Setting Sun

Taking a photo of a sunset isn't just a question of pointing the camera and clicking the shutter. It takes careful planning. You set the camera up on the tripod and get it framed and zoomed just right. Yet set the shutter speed and aperture to what should be the perfect exposure. You check and recheck everything. You make sure you didn't miscalculate just where the sun will set in your frame. Then you wait for that perfect moment when the sun peeks out from under the clouds (unless there aren't any clouds of course). And wait. Wait a little more, then clickclickclickclickclick for the very best shot with the rays shining at their brightest, the clouds rimmed with golden light (unless there aren't any clouds of course), and the round ball of the sun touching the mountains (unless you're on the prairies of course) just right. Then you have your sunset shot.

Well actually it is usually just see a nice sunset and grab the shot. In this case I did all that planning and was happy with the result. 

 Taken with the 70-300G at 300mm f22 3 exposures put together in Nik HDR Efex Pro 2

Light In The Dark

I went to a viewpoint on Cypress Mountain the other evening to try some timelapse of the sunset. Well the angle was wrong so I looked over the city and tried a wide shot with the city turning from day to night. I think it may be rather bland. Oh well, live and learn. I will just have to go back. Maybe this evening! In the meantime I tried a little HDR and came up with this panorama. 

 I used the 24-70 2.8 at 70mm 3 exposures 1 sec, 1/4 sec, and the third is unrecorded all at f 5. Colour balanced and cropped. 

Digital Light

This post is about 2 photos I took with my Walkabout camera. I was pondering if I would want to post them. On their own I didn't think I would. All of the sudden the idea of combining them came to me. Working with photos on the computer is an aspect of digital photography I've come to enjoy. I'm often learning as I go when I do something. As a result I'm probably often attaining results with methods professionals might shake their heads at. Oh well. It's fun.

 Although this all started on the other blog I made this on the desk top so I felt it belonged here.