Scene from Brunel's railway

[ChrisLumix]

Considering this was a quick grab, contre-jour through a grubby train window, I was quite pleased with it. Quite unintentionally, I seem to have got an image that's kind of like a vintage postcard.

 

But oh dear! That horribly over-exposed orb at the top. There is nothing I can do to crop it out without completely ruining the composition. So what can I do?

 

1. Leave it 'as is'? The problem is that the eye is drawn straight to it,, and it's merciless.

 

2. Clone it out? I'm not sure I could even do that, and would it leave the rest of it looking unnatural?

 

3. Reduce it in size? That wouldn't be so difficult but it would still be there as a focal point, the eye would still snap to it.

 

4. Find another image somewhere, where the sun is a manageable shape, size, and exposure, and 'drop it in'? That would be dishonest, but might improve the image.

 

5. Convert the whole scene from sunlight to moonlight? I'd need a lot of help to do that! 

 

Help and advice sorely needed - all suggestions welcome, even if I don't act on them.

 

 

 

 

 

[bugmeister]

Crop the top half of the orb Maybe just to the top of the hill on the right.

 

That way you won't have such a big blob of white, you'll also move the horizon off the centre line (and you have the opportunity to straighten it as well)

 

I'd pretty much leave the rest of it as it is. The train window, even the muckiness, gives the reason to be there and allows the viewer to put their own story to the picture.

 

It's not ever going to be a masterpiece, but as a 'story' picture it could work for me.

[ChrisLumix]

Crop the top half of the orb Maybe just to the top of the hill on the right.

 

Done 

 

That way you won't have such a big blob of white, you'll also move the horizon off the centre line (and you have the opportunity to straighten it as well)

 

No - the horizon not being straight is part of the story - "through a train window"

 

I'd pretty much leave the rest of it as it is. The train window, even the muckiness, gives the reason to be there and allows the viewer to put their own story to the picture.

 

It's not ever going to be a masterpiece, but as a 'story' picture it could work for me.

 

Yes, it was always going to be a 'story' picture, a piece of reportage (sort of). After all, anyone could go to the beach there and get a 'scenic' shot. The railway going so close to the coastline is the real story, the great achievement of Brunel.

 

I added some extra motion blur to the railings in the foreground, stretched the whole picture horizontally, and reduced some of the dark shadow on the extreme right.

 

Better?

[bugmeister]

Quite a subtle difference but the slight mistiness from the motion blur adds to the sense of a story, or even a dream. Like it

[Creativesnaps]

I like it as it is but maybe crop a little off the bottom.  If you apply an unsharp mask of 20, 65, 2 in that order (tweak it a little for taste) it will lift the haze a little.

[NannyFerret]

I like the full one and the one with the cropped sun.