Atlas1 and 2

[daq7]

[arne saknussen]

Both are great shots. The first I might crop the left third or so. I like the thin long cloud on the right, but the long cloud in the middle ruins the illusion of smoke.
The second one has a small pink dot in the middle bottom that is too vibrant. The menacing clouds are what make this shot special.

[Greg McCary]

Really good stuff dag. I see some halos in the second shot, but that is the nature of HDR's I guess. I like the first one more than the second one but I always go for the classic look. I would love to see it in large print and see all of the detail. The car headlights might be a be bright but just a nit pick.

[daq7]

Thanks both of you. You know Greg, I think at this point halos are mostly a signal of my lack of time or laziness. If I spent the time with the graphics tablet and magnifying this stuff, I could significantly improve the halo situation. But I don't take the time.

[daq7]

By the way arne, you are absolutely right about that red dot. Ruins the whole shot for me now. I am not joking. It is completely obnoxious. I will repair that.

[CaraRose]

I love the light in the second one... but maybe a bit too much of the sky? I'd hate to lose any of the cityscape though.

[daq7]

Incidentally, it is kind of indicative of the weather in Denver but these were taken within about two hours of each other if I recall correctly. Three at the most.

[NKP68]

Love them both, red dot and all. The sky in #2 is awsome, I don't remember seeing cloud formation like that around here (Philly). That said I think that is just a bit too much cloud height in #2, possibly as much as the top 1/3. You almost have two images here, one skyline one storm clouds. Great shots!

[n8]

#1 could be something you see in the Devner airport gift shop. The sky in #2 is ridiculously awesome...you're aim with this I'm sure. The only thing that hurts it is the hsloling around the capitol building, and the tone mapping is a little heavy on the buildings.

[Anbesol]

Awesome stuff Daq, some of my favorite that I've seen from you. I cant even think of any nitpicks on the first. The second, like greg said has some halo-ing, most distracting around the capitol building.

[EOSThree]

The first one is excellent. Very nice. Probably the best I've seen from you. Clean, real, nice post sunset glow, balanced with the light of the city.

The second one is a little overdone for my tastes, too much HDR. And as mentioned above halo o rama, especially annoying around the capitol building.

[Grandpaw]

I like them both but prefer number one. At first glance the cloud on the tall building to the right in the first shot makes it look like the building is burning and the cloud is the smoke. Good job on both, Jeff

[armando_m]

I like them both

with #2 lacking time consuming detailing

[daq7]

Thanks for all the comments. I will probably repost both soon. The first one I did not sharpen, and I think it could use it. The second one I will work to fix some of the halos.

[GB1]

These are both powerful Daq but both also have slight issues that I think you could fix.

The first is well composed and you took it at a nice time of the evening before it got too dark. I agree that the middle of the buildings cloud needs to go to make the 'smoke' effect look real. I also think there's too much sky and that you should crop some off. I would also sharpen it a bit more and reduce the thickness of the matte/frame (it's a bit much for such a short photo).

The second I don't see as a true photo but more of a creation. I think it works in that respect, like Gotham City in Batman. The issue I have is that the buildings are sort of dark and oddly illuminated which robs one of information. The foreground is a bit sparse. There is also a CW tilt to the photo that you must fix (you can see it the way the horizon tilts down). Finally, I like the dramatic sky, mostly, but as nit picky as this sounds I think the upper left bright spot ruins it. I would fill that in with the same dark color as the adjacent clouds.

G

[daq7]

A rework to fix some halo and lighting issues:



And one for the anti-sky fetishists