[Dave]

For once a colour shot, with no crops or manipulations apart from very subtle S Curve & minutest of sharpen after resize. I do love the light straight after a storm

Critique welcome Feel free to play with shot if you can improve on it

[Soupdragon]

It's very good, I would really like to see the sky darker but that is nit picking!

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by Soupdragon

but that is nit picking!

No, it's not!



Needs more work on the tree, I know!

[skipper954]

I am gonna be anti photoshop and pro dave here

The natural lighting after the storm in the original is perfect. It portrays the feeling and so I wouldn't change a bit.

wtg, Dave

skip

[nichpr]

Simple, clean composition, great lighting - love it.

- Paul

[b.van_der_dylan]

Very good, Dave. I have come across dark blue/black clouds similar to those in your shot but when I take a shot the clouds are either correct but the foreground is too dark or if I adjust the exposure for the foreground the clouds change from true colour to blown out white. I have a AEL lock on my camera and I tried a few but no improvement. Any tips there Dave? Andrew

[Dave]

Originally Posted by b.van_der_dylan

I have come across dark blue/black clouds similar to those in your shot but when I take a shot the clouds are either correct but the foreground is too dark or if I adjust the exposure for the foreground the clouds change from true colour to blown out white. I have a AEL lock on my camera and I tried a few but no improvement. Any tips there Dave? Andrew

To be honest I was lucky with the light, as the ground was as bright from the sun, as the dark clouds were. I always shoot RAW mind you , which gives me some extra control over the exposure.

For the example you describe you have a couple of options.

• Shoot with a tripod & auto bracket your shots. Then use PS to merge the correctly exposed sky with correctly exposed land.
• Shoot using RAW & hope your single shot can be opened into a couple of differently exposed shots as above, without having blown highlights
• Prefered method by Landscape photographers is to use a ND grad filter , to redcue some of the light from the sky, to balance the exposure for the land

On the last point this thread should be of interest :- Metering using Filters

Hope that helps

As for everyone else , thanks for the comments.

[stepheno]

A well metered shot, Dave

[Dabhand16]

Great shot Dave. I like the original best, but I also like it with a bit of the bottom cropped to put the tree on the third - about to where the shadow on the RHS will go into the bottom RH corner.

[P-E]

Original one for me.......looks like you were in the right place at the right time and executed the shot perfectly

[Soupdragon]

OK, it may be my lappy monitor, but the second attempt is a billion times better for contrast saturation and sky detail.
Granted the exposure must have been good or the recovery could not have been made.
Not to mention the fact it now has depth enhanced by the foreground shadow.

[Hacker]

Good shot Dave and well exposed but for me there is too much foreground which makes my eye wander too much. Less grass and more sky would work better I think.

[Gary Bagshawe]

WOW, that is stunning