sunrise – CanonBlogger

What Moves You?

July 8, 2010 Jason2 Comments

The question of what moves us as photographers is one that everyone eventually questions at some point. Whether this comes early in your pursuit or later…at some point everyone considers where their real passion for a particular artistic genre exists. Whether that art form is painting, sculpting, musical, or photographic in nature, the question is one that will always persist. I’ve asked this question before in an essay simply titled “Why?”, and there have looked to answer the question from an esoteric perspective. (Feel free to read the essay yourself from the PDF article here.)

However, today it’s more of a motivational question. What motivates you to shoot – and what are your real reasons for pursuing any of the arts? For my own photography, the roots lie in scuba diving. You see about 20 years ago, I became a Certified PADI diver. I took to it quite easily, and ever since have been enthralled with scuba diving. So much so that I considered taking the advanced certifications, which required two specializations. One was a no-brainer, the other was underwater navigation! You can imagine what the no-brainer was…

Having seen so many wonderful scenes from artists, showing stunning beaches, the underwater marine life, from sharks to whales, dolphins and fish all along coral reefs, the world of scuba diving and beaches have always drawn me. Part and parcel with that passion has also been one for sunsets and sunrises. And since we can all appreciate a sunrise or sunset scene from the beaches of the world, I’m sharing today some of my own personal favorites. Yes, these are retouched to a degree, but I’ve tried to stay true to the scene as I remember it.

While some day I eventually hope I am able to afford the housings to go back underwater with all this gear I’ve accumulated, but for the time being, I’ll have to survive with these above-water scenes. Enjoy, and if you’ve got your own favorites, feel free to share those here as well through your own links. Happy shooting!

The value of a sunset (or sunrise)…

January 14, 2010 Jason5 Comments

We all see them every day – the sun rises and the sun sets. Most of the time, it’s nothing too spectacular, perhaps some pretty colors are cast with various hues of orange and blue, or red and purple hazes…it’s all well and good. We may even see some spectacular ones…a crimson or scarlett red, or fire-y orange ones. They may also have an added impact if they are reflected in a lake, the ocean, or dramatized by their surroundings – palm trees, mountains, boats, or whatever happens to be there.

The spectacular ones are typically the ones we see in print, on calendars, and in magazines. Yet every day, we find our eyes gazing toward that first and last light…knowing that we could see something magical. Does this make the ones with more vibrant colors more magical? The ones with fewer colors less magical? Perhaps, but consider this – we are always looking for it. Consider this project: take a picture of the sunrise and/or sunset every day for a week, month, or even a few months. Take it from the same spot every day. Find yourself some nice vantage point with some nice accents to the main subject (that being the sunset). Then, after your specified time period is up, peruse the results and see how many “great” sunsets (or sunrises) you saw.

It could be a fun project not only to help you gauge when the sky will be well suited to sunrises and sunsets, but also to exercise some discipline in taking the same shot from the same vantage point, if only to understand when conditions are ideal. This could be termed “scouting” in a sense, because you’ve found a nice place, set things up, planned, and then you just wait for the right light. So many photographers talk about the light, and we hear terms bandied about like “seeing the light”, or “painting with light”. I’ve heard a few mention the idea of “waiting for the right light”, and it mostly has come from landscape photographers. This is what they do…they take the same scene over and over and over.

With practice, they can anticipate when the conditions will be favorable. Their sense are more attuned to things like clouds, weather, and distractions. Rather than relying on luck and serendipity, they plan, research, and study the scene for long periods of time before they find “the right light”. Sure, you can manufacture it, and we’ve all seen the wonder shots in the galleries of others – but if you think about the time and energy that goes into capturing that perfect sunrise or sunset, imagine all the “almost” shots, and the time and energy that went into them, I would suspect that many landscape photographers would say there is value in every sunrise or sunset. Because, even if they didn’t get the light just right in their location, someone – somewhere – when the sun set, nailed it perfectly!

Have you captured your perfect sunrise or sunset yet? Was it planned or by accident? Sound off in the comments and let me know if you think there is still value in sunrises and sunsets. If you’ve got a shot you would like to share, feel free to post that via the upload link too (also in the comments). Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Oh yeah, did anyone in Colorado see the sunset today? 🙂 Nothing spectacular to write home about, but it was kind of cool colors, and worthy of showing here to indicate that just because it’s not a portfolio shot, sunset shots (in my mind) have value! What do you think?

P.S. Don’t forget, the January Flickr Giveaway is in progress…submit your photos for a chance to win a free copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks at HDR Soft.

The Boneyard and the Backstory

January 13, 2009 Jason9 Comments

I realize that photos should stand on their own merit without any back story, but in this case I am making an exception.

This island is called Bull Island, and is most well known for the dead tree trunks on the eastern shore that died from the assault of the Atlantic Ocean. Bleached white by the sun, salt, and sand, the beach area is called the boneyard because they look like bones.

I was organizing a trip to this island off the coast of SC which is only accessible by boat…so to the east of the island is the ocean and to the west is the mainland. We had gone once before during a regularly scheduled transport (10am), so knew the next time we would have to get them to make a special trip if we wanted any light.

Based on our estimated departure time and arrival on the west side of the island (you can’t dock at the ocean side), I suggested to all that they rent bikes in case we cut it close on sunrise…

So, we set off (already 20 minutes behind schedule due to one member tardy – total of 10 of us) in a skiff, because only one of us ended up bringing a bike. About halfway out to the island, the expert tour guide cuts the motor and stops in the murky light and stands up as if to get his bearings. We’re all cold, wrapped in jackets, with probably about $10 grand of gear (not to mention our lives) in this guys hands and he gets lost!

So, he finally gets his bearings, sits back down muttering something like “Sorry, never been out this early before – too dark.” So this has never been done before? Uh oh…
But, we arrive at the west side of the island without any major additional concerns…except light is rapidly gaining on us

As we dock, I realize I have a decision to make – do I stick with the group and probably lose any chance of catching sunrise on the east? Or do I mount my bike and take off like a bat outta hell? Given that this apparently had never been done before (and to my knowledge has not been done since) – this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. So, I take the latter and bail on the group.

I make it to the edge of the wooded paths, and have to ditch the bike (no riding on the beach), and start jogging through the heavy sand to reach the shore. As I pull into view of the ocean, I see the sun is already crested. Then, I see where the sun is, and realize it will cross between two “bones” as it rises. So, I set up the tripod to frame that and snap off probably 5-10 different comps before the sun gets too high.

About twenty minutes later the rest of the group shows up and asks “Did you make it in time?” I smiled…

So, does the story help the image? What about others? Anyone else have any compelling images they have some backstory for? Share yours in the comments! In the meantime, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow with a multimedia filled Wednesday! Until then, I hope all your shots are good ones!