1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

[bredman]

Well, almost. Arrived too late on the first day. These are all OOC with minimal cropping on one image, and i smudged out one bit of flare on one as i dip yet another toe into the world of (iPhoto ) PP -- as it happens i shouldn't have bothered but here goes.

All taken from the tip of North West Norfolk, some from Hunstanton and a couple further north towards Holme. Looking out over the Wash and the South Lincolnshire coast, and the North Sea beyond. North-West Norfolk is a rare opportunity to shoot an over sea sunset on the east coast of England.

I always assumed sunsets were straightforward, but they are surprisingly difficult to get just right or correctly. Frustrated slightly by the 12-50mm as it has a tendency to wash out the colours somewhat - my first mild disappointment with this lens. I even tried the sunset scene mode on the OM-D but found it all just too drastic, so all the settings are my own. I did ok i reckon, with the lens that is, the colours are all ok if a little underwhelming in comparison with the naked eye at the time.

Sunday 5th Aug.



Monday 6th



Tuesday 7th



Wednesday 8th. One of those huge brown sunsets. You may notice a dark band just above the horizon, this was visible for a couple hours and i'm not certain what it's called -- or what it is. A mirage effect of a more distant horizon perhaps.



Thursday 9th.


Friday 10th. Someone cancelled tonight's show.


And on Saturday 11th we went home.
The End.

[bredman]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Oh just for interest, this is what i got from the sunset scene mode from the Thursday. I'm clueless as to what i should do with this, i'll make sense of it one day.

[Phill D]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Pete that's a really nice set of sunsets, one a day was an excellent idea, you definitely had a good week. Looks like you were quite lonely on that beach. My favourite is Thursday, I think, and I do like the OMDs version too. I tried a few different crops to a more panorama style and they worked well. Boosting the fill light on the OMD one as well as cropping also worked well as it brought out the lonely figures on the beach. You might want to have a play.

[Nic]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Wow, I love the dramatic difference from one day to the next. It would seem that no two sunsets are alike! The cloud formations and golden colour would make Thursday my favourite.

[Graptolite]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Great idea! These are lovely - well maybe the Friday one's a bit dull! And a reminder to us in the west that most of the folk on the east coast don't get to see over-the-sea sunsets on a regular basis. I quite like the OMD sunset scene one - I've found with some cameras that the sunset scene mode can give a sort of 'brick-red' colour cast which I don't like. I think I've read that if you set the white balance to 'cloudy' or 'shadow' it works quite well to bring out the warm sunset colours, and that auto WB doesn't do so well?
You've caught a nice sun dog on the Thursday sunset and also the last one, with just a hint of a gloriole as well. There's probably one to the right of the sun as well but it's out of scene.

[shirley]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

What a conincidence, I was in that area for the same week.
I did get some sunsets one night but must admit I missed the others, probably in a local somewhere
You have a lovely set, I am afraid I have no advice to offer, as I am on a learning curve with the OMD myself, but you seem to be doing very well. I too like Thursday's image

[wanderer]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Very fine. What a good idea. Stops you from sitting too long in the pub.
No particular favourites. I like the portrait one too. A fine mackerel sky to echo the ripples on the shore. The Sundog on the left warned you of the weather change on the Friday.
The brown band, I think, is pollution.

[bredman]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Thanks for looking in and commenting everyone.


@Phill, yes i need to start thinking more about a suitable platform for post processing.

I quite like the OMD sunset scene one - I've found with some cameras that the sunset scene mode can give a sort of 'brick-red' colour cast which I don't like. I think I've read that if you set the white balance to 'cloudy' or 'shadow' it works quite well to bring out the warm sunset colours, and that auto WB doesn't do so well?
You've caught a nice sun dog on the Thursday sunset and also the last one, with just a hint of a gloriole as well. There's probably one to the right of the sun as well but it's out of scene.

Thanks for the tips David. I'll try all that. (the sundog was just to one side ).

[bredman]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Interesting that everyone likes the OMD settings (my fiance and some friends do too), and i accept it's very pleasing on the eye but it's the furthest from the reality i observed with the naked eye, whereas the image with my own settings is almost spot on. It's a dilemma that i knew i would have to address at some point, and i will, at some point.

[Zuiko]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Well I think these are pretty good, with lovely colours but I wasn't there to compare. Did you have White balance set to "Auto" by chance? If you did the camera will attempt to remove the natural warmth and vivid colours of the scene to produce more neutral colours. Try selecting "Daylight" or set a custom WB of 5600K.

[Floribunda]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

I love sunsets. You don't have to get up early to get them.
They are all lovely , but I really like Monday with the wave foreground and the band of sunlight on the sea. It is a lovely set.

[bredman]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Did you have White balance set to "Auto" by chance? If you did the camera will attempt to remove the natural warmth and vivid colours of the scene to produce more neutral colours. Try selecting "Daylight" or set a custom WB of 5600K.

Yes John i did. I won't next time though. Thanks for the tip. Two have suggested the wb could be sorted, and that may explain my (mistakenly) disappointment in the 12-50mm in this instance.

[Zuiko]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Yes John i did. I won't next time though. Thanks for the tip. Two have suggested the wb could be sorted, and that may explain my (mistakenly) disappointment in the 12-50mm in this instance.

If you took raw files the WB can easily be sorted. If JPEG, it will depend on your processing software but there is bound to be some adjustment available, even if it is just to increase vibrancy/saturation or add a warm-up filter effect.

[Mrs T]

Re: 1 whole weeks of North Sea sunsets

Pete,

Thursday would be my favourite too. I also like the OM-D sunset mode. I have also used this in the past as it can boost the colours rather nicely.

Amanda