Sky Photo

This is my first attempt at a sky/sunset picture. I didn't change the colours at in pp, sky was just a weird but nice colour.

I checked the histogram on camera which didn't seem to show any areas as blown but on loading to PC some of the horizon was overexposed, wish I'd used a faster shutter now! I used rawtherapee's highlight recovery which helped a bit I think.




Constructive suggestions are very welcome.

Very nice. There is more going on in this picture than most sunsets.

Looks absolutely fine to me. You recovered it well!
I have had the same experience with the camera apparently telling porkies about the histogram. I can't remember, but I suspect I was working with a JPEG on the computer, while the camera may have been showing the RAW histogram with a bit more space particularly at the light end.

Speaking of histograms - which baffle me - and seem to have no explanation in my K110D manual, how do they work, and what can I learn from them?

Can someone point me to a good article?

Cheers

essentially, the histogram shows you how much image data is contained in each 'level' of grey.
If the majority of the graph is over to the left with nothing on the right then your image is underexposed. This is considered the safe option but leads to featureless shadows and a noisy image, especially if you try to recover it. If the graph is over to the right with nothing on the left you are over exposed but as long as the graph hits the floor before reaching the right hand edge then your highlights will be safe. This is the best place to be for image quality, but takes some practice.
If your graph still has a value when it reaches both edges then the scene's dynamic range is too great for the camera and you should consider using the auto bracketing feature whilst on aperture priority then taking the best bits from each image. Or using a graduated neutral density filter, to darken the sky for instance.
In PhotoShop, the 'Image - Adjust - Levels' command will bring up the levels and the simplest way to clean up your image is to move the left hand slider in towards the middle until it meets the graph and the same with the right slider. You can usually leave the middle slider alone.

Everything you want to know about histograms, but always were afraid to ask

Martin.

Edit: To stay on topic. It's a lovely picture Richard, but I think it can do with some cropping on the foreground. 1/3 of the lower half or so. It would balance the picture a bit more.

Richard,

In my rush to ask my question, I forgot to open with how much I love the shot!

Sorry about that, and I surely didn't mean to hijack the thread!

Thanks for the link, Martin - EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Threads are there to be taken in whatever direction people choose.
Mac from Montreal, you choose to thank the guy who gave you a link... and ignore the guy who spent 10 minutes writing a more personal answer from which you could have asked futher questions.

SO if that was EXACTLY what you were looking for, why didn't you just Google it?

Hi Darkmunk, The guy you refer to does have a name, you know

and:
That would be seriously hijacking this thread.

And maybe your answer (accurate for a insider) was a bit intimidating for him.
And therefore not of much use.

Anyway......Peace.

Martin.

I called myself 'a guy' too.

And I've had a lot of shit presents in the past but I still said thanks.

Maybe they'd have stopped coming if you hadn't.

Darkmunk!

I'm so sorry!

The way the thread showed up when I logged in this afternoon had Martin's reply at the top, and I went right to thanking him.

It is only now that I saw your very welcome response - which I really appreciate!!!!!

Please don't think I ignored your effort or don't appreciate it!

Wow, I think I've managed to really irritate enough folks for today - or maybe forever.

Cheers all - back to lurking.

You're absolutely right...
'Dear Aunty,WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??! I told you I want a DA*300mm not soap on a rope, you daft old bat'.

Mac, It really isn't a problem, I realise you didn't ask for an explanation, but I thought I would contribute on this site. I think it was the word EXACTLY that fueled my indignation.

Darkmunk,

Your submission was also EXACTLY what I was looking for and has been printed out for my ever-growing file of notes. I've also filed Martin's link in My Documents.

Had my reply to Martin appeared before your entry, all would have been well. As it is, I can certainly see why you were indignant and don't blame you a bit.

I really hope you accept my explanation and my appology.

My wife continually gives me heck for taking action too quickly, before I have ALL the input. Maybe I should listen to her more often.

Off to master histograms (now that I have ALL the input.)

Thanks

Thanks for your comments,

I shoot raw+jpeg and am a bit unsure whether the K10D uses JPEG or RAW to plot the histogram. Anybody know this for definite (sorry if I've missed it on another post somewhere)?