Kiribati mangroves, a photo from Tarawa, Gilbert Islands

Photographer's Note

I haven’t posted a sunset photograph for a while, so here’s one from Kiribati, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This was taken looking west across a bay on the north side of the Temaiku Bight on South Tarawa – about 100km north of the equator.

The trees silhouetted in the water are mangroves.

Now I have to confess that I bumped up the saturation on this much more than I normally do, but when I was making my PP adjustments, it looked so nice with the extra saturation, I decided to post it like this to introduce a bit of variety into my gallery. Apart from the saturation adjustment, this was cropped, noise reduced with NeatImage, contrast increased slightly and USM applied.

I did think about cropping away the left hand 20 per cent of this image, as it is fairly dark in the bottom left hand corner, but I decided not to as I liked the cloud formation in the sky at top left because it looks like it has been painted on the sky with a brush.

For those who hate over-saturated photographs, I have posted the ‘au natural’ version to the workshop.

UPDATE RE TILTED HORIZON: Given the critiques about the tilted horizon, I went back and had a closer look at this. I rotated the image 0.8 degrees CW and this appeared to correct the tilted horizon, but then the reflections of the mangroves under the sun appeared to be at an angle. So I assumed this must be a perspective problem more than anything else, so I used the transform/perspective tool in Photoshop to push the reflections back to the vertical and this seemed to balance the whole image nicely. I have posted the corrected version to the workshop. Sorry for that – my critiquers are not the only ones who don’t like tilted horizons. I don’t like them myself unless the tilt is deliberately done for artistic effect ;)

cliffchappell, fireflyz, kclai, alainh, riclopes, sarju, Janice, capthaddock, aloyho, tinamunk3, Luan, Giorgio, aznegrao, klyee75, Emiel_Skyfreak, normandiem heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

fototab (107) 2006-02-09 9:10

David, great job. Hang on to this one it is a winner. Very nice. fototab

RGatward (20108) 2006-02-09 9:13

Beautiful seascape, with insteresting details of the islands. One the amazing things about this post is that it of country which I've never previously heard of!

Aido (317) 2006-02-09 9:13

Hi David, amazing colours, I think you did the right thing with the saturation. Great detail too, really nice image. The horizon looks to dip to the left though!
Regards, Adrian

cliffchappell (223) 2006-02-09 9:52 [Comment]

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mpr (491) 2006-02-09 10:13

Nice shot. In this case a little saturation goes a long way and I think you made the right move. The original isn't bad either so you really couldn't go wrong in my opinion. Call me crazy but I think cropping the left side would have been the right move as it would place the sun in a more center position.

ramthakur (1559) 2006-02-09 10:16

Over-saturation is fine with me; it makes the sky breathtakingly beautiful.
Ram

gaby (19819) 2006-02-09 14:06

David bonsoir - a great idea to bump the saturation - the shot is very strong with these colors - the sky is wonderful
Thanks
Rgs
Gaby

fireflyz (2097) 2006-02-09 19:15

Hi David,
Lovely sunset! Colors are amazing, and I also like the saturated colors in this photo. It's a bit too dark on lower left corner as you said but overall the colors, textures and lighting fit very well with each other.
Cheers,
Skye

ktanska (44744) 2006-02-10 7:00

Hi David,
Thanks for the workshop! I prefer it. But maybe this version catches more attention. Our modern culture seems to create attraction to lot of unnatural things.
Great landscape anyway!
About tilt: I don't think it is completely illusion as the right side horizon is higher than the treetops on the left. Barrel distortion of wide angle? Oh, never mind.
Kari

david (3992) 2006-02-10 11:37

wow! just wow! this is a remarkable photograph david.

i don't see a problem with your saturation. the sunset was still purple and orange, you've just enhanced it ... and to very good effect. the mangroves make for a nice silhouette and do a good job of breaking the image up.

awesome photography. well done!

kensimage (8563) 2006-02-11 11:19

Very nice, David, I like how the pattern of dark clouds complements the pattern of dark mangroves. It's good you didn't crop from the right side! Although the saturation is boosted, it doesn't look it, which means you did it successfully. (I generally dislike oversaturation and sometimes point it out in comments.) At sunset the camera and the eye see light and color differently anyway, so (as the average French philosopher would doubtless observe) there's no unique reality that you're altering. Regards, Ken.

Didi (61589) 2006-02-11 11:34

Hello David
Nice seascape in sunser.
Colours are very appreciable.
There is a little tilt but very simple to correct.
Cheers

Schultzy (5446) 2006-02-11 13:11

Hello David,
Great landscape with this romantic sunset. Perfect exposure, the light is really nice.
I like the foreground with the silhouette of the trees.
Good idea, well done !

jafadabret (56501) 2006-02-11 14:21

C'est bon de rêver devant un tel paysage. Les couleurs sont extra et la végétation en silhouette sur l'eau correspond aux nuages noirs du ciel.

bantonbuju (51815) 2006-02-12 2:17

hi dave,
a spectacular sunset - i particularly like the shapes on the sky - a really greatmoment, the clouds are exceptional and also the quality of the sky colours were superb, then!
best wishes, jerzy

