Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Golden Hour and Blue Hour are the optimum times for us photographers. It’s been drilled into us since day one. We have apps that tell us when the sun will rise and set, and tell us in which direction. The thing is, it’s only worth knowing that information if the sunset or sunrise is going to add to our shot.
There’s a science behind beautiful sunrises and sunsets. This article aims to arm you with the key factors which make for a beautiful sky.
Silhouette images can really pack a punch! They can be very striking and have the ‘wow’ factor. But how do you take them? Follow the tips below to take your own perfect beach silhouette images!
All the images here, were taken either on the beach or on the cliff tops above the beach. The beach is a great location for silhouette photography because of the wide open sky and uncluttered background.
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There are many factors that create an impactful and pleasing to the eye image. To me, color is one of the key ingredients in creating a photograph. When we shoot in raw we have to “develop” the images ourselves, and that includes deciding on the colorwork. In fact, one of the reasons why I find photography so compelling is that it gives me room to develop an image and give it my personal interpretation.
Lightroom, Photoshop and many other editing programs come with many color enhancing tools. In this brief article, we will have a look at the color enhancing techniques I apply frequently and which can be carried out very swiftly in Lightroom. The HSL section in Lightroom may cause transition lines between colors (a.k.a. banding). This technique, however, won’t leave any harsh transition lines.
Arlington, Texas, was long in the lead when it came to being this summer’s family vacation destination. However, sometime in May we arrived at that we wanted to revisit Italy. Last time we didn’t make it to Tuscany, so there was no doubt that this would be the area to stay and explore. Some friends had recommended agroturismos, that is, wine farms. Initially I had my strong doubts about staying at a farm of some sort, but when it struck me that it was milky way season in Italy in July my misgivings somehow vanished.
After all it was a family vacation where photography would be second priority, so I wasn’t thoroughly convinced that I would get my shots. And besides I had no idea whether light pollution would put an effective stop to my milky way hopes.
Mysterious.
Curious.
Magical.
These are some of the ways to describe a silhouette. Silhouettes are different from other forms of photography in that they give you very little in terms of detail. Instead, the silhouette taps into your mind and makes you wonder what the image is all about.
There might be people, buildings, or other objects that are a part of the silhouette. It is up to you to decide what story is being told and that is part of its magic.
The purpose of this guide is to teach you the art of sunset silhouettes on the beach – my absolute favorite type of silhouette.
I believe there are two kinds of people in this world: those who claim every sunset is unique, and those who claim they’re all the same. If you belong to the second group, here’s something that isn’t a “boring” sunset you see every day. Astronomer Alexander Gerst gives you a new perspective with two photos that show what a sunset looks like from space.
When you read or hear the expression, “Photography is all about light,” you clearly understand the definition of each word; however, the true meaning from a photography perspective can be elusive. It takes time to fully grasp.
I clearly remember my first true photography experiment that accelerated my understanding of the basics of photography in regard to light.
It was a family camping trip. We had our campsite set on the beach of a small lake nestled in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal. I had plenty of time to experiment with my new Canon Digital Rebel. I set the camera on a tripod and took one picture every hour without changing the camera’s position or settings.
I took a total of 17 shots.
Back home, I transferred the photos to my computer and started analyzing them in Photoshop (Lightroom did not yet exist). I was completely astonished by the results of my seemingly simple experiment. Depending on the time of day, the location was completely unrecognizable. Any photo taken during the middle of the day looked washed out and quite boring. On the other hand, the photos taken during sunset and sunrise looked vibrant and full of energy.
This is when I realized that photography is defined by the quality of light and, contrary to common belief, that location is the secondary component of the equation.
I’ve heard many people say sunset photos are cliché and they all look the same. Therefore, I’m glad to present you with a project that makes them as unique as you can imagine. Photographer Jason D. Page has published a series named “Pyramids in the Sky”, featuring fantastic photos taken at dusk. But these images were made using camera rotation, so the final result is not what you’d expect from a sunset. It’s a series of eye-catching, abstract pyramids, painted by the Sun and the colorful sky in the sunset.
Jason has shared some details about his project with us, as well as the settings and gear he used. So if you still think sunsets are boring, here’s a fresh approach that might change your mind.
Every once in awhile I find myself somewhere where there is a large number of people watching a sunset – and where there are people watching a sunset, there are people taking photos of it.
One interesting trend that I have noticed over the years is that as soon as the sun drops below the horizon, everyone puts their cameras away.
That’s it – show’s over – good job nature, nothing more to see here.
We all love a good sunset – but the best photos can often be captured after sunset – so in this article I want to show you some before and after examples of photos taken after sunset to hopefully inspire you to keep your camera out after the sun goes down.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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