Colorful and Windy Sunset (Montreal)

I keep going back to my Fall Colors series where I feature vivid images from autumn.

It was a chilly and windy afternoon in Montreal but, like we all know, bad weather often equals excellent photo opportunities.

Long before the sunset, I was in Rene Levesque park hunting for interesting shots. Although I had a tripod with me, I decided against using it because of the extreme wind.

I am not sure that I like the composition here, but I am happy that I managed to capture such vivid and distinctive colors.

Shooting

Besides the wind, the shooting was easy and uncomplicated. I opened up the aperture and shot hand-held in single shot mode.

Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony 10-18
Focal Length: 10mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
Tripod: hand-held

Editing & Processing

It was single RAW processing workflow.

Lightroom (90%)

With the help of the Crop Overlay tool, I changed the aspect ratio from the original 3×2 to 4×3 and cropped it to make composition tighter. I also made sure the horizon was straight.

I used the Guided Upright Tool from the Transform Panel to fix Next, I used the Autumn preset from my Fall Colors Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to open up the shadows in the foreground and boost the Contrast.

The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Open Sky (10, 16, 32)

I keep having fun with the new Range Mask tool. If you missed my Range Mask tutorial, you can find it here: Lightroom Range Mask.

First, I applied the Graduated Filter with the Range Mask toolset to the Color option, targeting the blues of the images.

Next, I added another Graduated Filter with the Range Mask set to the Color option as well, but this time targeting red/orange hues of the sky.

Photoshop (10%)

First, I used the Spot Healing Brush to clean up the image and then I boost the details and reduced noise.

Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).

Total Time: 20min

The fall season offers a multitude of opportunities for capturing stunning foliage photos. By following these 12 ideas and tips, you can enhance your photography skills and capture the beauty of autumn in all its glory.

Before & After Transformation

Archiving: I save all my photos as JPEG (quality: 100%) at full resolution and with the help of the Lightroom plugin, I synchronized them with my portfolio on SmugMug for safekeeping, sharing, image hosting, and online sales.