Originally Posted by MauiGirl (Post 4348757)

Oh, and one of my fav all time sunsets when I was walking on the beach, it looked like the island of Lanai was on fire.

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie (Post 4348758)

Yeah, that's spectacular. I was amazed on my recent trip to see most people not paying any attention to the magnificent sunsets! They were just driving by or chatting or going about their business. My jaw would drop and I'd have to stop and look.

I guess it's sorta like people here getting used to moose walking around town. After a while, they're just part of the scenery.

Originally Posted by MauiGirl (Post 4348760)

I was actually walking away from the beach toward my car when I noticed that one, and I just had to go back and take a few photos with my little camera. We get particularly great sunsets in the fall, and I think that may have been a result of some vog in the air from volcano on Big Island.

I stop and notice every single sunset myself; a gift not to be missed.

Originally Posted by MauiGirl (Post 4348757)

Oh, and one of my fav all time sunsets when I was walking on the beach, it looked like the island of Lanai was on fire.

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom (Post 4348846)

I'm sorry, *when* were you saying you wanted me to visit? :p

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom (Post 4348846)

I'm sorry, *when* were you saying you wanted me to visit? :p

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie (Post 4351391)

Hey! Talk about stealing someone's thread! I was working MauiGirl! You find your own Hawaiian! ;P

Originally Posted by MauiGirl (Post 4348687)

I love sunset photos, and I'm going to have to get one with a doggie or two in it. But for now here's a few from my back yard:

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie (Post 4348101)

Do you guys have any examples of where the background makes the picture? Post them!

I'm posting this on "Photography Talk" in hopes of sparking some discussion on what makes this picture work.

I took it yesterday on our daily walk -- nothing planned. I happened to see the sunset at its peak and I happened to see a mound of snow that I could set Eddie on, so I started snapping away. The only thing I planned was to carry my camera.

What I found interesting is I got a ton of Facebook likes -- maybe more than any picture or video I've ever posted. My question: Why?

If you toss out the sunset, I've taken better pictures of Eddie before. He's just standing there expressionless. So I figured the sunset is really what makes it. But if that's the case, would I have gotten the same number of likes if I'd just taken a picture of the sunset? No! It wasn't that special, and there are houses and telephone lines in there too.

I'm convinced that a big reason the photo got so many likes is because I used fill flash to make Eddie stand out in the relative darkness. It was sort of an afterthought. Most of the pictures I took used no flash -- I generally don't like flash because it removes natural shadows and makes pictures look phony.

But in this case, Eddie's face was too dark and muddy in the first pictures I took. I decided to turn on the flash so his face would pop out. I honestly think that's why this picture got so many likes.

What I find interesting is that the background and the technique made the picture -- not necessarily the subject.

Got any cool backgrounds that made your pictures better? Post them here!

Originally Posted by MauiGirl (Post 4352348)

Great sunsets continue, but my photography skills and my furry models still need a lot of practice. I need Eddie to teach them how to pose:D

Originally Posted by Marhcarter (Post 4351394)

Great pics! I love that very first one. You are a very talented photographer. I was looking at your albums. What kind of dog is Rusty? I have never been able to figure that out. Dang, I just saw on your info page that he was a lab. He just looks so big!