Finger of Fire

Gallery: LandscapePosted April 19, 2011570 views29 comments

This dawn (Dec 2010) started with a very, very grey sky. It wasn't promising at all. Clouds seemed thick, low. First reddish ray started to appear suddenly. Soon after, it was followed by one of the most red dawn I have ever seen (until then that is;). Rays were gone as quickly as they have appeared leaving me amazed and happy that I have managed that scene.

I'm very much interested what you think about the whole scene. I've cropped some of 'unused' space from the RHS leaving the whole composition in RoT. In editing, initially I've used Tony's luminosity masks then I've followed this up with his Triple Play.

Used my 50D (which thinks it is 5D;), 2 hard stop GND, exposure 0.6 sec with f/11, 10-22@14mm

Any comments / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for looking and for your time.

Comments

29 comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on April 19, 2011 at 9:53 AM

Plenty of drama here for sure Tom. Great color and water action.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on April 19, 2011 at 10:22 AM

Love the motion of the water Tom
Very good

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on April 19, 2011 at 10:44 AM

Some very intense colors here Tom, and I really enjoy the fg water motion and how it pulls you into the scene. Great capture.

Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on April 19, 2011 at 11:03 AM

Incredible sunrise. Bet it took your breath away, but it's the fg water that really makes this image. It's movement and the intense red in the sky create a lot of energy and make this very exciting to view.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on April 19, 2011 at 11:13 AM

Wow! What an intense scene. From the color to the raging wave action, this is bursting.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on April 19, 2011 at 11:14 AM

Very nice one, Tom - especially the left side is pretty amazing. The foreground with the layer of white water on top is a great lead-in and I dig the wave ahead creates a kind of hole in the water. One thing I wonder about is if the GND affected the brightness of that water splash above the rocks. The more I look at it the more I feel it should be brighter because it's lit from behind. That's nothing that really bothers me - just an observation.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Cram on April 19, 2011 at 11:36 AM

Boy....that sky is on fire. Nice reflection on the water.

Registered on June 4, 2006, 204 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Derek Yow on April 19, 2011 at 12:48 PM

Wonderful action in the water, and the sky just puts this over the top.
Beautifully done!

Registered on May 18, 2010, 26 Posts, 655 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on April 19, 2011 at 1:06 PM

What a scene Tom; very powerful. I like the dynamic comp with the FG water action. The colors do look a tiny bit too vibrant IMO, but of course I was not there (unfortunately

) to see this amazing scene myself.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on April 19, 2011 at 1:45 PM

Wow, that's a lot of action! Nice one.

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Hussain Nalwala on April 19, 2011 at 1:48 PM

It looks beautiful.....Love it !!

Registered on April 18, 2011, 298 Posts, 339 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on April 19, 2011 at 3:33 PM

Amazing action and color, dynamic and powerful scene! The experience of this sunrise must have been incredible. The image sure is.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on April 19, 2011 at 3:46 PM

The color is great. Very dramatic scene. i also love the water action

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Pullen on April 19, 2011 at 6:19 PM

Really like the intensity of that sky and the water action compliments it well. Ron

Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on April 19, 2011 at 6:45 PM

Beautiful skies and reflections!
The action in the ocean (incl. the wave break and the 'falls' on the left) is simply sublime. I just love this one!

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by dean hebert on April 19, 2011 at 6:51 PM

Amazing colours, nicely captured!

Registered on August 4, 2010, 70 Posts, 1132 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 19, 2011 at 7:18 PM

Wow, very cool. I really like the water motion in the foreground. Along with the waves I like the water falling over the rock on the left. This is really pretty...awesome sky.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on April 19, 2011 at 7:29 PM

Wow, looks like near the gates to an oceanic hell! Powerful water action and reflected light everywhere make for a striking shot. I've seen a ton of amazing sunsets over the ocean but far less as exciting as this one!

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Hardeman on April 19, 2011 at 7:43 PM

Wow!

Registered on November 26, 2005, 150 Posts, 233 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Marcellini on April 19, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Thats some red! Love the water action. The sky is very blown in the reds and they are always hard to tame, but just wonder if there is anything to pull out of it. Maybe just a hair less saturation even. Regardless, wonderful image.

Registered on November 27, 2007, 250 Posts, 2468 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 19, 2011 at 8:57 PM

Great shot. Lots of action and amazing colors.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on April 19, 2011 at 9:02 PM

Intense color and the compositions and wave action is very dynamic. Usually it rains after a sky like this.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on April 20, 2011 at 1:05 AM

A dramatic and powerful seascape. I agree that the reds in the sky seem a bit oversaturated.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Dobrzanski on April 20, 2011 at 4:29 AM

Sorry for late reply! and thank you very much for your feedback

@Andreas Resch, thank you for your point. Yes GND must have darkened the water as well. Thanks for noticing it! I've missed it completely.

@Marc Adamus, haha my intial idea of the name for that capture was something related to hell, Beelzebub. Glad you had the same experience! I dropped my idea after talking to me wife lol and yes, the that part of the dawn was spectacular!

@Vincent Grafhorst, Paul Marcellini, Zack Clothier - I was sure that if I would not mention it then it, the "oversaturated" red would be picked up. So I'll just mention it now; Sky has been captured with 2 stopping GND. I did not play, edit, adjusted saturation nor vibration at all. Also the temprature was set correctly based on the card. Mid tones contrast was adjusted but not tho the whole scene.

Thank you all, again for you feedback!

Registered on September 27, 2010, 17 Posts, 164 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on April 20, 2011 at 5:50 PM

That's some amazing sky! Too bad there wasnt more in the fg to focus on...

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Hackett on April 20, 2011 at 8:46 PM

Spectacular! Very intense.

Registered on March 13, 2006, 65 Posts, 1119 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on April 20, 2011 at 10:07 PM

All has been said already. This is 1 amazing image. The intense color of the sunset is almost overpowering. That is somehow balanced by the foreground water. Oh..and that little waterfall on the left is an extra bonus! Congratulations on a stunning image!

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on April 20, 2011 at 11:14 PM

This is amazing Tom. Everything came together perfectly in this image. I love the water motion and the intense colors. Well done.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on April 22, 2011 at 1:08 AM

Gorgeous capture of this amazing sunset and well done on the composition too.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments