Sunrise Photography
Okay, it's a cool autumn morning, the alarm has gone off and its still pitch black outside. That's right you remember you have a sunrise shoot planned but it would be oh so easy to just roll over and go back to sleep.
I'll be honest. I've done that a few times. But, on those times when I've dragged myself out of bed and headed for my planned sunrise spot, the rewards have been well worth the effort.
Pre-dawn, sunrise and early morning are wonderful times to be behind the lens. I particularly coastal foreshores for sunrise but wherever you are, once you're up, its greatly rewarding.
Camera settings are easy too. If you are near the ocean play with your shutter speed to get the water just right. Bracket you photos and think about blending later in post-processing to improve the dynamic range of your final image.
A reverse graduated filter can be handy too when you have a nice flat horizon. These filter have a clear lower half, a dark band in the middle fading to the top. The dark band is designed to run along the horizon as the sun rises, reducing the exposure to that area whilst the graduated section going upwards gradually allows more light to reach the sensor higher up the sky.
If you re a Sony shooter you've got some additional tools available in your App menu. You'll have to purchase and install first but the new Digital Filter is amazing. It allows you to emulate any Graduated Filter (including Reverse Grad) in camera and produces a final RAW image with the adjusted exposures blended perfectly. Give it a try. It's awesome!
Of course, if you don't have filters available you can always apply later in Lightroom or Camera Raw. The dynamic range available to us in modern digital cameras is such that adding a filter in post-processing won't result in any discernible loss of image quality.
So the bottom line.
Don't roll over :-)
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