Flatford, Suffolk

[DaveS]

The image is of Bridge Cottage, and the wooden bridge over the River Stour, just a little upstream from Flatford Mill, in the heart of Constable Country.

 

Taken from the Essex bank, looking across to Suffolk.

 

The River Stour, is the border between Essex and Suffolk.

 

Canon EOS7D + Sigma 18-55 f/2.8 EX

 

This was the version that was 'Saved for Web', so the Exif Data was stripped off, and I've mislaid the original.

 

Dave

 

 

[ChrisLumix]

Dave, it's a nice composition, but once again you seem to have exposed for the shadow areas? The cottage, the bridge, and the water are perfect, but the sunlit foreground is heavily over-exposed. If you were to expose for the bright areas and then 'pull up' the shadows in PP, it would make a whopping difference! Even better, if your camera has what in the Lumix is called 'Intelligent Exposure' (HDR), the camera could do some of the work for you. 

 

It's a shame really, because this is beautifully composed.

[DaveS]

I agree Chris, and I can answer why this is.

 

It was my very first outing with the newly bought EOS 7D, after selling my EOS 30D. It was a lovely evening as you can see, and me and Mrs S went down to Flatford for an evening walk.

 

The camera was set to fully automatic, and it has tried, albeit not very successfully, to capture the very bright sunlit foreground, and the darker shady area.

 

With scenes like this, I would normally expose more for the very bright area, then bring out the darker area in processing. I have yet to play with HDR, although with my astro-imaging, with objects like the great Orion Nebula, which has a very bright core area, with much dimmer outer regions, it is essential to combine long and short exposures in order to get the desired result.

 

So yes, you are absolutely correct, the foreground is over exposed.

 

Dave

[DaveS]

Here's an example of the long and short exposure combination that I referred to above.

 

The first image is exposed for the fainter stuff, and the second image shows the first image layer combined with another image, exposed just for the core area of the nebula.

 

With object like this, it is the only way to achieve the desired result.

 

Dave

[ChrisLumix]

When I used the term HDR I meant it literally ("High Dynamic Range" not the arty surreal shots that often go under that name). My camera will lighten the shadows and darken the highlights if you use what it calls "Intelligent Exposure" in high contrast shots.

 

Your nebula treatment is very effective!