Posted by Bruce King on December 4, 2011 at 1:30 PM
This is my first go at shooting directing into the sun. I cloned out some nasty lens flare in the fg and one along the foothills left of the sunstar. I used a 3-stop reverse grad and shot at 19mm_f22_1/20th sec_ISO 100. Although the moss on the fg rocks may seem oversharpened it's actually frost.
When I return I'll be equipped with a 4-stop solid ND as well. I think it will be enough to slow the water some. Any thoughts on how to approach this shot next time? Thanks for looking.
I like the perspective of the shot--the low angle-- and the comp in general. Extreme light, that's for sure; to me, it's a little hard on the eye. The sun is the immediate "target" for the viewer, so it's good to have the leading line of the river and the star rays around the sun.
Suggestions? Gosh, it depends on your vision for the image you want... But I'd try some shots immediately pre-sunrise to get a softer glow of light along with the long shadows and possibly some rays shooting through the gaps along the rim of the mountains. Also a thought to do a double exposure or 2-shot blend of exposures for foreground and background.
I'll be interested about what others have to say. Hope you keep going back and then show us more iterations. That'd be fun.
Posted by John Williams on December 5, 2011 at 8:51 PM
This looks like a great start Bruce; these are not easy lighting conditions to shoot! I tend to work these by doing blends. I like to shoot the star, like you did, with a small aperture, and then usually shoot the rest of the scene with an aperture that's not quite as soft (smaller than 16 is pretty soft on my lens). I also block the sun with my finger or similar to get a shot without flair to use as part of the blend.
I like the idea of slowing the water. Occasionally I like a hard stopped water shot, but usually like it a bit softer than this.
The composition is great overall, but if you could find a shift in position that lined the sun up with where the water disappears that would hit the sweet spot. (That's a minor nit, because you can tell the stream bed heads back to the sun even if the water flowing there isn't visible in the photo.) The frost is great, and I like that little clump of grass catching the light.
Discussion
2 repliesWhen I return I'll be equipped with a 4-stop solid ND as well. I think it will be enough to slow the water some. Any thoughts on how to approach this shot next time? Thanks for looking.
Suggestions? Gosh, it depends on your vision for the image you want... But I'd try some shots immediately pre-sunrise to get a softer glow of light along with the long shadows and possibly some rays shooting through the gaps along the rim of the mountains. Also a thought to do a double exposure or 2-shot blend of exposures for foreground and background.
I'll be interested about what others have to say. Hope you keep going back and then show us more iterations. That'd be fun.
I like the idea of slowing the water. Occasionally I like a hard stopped water shot, but usually like it a bit softer than this.
The composition is great overall, but if you could find a shift in position that lined the sun up with where the water disappears that would hit the sweet spot. (That's a minor nit, because you can tell the stream bed heads back to the sun even if the water flowing there isn't visible in the photo.) The frost is great, and I like that little clump of grass catching the light.