Earth Day Sunrise Photo
Earth Day – Landscape Photography Magazine
April 22, 2016
Landscape Photography Magazine put out a ‘Day in the Life’ type call for images with people from around the world to capture a sunrise image wherever they happen to be. I found myself bummed. I was traveling and had a flight scheduled to head to New Hampshire to speak and judge at their convention during the sunrise time.
Not much chance of catching a sunrise photo from inside the airport.
Bummer!
Instead of giving in to the inevitable, I tried to think outside the proverbial box. I found that the sunrise was during my waiting time for the flight. After checking in through TSA, I found an east facing set of windows and to my surprise was blessed with a beautiful set of clouds and the sun working its way up to the horizon spreading color through the scene. I framed a scene and waited for a bit of action to help tell more of the story.
The density range of the scene called for multiple-exposures to capture the bright sunlight and the shadow areas of the scene. I was using the Lumix FZ1000 and set the camera to capture a bracketed set for five stops of light. I then had the option of blending the images together for the proper rendering of the scene that was before me.
Here is the sequence of images captured before processing
I chose four of the images and processed them in Aurora HDR software for MAC. I am really enjoying the new HDR software from MacPhun. There are a plethora of settings that allow you to dial in the settings necessary to render the scene as you wish. I prefer to have complete control and try to create a more natural rendition of the scene.
Final Image – submitted for the dawn capture
There were some additional adjustments made to take out the reflections in the glass and add a slight vignette to help steer the eye toward the center of the image and keep the viewers eye from leaving the photo.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – When you think there no chance of capturing the photo you are after… don’t give up!
