Sunrise at Boca Chica II Photo

Photographer’s Note

My photo travelogue of Dominican Republic is almost finished. All I have left to post is a couple of photos shot during this morning. I posted before this same sunrise, which shows the other (West/right) end of this part of the beach. The silhouette that looks like a pyramid is the roof of an open-air restaurant over the sea that appears also in this post of mine and in this one of Emile.

Location (latitude, longitude): 18.44775,-69.6048

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Update 18-Jan-2008: After reading some critiques referring the colours and exposure, I thought that it was better to explain that this image is a result of blending 3 images produced with different exposure compensations of the original RAW image, a process that sometimes is called (wrongly according some authors) HDR or HDRI. The intention was getting some more detail in the shadows and less overexposure on the highlights while not hurting too much the 'perceived' contrast. That is done using layer (opacity masks) in a way that the darker parts of the final image comes mainly from the lighter version and the lighter parts from the darker version. In my first tries I used only two images, but then I discovered that using also a 'normally' exposed image (in this case, the direct conversion from RAW, without any exposure compensation) makes the process easier and generally produces better results.

I guess that the final result doesn't differ that much from what could be achieved by using some careful selective level adjustments using only one shot, but once we dominate the technique of using layers, we achieve better results with less effort when we use different images. For even better results, specially when the differences of light is very big, we can use 3 different shots, but if the scene has any moving object (it can be simply anything agitated by a breeze), the blending can get very tricky.

Only now I see now that perhaps I could have done better in the shadows.

Maybe I have overdone the saturation and abused on the red, but considering that the originals of my Olympus often tend to be slightly pale, I guess I didn't disrespect the realism that much.

denisn72, jusninasirun, parbo, bizsu, lucasgalodoido, japiey, Docarmo, robertosalguero, kiwi_explorer, Atousa, edytungkal, feather, trekks, Emile, AiresSantos, Gerrit, jwmunro, Charo, ruisc_pt, Bruno40, atus, adores, jaywalker, Seiei, riclopes, danyy, axiotea has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

denisn72 (6979) 2008-01-15 16:44

Hello Jose
The silhouette of that pyramid in front of that stunning red sky is amazing. The point of view is excellent. I really like the atmosphere. I really like the way you present it.
Well done.
Best regards
Denis!

paura (38432) 2008-01-15 16:57

José,
Essa coloração está incrível! Penso que você deve ter dado uma ajustada, não? As formas estão igualmente interessantes.

Abraço

Paulo

[2] +

jusninasirun (10205) 2008-01-15 16:58

Hello Jose,
Strange coloration of the sky well captured with the silhouette of the pyramid shaped building. The coastline and palm trees are well seen and placed for this composition.
Regards,
Jusni

parbo (10970) 2008-01-15 17:05

Hello Jose,

I'm missing the red lights on clouds most time. You wonderfully captured them at right time. Using long exposure makes extreme effect at shore. I like dark silhouettes and pyramid too.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

bizsu (1011) 2008-01-15 17:20

Hello Jose,
The pyramid is very beautiful in the sunset. The red sky suits the black shades well. Congratulate, beautiful photo.
Regards, Zsú

Scharan (13951) 2008-01-15 18:05

Olá Jose

Uma imagem fantástica...cores incrivelmente belas, meus parabéns Jose pelo lindo trabalho.
Grande abraço,
Vera

[2]

lucasgalodoido (16603) 2008-01-15 18:24

Olá José,
fantásticas as cores desse pôr-do-sol, nunca vi um assim e ainda bem que você conseguiu fotografar ele maravilhosamente! A silhueta da pirâmidade ficou ótima na foto.
Parabéns e Abraço!

Docarmo (8834) 2008-01-15 19:58

Oi José,
Outro impacto visual dos bons!
Esta cor do céu está de embasbacar qualquer um!
Vi um pôr-do-sol outro dia aqui, com uma tonalidade parecida com esta, mas estava sem minha câmera :¬{
A sua imagem é do amanhecer; menino, começar o dia com uma visão destas quase faz mal...
Parabéns!
MC

robertosalguero (110) 2008-01-15 21:09

Olá José,

The pyramid like hut look great against the bright colours of the sky. Very good composition with excellent use of the early light to create silhouettes. I have never been to this country but it does look like a beautiful place to visit. THanks Jose.

