Split in half Photo

Photographer’s Note

This sunset picture was shot on the river Gambia in The Gambia. Because TE doesn't know The Gambia, I picked it's neighbouring country Senegal.

This sunset picture was one of the first pictures I took with my Fujifilm camera. I like the result and until today this is one of my finest sunsets. I especially like the fact that the sunrays seem to split the picture in half. Also the cloud on the left is nice I think. What do you think? Should I have cropped more of the water? Hit me with your fierce criticism! I want to learn!! :)

arth, MLINES, enedimd has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

todbrowning (105) 2005-01-29 14:53

Very nice and original sunset Pieter ! Beautiful shot ! I love this cloud on the left.

tityop (6225) 2005-01-29 17:22

tres belle photo. Ce rayon de soleil qui transperse ces nuages est du plus bel effet. On a l'impression que la photo est coupé en deux. Tres bien capturé
Bien amicalement Thierry

Tue (25608) 2005-01-29 18:03

This is a beautiful sunset! Very special cos of the split! The blue colours are great! Fantastic job and I don't think you should have cropped the water more. Well done!

arth (1454) 2005-01-29 18:07

Excellent sunset picture Pieter .The light effects are beautiful and very spectacular ,it's look like two pictures in one !! .Good composition and good contrast .Nice colors too .Great work

Arthur

psandboge (43) 2005-01-30 1:11

I agree with the other critics. I guess one third each of sky cloud and water is good. The cloud on the left feels heavy, so maybe you could strip away a small part of it too make the image more balanced. If you like to experiment, you could focus on the vertical line and just keep a narrow strip to the left and right of the sun. Probably none of this is better but it would certainly make the picture appear very different.

MvS (4163) 2005-01-30 13:10

Pieter,
There are many sunsets on TE, but this is very special. As you say the rays cuts the picture in two halfs with quite different sets of colours and visible showers below. Very nice.
One thing I notice is that the picture could have been rotated a few degrees clockwise.
Regards,
MvS

flagman (294) 2005-01-30 13:17

Stunning sunset, Pieter. I think the composition would be improved if the sun was dead centre, and the amount of sky was exactly half-and-half. That would also remove the land on the right that makes the horizon look slanted.

Steft (5962) 2005-02-01 10:12

Hoi Pieter,
Deze foto is echt goed!
Really good photo!
I like the compostion, the colours and the very orginal split-effect! Only a pity that there is a little bit noice in the clouds to the left.

archanabhimasen (270) 2005-04-29 11:38

This is indeed a beautiful atmosphere created by nature that you have captured. Good shot!

coco (27542) 2005-05-02 4:45

Excellent moment. The clouds are in the correct place. But the photographer also must be in the correct place and in the right moment.
Well done.

kclai (2267) 2005-05-02 21:33

Hi Pieter
Excellent sunset with two different view. Good opportunity to be able to captured such a unique sunset. Well done.
Eric Lai

annagrace (2463) 2005-07-27 14:37

I think this is a gorgeous shot, Pieter. The light rays streaming upward are fantastic. I like the amount of water in the shot...a tiny nit is that I think the horizon is off by a degree; otherwise perfect!

Best regards,
Alli

rudra_lahiri (76) 2007-04-05 7:50

Hi Pieter,
You have captured a very rare sunset moment. A very beautiful sunset indeed!
I don't think you should crop the water more but you can do little bit cropping on the top.
Nice shot!

Rudra

MLINES (10810) 2007-11-05 18:39

Hi Pieter. Welcome to TE. This is a fine sunset. The clouds and colours in the sky are realistic and pleasant to the eye. If the opportunity arose again, maybe by having a canoeist or something else even a log in the water would be an aid to balance. It would be best offset slightly. Very good work. TFS. Murray.

samvdc (42) 2008-03-08 10:23

Waw, beautiful shot!
very artistic, the "spliting" by the suns beam is so nice!
May be to much noise in the sky due to a hign iso sensibilisation? (I'm a newbie too, so my comment is useless maybe^^)
it realy looks like 2 diferents moment of the day in one picture, i like it!

And you should not crop more water, the rule of the 2/3 , 1/3 is doing great with this one.
(2/6 sky , 1/3 water)
If you want to crticize mines, please help yourself^^

enedimd (1528) 2008-03-08 11:06

Hi Pieter,
Wonderful sunset shot with beautiful colors, deepness, sun rays, reflection of sun ray on the sea, light effects, sky view and POV. Amazing panorama. Congrats and TFS,
Emir Nedim

inan (20) 2008-05-06 11:59

very nice photograph..
to my opinion you should have let some more water. that way, your photo would have looked as if it had been parted into four. vertically halved by the sun, horizontally halved by the horizon line.
besides that, your photo deserves sincere greetings because of the brightness, sharpness and combination of the colors.
thanks for sharing,
best wishes,
Inan..

arijitj (53) 2008-08-10 7:46

Its so beautiful. Calm and quite sunset on African river. I think this is a very nice capture. A small boat facing towards sun on the right side of water would make this photo more complete. But what you can do if there was none at that time. Good Job.
Best Regards,
Arijit