Paolo (41258) 2006-02-12 5:46

Hi David, excellent image. the sunset colours are fantastic and the mangroves are something of special with they strange shape in the dark.
excellent POV and focus.
thanks, ciao

kclai (2267) 2006-02-12 21:02

Morning David
It's nice to see such beautiful sunrise first thing in the morning and it starts the day in fresh and warm feeling.
Good PP job, David. The vivid color of blue and the far distanced yellow put up quite an impressive artistic mood.
Well done, David.
Eric Lai

dsidwell (9783) 2006-02-13 12:23

It's good to see your work again, David! I've always wanted to go to Kiribati; just because it sounds so remote and exotic! I love your tones here, your exposure is just right to capture the sillhouettes so nicely, and the glorious colors in the sky.

alainh (33209) 2006-02-13 15:38

hello David
first, splendid clouds !
and a great softness in this sunset.
perfect post-traitement for me !!
very beautiful picture and good note
regards
alain

riclopes (35577) 2006-02-15 3:39

Hi David,
Hi love very much this a painture, reminding me a recent post of a sunset at the sea, instead of mangroves. Also like your saturation of colours and the tiltness of the horizon seems natural to me (and it is not that evident - if it wasn´t your update note I wouldn´t notice) as you have a bigger bar of vegetation on the left side.
The sillouettes of the mangroves work very nicely in the composition, with the light reflections on the water and the sky is amazing. There are a lot of sunsets in TE, however each one can be still a surprise. Congratulations for this one!
TFS,
Friendly regards,
Ricardo

chaity (1539) 2006-02-15 20:24

Hi David, this is certainly a very nice sunset photo. I like the different type of sky colors in a photo. Sharpness of the photo is excellent. Bagus !

elmec (12210) 2006-02-16 12:38

Hello David!
It's amazing sky on your photo!
Very good composition and colours!
I like it so much!
Best greetings!

sarju (5324) 2006-02-18 7:41

Hi David
I am a big admirer of photos of sunset and sunrise, so there was no way that I was going to miss this photo.
thanks very much for sharing this beauty .. I like the way the yellowish of the sunset seemed to be all enlosed in blue of the water and the sky
well done
thanks for sharing this one
regards .... sarju

Janice (4403) 2006-02-18 14:24

Hi David, you pp work has paid off. The colours are superb, and I love the cloud formations too. (And the straight WS version too.)
A lovely view with wonderful colours. TFS
Janice

capthaddock (28790) 2006-02-19 0:53

Hi David- what an awe inspiring sunset, the tropical clouds look stunning, and the mangroves set it apart from the usual beach sunset photos. (go to Tajikistan soon and you entire Asia map will be orange)

aloyho (6798) 2006-02-19 6:59

Hi David,
You enjoyed the first hand beauty of this place while you are there and if you feel good about this with the PP I am sure this is exactly what you felt the place to be. I enjoyed this scene with the strong and vivid colours and especially the contrasting blue and orange. The dark silhouettes provided good weight for the composition. Excellent shot!! Have a nice weekend.

Svillegas (1169) 2006-02-21 8:46

Hi David
Wonderful sharpness, colour saturation and composition. A really nice shot.
Sonia

tinamunk3 (6408) 2006-02-26 9:23

Hi David,

I have NEVER heard about Kiribati before so thank you for sharing this beautiful sunset shot with us. Great note!!

:) Tina

jbweasle (9393) 2006-03-03 2:55

Hello David. It's one of those stunning sunsets that says "photograph me!" I couldn't have resisted and I'm glad you didn't either.

steeve (1497) 2006-03-22 14:16

At first, it's a beautiful landscape.I appreciate the fact that you have put the original pic on workshop. Even there colors are quite amazing. IMO to give an artistic effect, the horizon tilted has to be evident so the viewer won't take it for a mistake. Nicely done

Luan (12971) 2006-04-02 12:40

Hello David,
YOu should post more ;o); it works really well, it's a festival of colors. The sky is incredible, like a painting.
Very pleasant to look at....more...more ;o)
Luan

colinbrenchley (6431) 2006-04-09 4:11

David - Excellent silhoueete shot. The exposure on such a detailed sky is absolutely spot on. The clouds at all levels from Cumulus in the distance to the grey stratocumulus/altocumulus tand then the high cirrus still with sunlight on it making it white. Great! Regards Colin

Giorgio (11279) 2006-04-11 12:35

- A beautiful sunset, I like the amazing colours, strange and nice, the light is excellent the front plan in backlighting still adds of the relief to this picture, well done!
giorgio

aznegrao (10316) 2006-04-12 11:42

Ola David!!
O olhar do fotografo e uma coisa fantastica. Vejo isso aqui, otimo angulo, cores e perspectiva criando uma composição bela e relaxante.
Greetings.
aznegrao.

klyee75 (778) 2006-08-20 1:02

from the original picture and the new picture....Yes you have done a good job with good photoshop skills....warmer tone, brighter and more contrast...now it's look great.

quillo (11858) 2006-09-05 12:29

Hi David, this image is one of the best sun puttings than I have seen lately, has perfect color, light, definition and frame, I like much.
Congratulations and thanks for the gift for the eyes.

A Hug.

peterpap (2863) 2015-08-28 12:19

Hi there, nice picture, I love the colors. Good framing, a pano is best for these kind of pictures. Wonderful skies. Well done.