Chasing that perfect sunrise

[biggerry]

The thought of getting up at 4:30-5:00am is wearin gpretty thin for me nowadays, however the hope of getting those golden sunrise shots is still luring me out...

I had a spare sunday morning (well spare at 5am anyways) up the coast on the w/e just gone so again it was out to the beach to have a crack...



Sunset the night before..



friendly visitor... hmm.. tasty legs on this one

[Geoff]

Hi Gerry,
Nice work. I like them all but I find the first one (HDR right?) is a bit over processed and not natural looking to me. I'm not conventionally a big fan of HDR and this is my personal opinion only. I much prefer the last image which I think is not HDR.
The frog is great too!
Cheers,

Geoff.

[wendellt]

wow your a commited thing

the first one is a real stunner, it looks just a little oversaturated but works
and the last reminds me of a computer program i used to dabble with Bryce it makes 3d landscapes the light in your shot looks surreal

great work and good to see you really passionately chasing sunrises, when most of us would be enjoying hugging our pillows in bed

[rex]

.

beautiful. if only i could see such horizon here and without the haze i wouldnt mind camping to catch the sunrise.

[craig.rohse]

Very nice Gerry,
it's good to see that you are not just chasing but that you are coming home with some nice results.

[chrisk]

the 2 sunrise shots are beauties. love the foreground rocks. where is it ?
awesome stuff mate.

[aim54x]

Looks like that Tokina is getting a great workout.

[biggerry]

first one (HDR right?) is a bit over processed and not natural looking to me

fair enough, in my defence the green of the moss/seaweed was a brillant green, this was at low tide - it is a difficult balance to achieve, the surreal look coupled with reality... thanks for your comment Geoff, its good feedback
The last image is also HDR.

good to see you really passionately chasing sunrises, when most of us would be enjoying hugging our pillows in bed

ta wendell, when there is a 5month old baby about it also helps one wake up

if only i could see such horizon here and without the haze

yeah thats a hard one, ther is always spray on a beach when waves are about which contributes to the 'haze' look. hmm camping, now there's an idea...

. love the foreground rocks. where is it ?

ta rooz, secret location...nah, its at Evans Head (1/2hr south ballina) - the beach is Chinamans Beach (10 mins out of evans head) and it is on the northern end, this was at low tide, normally you cannot get to these rocks during high tide

the southern end is also very nice - however ya gotta watch out for the Military training zone, its also an awesome fishing spot....

[surenj]

Dude! Nice to see some dedication.

I quite like colors and composition in the first but the lighting is discordant in the fore and backgrounds. It feels like there are two large sources and that's rare in nature. The last one is also suffering from the same problem but perhaps a light quality issue. The diffuse sunrise against the hard light on the rocks.

The only way to get rid of these issues would be to light paint these scenes yourself but you will probably need a really powerful source if you are to kill the ambient depending on the f stop you were using.

Also watch for funny haloing that is becoming apparent in the left middle area of #1.

Nice frog by the way! You are getting closer to your critters....

[DebT]

I think your shots are a great reward for the early start and love the frog
DebT

[Big V]

The balance of colours in the first shot are wonderful

[biggerry]

Also watch for funny haloing that is becoming apparent in the left middle area of #1.

hows this?

[surenj]

Gerry, much better... You should try to sell this to the nearest beach cafe (on canvas...)

I find that the long exposure HDRs can get this problem as it tries to adjust for ripples etc.

[biggerry]

this problem as it tries to adjust for ripples etc.

agreed, it's very interesting to see the effect of the software trying to adjust for ripples, typically I have this turned off, however it has, in some cases, created some interesting looks!

rework of the last one too...

and another similiar shot.