Sunrise from a new perspective

Sunrise taken from the window of a plane. Ive been playing around with Adobe Lightroom a fair bit recently and there are some very nice tools available in the newer versions. Ive always kept away from making adjustments to selective parts of a picture, and opted for the "this is how it was shot" approach. I know a lot of photographers do it on a daily basis, sometimes you can see the end result was worth it because the image has a lot of impact but at the same time its got a very artifical look to it. At some point in time you stop being a photographer and start becoming an artist. I think I'm going to stick with being a photographer and if some parts of my image are too dark or the light just wasnt there, well sorry. Thats the way it was when I shot it. (This photo also hasnt been modified apart from levels and hue/sat) I'd like to hear What other people's thoughts are on this.

Camera: NIKON D300 (NIKON CORPORATION)

Focal Length: 116 mm

Exposure: 1/125 sec

Aperture: f/5.6

ISO: 200

First off, great shot given the circumstances - airplane windows are often so sketchy in terms of clarity that getting a clean image like this is quite challenging.

As far as 'pure' photography versus being 'artistic', this may well be the great unanswered question of the field - I suppose it all comes down to individual aims. Personally, I try for the most accurate image in terms of source material but much like analog darkroom work, there's always some degree of post-processing taking place in order to satisfy one's original visualization of the scene in question.
Turfdigger @ 08-Jan-2010 23:17:46
A beautiful, but perplexing view. Still a little disoriented.
Shawn Bierman @ 10-Jan-2010 04:51:57
Very nice image Chris. It's good to see any alternative sunset shot. When flying, I often wish I could stop the pane, get out and wonder through the clouds with my camera and tripod for a while!

Regards your question, it's a bit like debating the existence of God - a good debate to have but one that will polarize opinion and one that has no logical conclusion! I'm with Chromasia on this one. I mostly shoot things that I have some kind of emotional response to. I want to convey that emotional response and my experience of the scene to the viewer. For me, the best filter in the photographer's kit is his/her own perception.

That said, I maintain respect and admiration for those, such as yourself, who take a more pure approach. It's very easy to fall back on post processing to add pizzazz to a humdrum shot. Without that crutch, you have to work harder to make the shot in camera. Looking through your shots, you clearly don't need said crutch!

This is the first time I've visited your photoblog and I'll definitely be returning.

One techy thing...If you type in your comments box, click out and then click back in, it deletes everything you've typed. I lost my comment twice before realising! It may not be an issue for short comments but for people like me who suffer from verbal diarrhea, it's a little annoying. Or perhaps it's to stop people like me? ;)
Adrian Park @ 10-Jan-2010 11:27:52
Gorgeous! I just can't see how you can get such a sharp picture through an aircraft window...maybe they just have nicer windows in first class Chris ;-)
Rich @ 15-Jan-2010 17:06:32
Really nice exposure
Hanif @ 16-Jan-2010 14:03:05
rock on bro! amazing skies!
faisal @ 05-Feb-2010 21:03:23
Beautiful shot Chris and an interesting debate. I see your point but I think post processing does not make you less of a photographer. It can be a mistake to assume the camera will give you the most accurate reproduction without any help. I find when it comes to sunsets cameras never capture all the colours I see. In my opinion Photoshop is a way of putting the missing colours back in the image. When you view a sunset on a computer it only has a fraction of the colours in the original scene so we are all artists giving a representation of what we saw.
Benz @ 07-Feb-2010 22:39:44