee's one of my favourite locations. The artificial groynes, made from huuuge boulders imported from the south west coast provide a wealth of photo opportunities.
I was lucky this evening. The sea was calm and tide way high, and after a day of iffy weather, the sun broke out and provided a gorgeous evening, and a stunning sunset for my shots.
Determined to make the most of the beautiful sky, I tried multiple compositions on this one groyne, resulting in SEA4154 and SEA4175.
With the sun setting directly infront of me, the contrast between sky and land was extreme.Using a .9 [3 stop] ND grad filter helped even it out, but the image still looked washed out.
Using Adobe Camera RAW [ACR], and the tried and tested exposure blending technique, I created two copies, one developed for the sky, and one developed for the sea and foreground. Layering the foreground exposure over the sky exposure, I carefully exposed the sky beneath, also using the darker, sky layer to bring some shadows into the foreground rocks to add some depth.
With the finished results, SEA4164 caught my eye. The often frowned upon central placement of the focal point, in this case the sign, sets it apart, and with the whispy, high altitude clouds which look as if they're appearing from the sign, it gives a strong, imposing feel.
I carried on shooting long into evening and twilight, as the sky turned to a chilling blue, which was reflected by the temperature. With sunsets like that, you forget its March and still gets pretty nippy at night...
