Wired Sunset

Have I mentioned that I hate power lines? Yes, I have, here. Well, I’m saying it again. Power lines screw up more photographs than any other single element I know of (other than the photographer, of course). Even in rural areas (or perhaps especially in rural areas) it’s extremely difficult to avoid them. If I had more time and skill perhaps I would put more effort into Photoshopping them out, but it seems like cheating somehow. Probably my journalism background showing again.

In any case, here’s another rare case where I just threw up my hands and decided to maximize a detested subject rather than try to avoid it. It was either make them work in the shot or lose the opportunity to capture a brilliant sunset. I’m not decided on how successful I managed to integrate the wires, but here it is.

Any novice can tell I bumped up the color effects considerably, and I am fully prepared to be told that I overdid it. I wanted grossly dramatic highlights on the clouds. I got that effect, but I also got an occasional hard line between the orange and blue.

10 thoughts on “Wired Sunset”

Tuxedo Sophisticated Cat on March 6, 2012 at 9:24 am said:

I’m with you . . . I hate power lines. And I will admit that on occasion, I have removed them from the photo in Photoshop if there weren’t too many.

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- AJBopp on March 6, 2012 at 8:35 pm said:
  
  I’ve got a couple of shots that I keep telling myself I’m going to take the trouble to edit out the lines, but I haven’t bothered quite yet. Someday :)
  
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mdphotographers on March 6, 2012 at 2:17 pm said:

Yep I am joining the party. Back in December 3 of my friends took a trip into a historic town in MD only to find out that we wasted roughly 2 hours. Every single photo we took had power lines somewhere in the photos. I don’t yet have the skill to shop them out.

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- AJBopp on March 6, 2012 at 8:36 pm said:
  
  It does feel like a waste of effort sometimes. It can be hard to shop them out but there’s plenty of tutorials you find on Google and actually, with a little practice, it’s not that hard. I’d just rather be behind the camera than the keyboard :)
  
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Bella Remy Photography on March 6, 2012 at 7:55 pm said:

What a very nice watermark and I actually like the color bump that you added to this shot. Historic town in MD..Humm…wonder where you were? We have had some pretty sunsets this week here.

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- AJBopp on March 6, 2012 at 8:39 pm said:
  
  Thanks! It is really growing on me. I like it more than the swoopy one, but I am still tweaking it a bit. Sharp-eyed readers will be able to see some minor modifications to it in the coming few days. I am glad you like the coloring I did. I like it the more I look at it, but I do wish I’d had the chance to get a better foreground. Not just the power lines, but the junky trailer and all…just kinda spoils the mood.
  
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Michele on March 7, 2012 at 7:10 am said:

Perhaps it will be reassuring to hear that I did not notice the power lines until I read your words. So they do not stick out horribly. The first thing I noticed was the bright orange of the sunset contrasting with the darkness of the foreground.

Thanks for visiting my blog yesterday.

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- AJBopp on March 7, 2012 at 7:25 pm said:
  
  That is indeed awesome to hear! You have a wonderful blog and I highly recommend it!
  
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Sheila T Illustrated on March 9, 2012 at 10:26 pm said:

I’m hating on wires and power lines as well, AJ. Really like the new watermark.

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