Roberto

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-01-15 22:13

Hi Jose,
I thought at first it was a pyramid. Beautiful sky wonderfully caaptured. I like the silhouette with just enough details still visible. Good lighting management here with good resulting image quality. Well composed! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

Atousa (3434) 2008-01-15 22:20

Salam Jose,
An amazing shot with lovely colours..it really looks like a pyramid..very well seen n captured.
Best regards,
AtousA

edytungkal (4519) 2008-01-15 22:25

Beautiful sunrise colours captured and of course with interesting shadow on fg, the looks like a pyramid shadow is perfectly contrast against the fantastic colours on the sky. Well done Jose, i love this shot..

daniel

UnTrained (0) 2008-01-16 0:59

Olá José,
a pyramid in the Dominican Republic, I would have expected this in Egypt, Peru or Mexico. ;-)
But good used as the silhouette subject for this colour impression from the sky. Why have you not used the tonal value in its complete range?
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

feather (49860) 2008-01-16 7:40

Certainly worth getting up for this one Jose. The colours are gorgeous along with their reflection in the sea. Even without the pyramid the silhouettes would have completed a very pretty picture, but add that into the mix and you have something unique. Well done
Kath

emilbo (9399) 2008-01-16 9:56

olà Jose!
Très belle photo de fin de soirée avec un beau ciel original et superbes couleurs. Bonne composition avec la silhouette de la piramide en plein dans le mile.
Cordiales salutations,
Emilius

japiey (9493) 2008-01-16 10:36

Hi Jose,

BEAUTIFULL SHOT..
Like a dream ...
All the best :)

jean paul

trekks (14314) 2008-01-16 21:54

Great sunrise capture, Jose, for this DR shot
.good sky colors in the clouds
.nice pyramid roof as FG draw
.great pov in this composition
.great timing to catch this moment

Nice work. TFS
bill

p/s many thanks for inclusion of my sunset shot in your theme, appreciate it.

Emile (19995) 2008-01-16 22:42

Hola Jose.
Excelente atardecer captado con magnificos colores en el cielo y un lindo reflejo en el mar, la silueta del restaurante del hotel esta estupenda y muy bien localizada. Muy buena foto. Felicitaciones.
Un fuerte abrazo.

vincz (19043) 2008-01-17 2:24

Fantastic colors. You were rewarded for waking up early! Colours in the sky are great, reflected light and textures on the sea are excellent.

AiresSantos (42156) 2008-01-17 2:43

Ola Jose
Não conheco esta Republica, mas gostava de a visitar a avaliar por esta belissima paisagem e por outras que ja vi.
Este nascer do sol está magnifico, foste à discoteca para estar acordado a esta hora ?
Cores, silhuetas e enquadramento execelentes
Um abraço Amigo
Aires

Gerrit (35733) 2008-01-17 3:13

Hi José,
Smart composition. It could be the Nile.
Regards, Gerrit

jwmunro (6583) 2008-01-17 15:48

Hello Jose -

I like this image - possibly for the same reasons that caught your attention. I like the soft pastel colors of the sunset, shapes of the clouds, combined with the interesting silhouette. The extremely dark left hand corner gives me some problem though there is little you could do. Well done!

Thank you for sharing.

John

crckt (7076) 2008-01-17 20:43

Hi Jose,
Looks like a pyramid! What amazing colors you've got here! really wonderful. Loved this shot.
Thanks for sharing.
regards,
Shaeri

Charo (31671) 2008-01-18 3:42

Hola Jose,
Bellísima toma con un cielo magníficos de colores intensos. Me gusta esa silueta nada habitual de una pirámide junto al agua. Excelente POV.
Cordialmente
Charo

Bluejeans (32335) 2008-01-18 9:21

Oi José ,
Muito bonito este pôr do sol o ceu tem uma passagem de cores fabulosa sem duvida um grande momento do dia , esta cabana aqui em primeiro plano me faz lembrar uma piramide do Egipto, bonitos os reflexos na agua , parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

ruisc_pt (6206) 2008-01-19 6:29

fabuloso tal como os outros graças ao olho "atento2 perspicaz do meu amigo
Um ab
R

Bruno40 (6440) 2008-01-19 19:42

Jose,
I think I can understand you on this. You remember that I posted also a HDR photo some time ago, and the discussion from the critiques we agreed that masking is a better option for these cases.
here you also show that the latter option is better. The HDR still shows a lot of dark areas (in my case was an oe sky).
A good effort, educative note. I also appreciate that you upload the location.
TFS
jorge

atus (15476) 2008-01-20 13:11

Hi José,
with the processing described, you obtained a nice and eye-catcher shot. The colours are really gorgeous and the silhouettes work perfectly here. I'm not sure about it, but have the impression that the picture is slightly tilted to the right. I quickly checked the other critiques and it seems that nobody mentioned it, so it is possible that I'm wrong (:D. Well done, my friend and thanks a lot for the very instructive note.
Attila

jackart (5560) 2008-01-21 13:59

Hello Jose!

