Last year went on a cruise with my family and a bud of mine. The first evening as we set sail, the sky lit up into one of the most amazing skies I've gotten the blessing to see. But of course on the front of a cruise ship, there's not really any foreground element, so I just shot the sky over the distant city. What are ya'lls thoughts, when the lights great, but no real foreground or even background element, do you shoot anyway even if it's just a sky?
Hi Jeremy, there's certainly nothing wrong with photographing a beautiful sunset even if you don't have an interesting foreground. The reflection in the water itself can be used as a "foreground" of sorts. I think a vertical might have worked really well here, with the line created by the reflection of the setting sun in the water leading the eye to the colorful sky above.
Thanks for the input Ian. You mean something like this? I went back and tried a 4x3 ratio crop.
I always try to work with the shapes in the scene, so if I'm not out of line offering a suggested crop, here is another way to approach this. This composition focuses more on the strong red line in the sky coming from the upper left to the middle right where the sun is going down, and also the line formed by the reflection (the composition would work better if the reflection line was stronger. I think this tighter framing emphasizes the most interesting shapes and colors, making it a stronger presentation. But, it's just my two cents worth :)
Yeah I appreciate it, the sky definitely looks a lot better that way. I do wish the scene had some better options for a foreground, but that's ok.