The sun also sets...

Not being a pro, or even what I would call a "serious amature", I was a little hesitant to post photos for critique, but I figure that having others tell me what I did well or poorly in a given situation will help me to improve my pics, so here goes.

This is one of my many Walt Disney World photos. I've always found Spaceship Earth's gigantic geosphere to be a beautiful subject, and on this day the evening sun and clear, blue sky combined to make everything sharp and crisp, so I lined up the shot in an attempt to create a "diamond ring" effect behind the geosphere.

[click the thumbnail for the full-size version]

http://willcad.org/photos/2003/Roll-...s/th171-17.jpg

WillCAD -

OK, I see what you were trying to do here. I think it's alright as an expt but needs more impact. The sun is just a white ball here - if it had a flare or sort sort of filter that changed the color, then I think it would stand out better. Also wish that it had some sort of counter-balancing geometric on the right side middle and upper area - there's nothing there except that tree, which doesn't match up well against the other objects.

That's my take. Not bad, but seems that the effect could have turned out better. How did you feel about the result before you posted it? Did you feel you got the diamond ring effect you wanted?

GB

I am mostly pleased with the results. The diamond ring effect turned out pretty much the way I intended - a flare of light against the sky, half-obscured by the geosphere.

I left some blank sky in the right side intentionally, as the bright blue skies in Florida are an integrel part of a trip there, but I do wish there had been a few fluffy clouds that morning to break up the plain blue and make it a bit more interesting.

I think that I'd either like to see more shadow detail, or none at all. The way it is now, I completely missed the effect you were going for trying to discern what it was that I could almost see.

Always a fun trip though. Most of my pics from Flordia (10 yrs ago) have that blue sky as well.

WillCAD - Yes, I agree. A few puffy clouds would have added some interesting items to the sky and filled in that right side very nicely.

I'm originally from Riverdale Md and don't recall having bad skies or anything out there, but I guess the deep blues of the south just beat out Maryland's. I noticed the same thing when living in Houston awhile back...

GB