Ian Cambourne
April 2026 - Pastel Sunset
Original
About the Image(s)
While on a short break away we enjoyed five nights on a houseboat on the Murray River, which is the longest river in Australia and acts as the border between our states of New South Wales and Victoria. One evening provided us with a very pleasant sunset with soft pastel colours. Details are: Nikon D810; Nikon 85mm lens; ISO 100; F8; 1/100 and hand held. Processed in LR and PS with sharpening and noise reduction applied in Topaz Photo.
7 comments posted
Ian - You've captured a magnificent sky, soft and gentle. Your title "Pastel Sunset" tells us the sky is the subject, and no question that it's truly lovely-soft color transitions, gentle tonality, very calming. But the problem is the rest of the frame doesn't support the mood you're trying to create. The trees are dark and somewhat chaotic in shape, so instead of complementing the softness, they interrupt it. (As an aside, vertical lines are the most powerful eye-grabbing lines in photography, which is why telephone poles kill so many images) and here they become visual anchors that pull the eye and hold it there, away from the very thing the title tells us to appreciate. You do some really good stuff and in a case like this you might want to focus on simplicity, where whatever is not the sky, supports the sky - I hope that makes sense to you Posted: 04/01/2026 19:39:07
Thanks for your thoughts and comments Butch. You and I differ greatly in our photographic philosophies and that's a good thing, because we are all different and our craft is extremely subjective. For me, the title of any photograph is secondary, just words that are really unimportant, when the image itself is what it's all about. What captured my attention in this moment and caused me to lift my camera, was in fact the trees. Quite dead, growing out of the water, with their days numbered before they succumbed to the water and gravity. Next to them, living grass, and behind them living trees (and yes, a couple of distracting items as well) but that was the scene as we passed by. It's curious to note that this has printed up very well indeed and everyone I show it to love the dead trees. As I said, we are all different and that is a good thing. No-one is right and no-one is wrong. Posted: 04/06/2026 09:23:53
Agree to disagree - great attitude and I always enjoy our interactions and do appreciate and understand the comments Posted: 04/06/2026 13:41:24
Ian - I enjoy looking at your image and for me the dead trees are a plus, you did good in going from the original to this version - just enough water and tree shadows to make it interesting. Might be useful to knock down the intensity of two white objects some more or clone them out as distracting since I want to know what they are. Ray Posted: 04/08/2026 00:40:19
Ian, the sky is the focal point for me and the pastel colors are great. If this were my image and my preferences, I would crop more of the water as it's not real interesting and pulls my eye down. I would then reduce shadows on the green trees in the background to add more interest as well as look into brightening the "dead" trees in the foreground, again for interest. Once my eye has seen the sky, I don't have anywhere else for my eye to explore. Posted: 04/15/2026 18:46:41
I love the sky, and it is clearly the focus of the image, I also think the dead trees offer a nice counter point to the landscape. Showing that the landscapes are not static and beauty rests alongside the not so beautiful. Part of that is my focus on nature and there is nothing more unappealing as a newly hatched chick , yet I take them and post them....why - because for every beauty there is a before and after.
I do agree that I would eliminate the white in the background....it doesn't add anything to the image (I suspect it is other houseboats). If you it is to remind you that you were on a houseboat ... that's fine as a memory photo..but it distract from the intent of title. I also would lighten up the live trees to accentuate they are vibrant and flourishing as a backdrop to the "skeletons" that you see in the water. In FL we call the dead trees snags since they serve the purpose of perches for birds looking for food or drying off wings!
Posted: 04/15/2026 19:29:07
I do agree that I would eliminate the white in the background....it doesn't add anything to the image (I suspect it is other houseboats). If you it is to remind you that you were on a houseboat ... that's fine as a memory photo..but it distract from the intent of title. I also would lighten up the live trees to accentuate they are vibrant and flourishing as a backdrop to the "skeletons" that you see in the water. In FL we call the dead trees snags since they serve the purpose of perches for birds looking for food or drying off wings!
Posted: 04/15/2026 19:29:07
I love the colors and believe that the increased exposure of the trees was a great call. I think the height of the trees increasing from left to right makes this a great and interesting work.
In the background are some boats (I believe). They don't distract, but I'm curious if there's any way to lean into them even more? I find they add to the story. Posted: 04/17/2026 14:51:19
In the background are some boats (I believe). They don't distract, but I'm curious if there's any way to lean into them even more? I find they add to the story. Posted: 04/17/2026 14:51:19