Continuing on from the previous post, where I featured my black and white film work from the same morning, tonight I’d like to share my digital work from twilight and sunrise. There was no better feeling after being on the road for 3-4 hot, relatively unproductive summer days, than rolling out of the tent at 4 am and seeing beautiful pastels and textures already forming in the sky. These images are in time order so you can see how the morning transpired.
This first image is probably my personal favorite of the year (so far, still a long way to go). It was a 200 second exposure using my Lee Big Stopper, and I just love how the blues and the blacks melt together smoothly in the foreground along with the dash of orange in the sky. Extra bonus is the bird on the rock who kindly sat motionless for over 3 minutes.
I also like the second image but the composition is not as strong for me as the first. The rock on the right side is the same as the rock on the left in the previous image and I do like the extra color in the sky.
Got quite a nice sunburst here in image three. To get that effect put the sun partially behind an object like a horizon line, a mountain, a rock, or in this case a cloud, and shoot at a smaller aperture (f11, f16).
I ventured out into the water a bit for this image, it was one that I really wanted to try. Same kind of sunburst effect as in the previous picture adds a lot to the overall drama of the scene.
The sky was a 10/10 all morning but was getting particularly colorful and photogenic around this time. Imagine this same shot with a Korean traditional white/gray sky, it just wouldn’t work as well. Patience is a big part of landscape photography; you are not going to get something every time you go out.
Perhaps a bit too much foreground in this image but I think the leading line in the foreground and the waterline work well together to draw you in to the rest of the image. I tried a 16×9 crop but ended up liking the original more. Again, the sky was just out of control, loved it.
Similar subjects as previous images but a little different angle and distance.
Ah this one, I had always wanted to make a picture like this and finally everything came together on this morning. The bonus was the black pebble foreground which really adds a lot of texture and interest.
Similar composition as before but now the sun went behind the clouds which was an excellent opportunity for a 30 second long exposure.
Same idea here but the sun peeked out for the last 3-4 seconds adding a nice little highlight on the water.
What a fine morning for seascapes it was! I was happy to come away with such a diverse set of images on what is really about a 100 foot wide strip of beach line. I hope you enjoyed them, leave a comment below if you have anything to add, have a question, or just want to say hi. I will be back soon with something very different for you guys, so stay tuned. Have a nice day!
Map of the Area
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