Sunday December 16, 2012

Sunset over Island

Episode 1 for Free

No, not episode 1 of Star Wars. This one is better! Hehe… Anyway, here is the full episode 1, and you can pop over to the Art of Photography page if you want to see the rest! :)

HDR Stuff in Episode 4

The tutorial above only has a tiny amount of HDR at the end. The tool I use in there is Photomatix, just like the tool I used to make the sunset photo below.

Daily Photo – Sunset over Island

I don’t make a lot of these vertical, portrait-mode sunsets. I don’t know why! Whenever I do make one in this orientation, I’m often quite happy with it… and I say to myself, “I should do this more often!” But then I come back after a hardcore sunset session, and I realize 90% of my shots are in landscape mode.

My wife likes these orientations better too. She prefers these to be kind we hang in the house… Maybe this is just because she’s heavily into Pinterest! :)

Sunset Carribean
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See more photos from Caribbean, Nikon D800, Travel, Virgin Gorda
  • susan ratcliff

    beautiful work!

  • Casper van Zyl

    very nice!

  • Alan

    At the beginning of the video, you mentioned that you are gearing this series towards beginners. You then go on to discus aperture priority mode and RAW files, features that are only available on DSLRs and high-end megazoom cameras. You also use high-end and expensive image editing programs. I hope you see the irony in this. I would think that most beginners do not have this equipment (myself being one of them), and much of the information is not applicable to us. If you are going to make tutorials for beginners, please assume that we have the most basic point-and-shoot and simple software. I realize that you have already finished creating the series, but maybe call it what it is: a tutorial for people that have already purchased high-end gear but do not know how to use it. I hope these insights are helpful for when you create your true tutorial for beginners.

  • Casper van Zyl

    I see your point but is not that expensive,I for one got a pirate copy of the 3.1 version through an acquaintance and one thing I taught myself with this program is that you must experiment with it. like tearing it apart and see the results you get that is how you learn. Now you say you have not to an expensive camera,so to let you into little thing that latter led me to bigger and better things is to play around. Photomatix you don’t have to have 3 shots to make an HDR you only need 2,so what i se jest you do and I am not even a NOVICE when it comes to taking pictures. I take 1 shot and drag it to Photomatix twice and play around with the sliders,its not always but some times you get good results from what would have been a throw away shot also by turning it into b/w you sometimes could have a winner. Don’t give up or knock any one ask for help check other blogs get ideas that is how i have learnt and what a better place to learn from this very blog. I was using a Konica Minolta 8 mp and was able to get a 8×10 sharp pic. You see Alan I to had a go at Trey at one time and for that reason i feel I did wrong as he has been very helpful in the last year and a half,remember you to must want it bad enough to say let me try myself give it a go ask for tips dig into peoples blogs and learn. I’m 70 and still giving it a go thats why I call myself the Novices Novice .Best of luck don’t give up the answers come not all together.

  • Trey Ratcliff

    Alan — I am a little confused — I do make many camera recommendations here on the site that are around $500. All of these tips work for those cameras as well. And yes, I do recommend Lightroom, which is a little less than $200. But, I do think it is important to organize and do some post-processing on your photos, so $200 extra for that is reasonable. Anyway, as far as hobbies go, I think getting a lot of traction for less than $1000 is okay… I know that’s a lot of money still for some budgets…

  • Alan

    Thanks for the response Trey. I think the misunderstanding stems from different interpretations of the word “beginner”. I am thinking of the most basic form of a beginner, namely someone like me, who does not own a camera and occasionally takes photos with my phone. You are probably thinking of someone who already is semi-serious about photography and is ready to start taking high quality photos. In this respect, I agree with you and recognize my oversight. Your blog is not targeted at the casual photographer, and most people understand that if your want to take great photographs, you have to put the time and money into learning the art and acquiring satisfactory equipment. I am sure though, that another tutorial focusing on things such as composition and technique would be useful for everyone from the casual photographer to the seasoned pro. Love your work, cheers.
    Alan

  • Russ Considine

    Great sunset colors – thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.goodsmithstudio.com/ Denver Wedding Photographer

    Good stuff Trey. Thanks for giving back. Love your work.

  • Derek K

    I like how the depression in the foreground inversely mirrors the hill in the background. Not an accident, I am sure.

    I find that a surprising number of my favourite shots are portrait-oriented, and I usually shoot both ways out of habit, to see which works best. But when I get home and go to put them online (or make a calendar), it is the horizontal orientation that is better suited to the job. :-

  • http://www.facebook.com/MrAndyBird Andy Bird

    Is it sad that I like episode 1? Surely Darth Maul’s super-badass character makes up for th squeaking abomination that was Jar-Jar Binks…..never mind!
    Beautiful Sunset by the way – great job!

  • Trey Ratcliff

    hehe ! @facebook-863930617:disqus did you see RedLetterMedia ‘s review on YouTube of Episode 1? You must!

  • Trey Ratcliff

    Thanks! :)