Date: 2003-12-03 00:43:00
Tags: photos
today's sunset
I was working away during the sunset today, and [info]shyape called out across the office to bring my attention to the sunset outside. I looked over at the window and saw all orange, so ran outside to catch a picture. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as impressive as it first appeared, but still pretty. (As usual, click on the picture for a larger version.)

[info]cetan
2003-12-03T10:07:13Z
Sunsets are better experienced in person than on film/CMOS/CCD/web/whatever. I've taken a few of them myself and looked at lots online.

The impact just isn't there. People will post the pictures and say "See?! See how wonderful it was?!" but really, it's not that wonderful online.

There's just so much going on during the sunset that a single image can't convey.

Other objects at sunset, however, can be very dramatic. Long shadows can be very pleasing.
[info]ghewgill
2003-12-03T11:04:27Z
That's a good point. Not really knowing what I'm doing behind the viewfinder, I hadn't really considered that.

/me sits back and learns
[info]decibel45
2003-12-03T21:14:15Z
You can capture the beauty of sunsets, but the trick is that you need something to contrast it against, like a nature scene or a rock formation. Basically, you need a setting that is photogenic to start with, and then add the sunset on top of that. Imagine the pic you captured if instead of a bunch of ugly urban crap it was a lake surrounded by maybe pines.

Another trick is it helps if your using film so you can 'push' the exposure a bit to help the colors punch more. A polarizing filter can also do wonders.
(anonymous) : Gigapixel images
2003-12-05T14:30:52Z
Greg, you take such good pictures, I thought you might like this photographer as well. Be sure to navigate to his gallery and look at images of Washington D.C. and Scotland.

http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/gigapixel.htm

This photographer stitches hundreds of images together to form images over 1 gigapixel. Even when they are resized down to normal web sizes, they look eye-stunning compared to usual digital photos.
[info]ghewgill : Re: Gigapixel images
2003-12-05T14:37:09Z
That's pretty cool. Thanks!
Greg Hewgill <greg@hewgill.com>