Egyptian pyramid in Dominican Republic? Why not!. Very surprising shot from this place. Colors and framing are very attractive to me

Best Regards
Jacek

adores (15545) 2008-01-21 20:09

Olá José!
Olhando de repente quase me parecia o Egipto! Está excelente,gosto muito das cores e da silhueta do telhado rodeado pelas palmeiras. Acho que valeu a pena levantar cedo porque conseguiste uma foto bem bonita e um céu fantástico!

jaywalker (12190) 2008-01-22 13:41

Hi Jose, What a beautiful cluster of purples & reds to create this amazing sky, it is a lovely backdrop to the pyramid silhouette, very well composed & the light has been wonderfully managed, kind regards Wilson.

Stepan (27175) 2008-01-23 11:46

As if there were pyramids in the caraibs !? A strange shape with an impressive and stunning bloody sky. Well done.
Stéphane

pboehringer (770) 2008-01-23 14:36

Jose,
outstanding educative post with stunning colors. Anyone that does photography knows exactly that no one can get such a shot straight out of the camera as you're posting it here. Giving all the explanations in your note and the additional WS is a huge help to understand and do some own tries. The shadows are still a little bit to dark and need additional work.
Another interesting detail in this shot is the optical illusion of tilt. I looks like there is a tilt, but there isn't one. I encountered that problem in several posts at TE and was always wondering what makes this illusion. Should we do some correction, that means a true tilt to the right, to correct the illusion of the tilt to the left?
Peter

setenay (7604) 2008-01-25 11:45

Ola Jose,
very beautiful and interesting panorama,impressive red cloudy sky.Firsty I though that Egypt Pyramid but I became different the sea and then I read your note.Congratulations.Thanks for our sharing.
Greetins an have a nice weekend
setenay

Seiei (424) 2008-01-25 18:32

Hi Jose

Seems to be a pyramid in santo domingo ! I love really this contrast between those nice colors. Seems to be very quiet.

Regards, Christophe

batalay (20948) 2008-01-26 15:34

Olá dear José,

First, I like this image, the silhouette of the pyramid in the brilliant red background of he sun. I like much better than the lighter or darker version. I think, that you could have lightened the dark areas selectively by asking yourself, "How would the eye itself make out this area." In a post almost a year ago, Santa Maria della Salute, that had been my question to myself. I believe, John Maenhout suggested making the dark areas even lighter. It is true that the eye detects light ranges very much more varied at the same time than does the camera.

Warm regards,
Bulent

ahmetgedikli (21913) 2008-02-01 14:39

Ola Jose,
What beautiful view with amazing colors and light... Great POV... Well done.
Have a nice weekend.
Ahmet

riclopes (33003) 2008-02-08 3:02

Mistura de 3 imagens, José? Fico sempre espantado com o teu trabalho de imagem e ainda por cima vais dizendo que não és muito técnico ;-) Olhando para a mais escura dá a ideia que de facto abusaste um pouco nas cores, mas a verdade é que ficou uma imagem bastante atractiva. É um pôr-do-sol e não tem pessoas - à partida não escolheria esta imagem para criticar, mas gosto muito daquela silhueta triangular que me remete para o universo Egípcio. Para mim aquilo é uma pirâmide e não o restaurante que já tem aparecido por aí... ;-) E diga-se o que se disser, as pinturas de um pôr-do-sol no céu são sempre incríveis.
Um abraço,
ricardo

danyy (68802) 2008-02-08 14:26

Bonjour Jose,
des lumières vraiment fantastiques et je ne parle même pas des couleurs qui sont si surprenantes.
Des pays où le ciel peut être des fois si ami, et des fois qi dangereux.
Excellent ouvrage.
Regards.
Daniel.

axiotea (16111) 2008-02-14 21:44

Salut José
Superbe effet pyramidal ;) J'aime beaucoup les couleurs du ciel qui se se marient bien entre elles et leur réflection dans cette eau calme. Une bonne profondeur ainsi qu'un bon cadrage.
A+
Marilyn

Cutajar (285) 2008-02-20 5:55