The Ripple Effect
Aug, 2014Views
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Contest Finalist in Unedited Photo Contest
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Superb Composition
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Top Class Lighting
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken over Old Tampa Bay from the St. Pete side, facing Tampa proper.Time
I leave for work every day before dawn and I make a 45 minute drive to work, crossing the Bay on the Howard Frankland Bridge. If I have my act together, I can stop on 4th street north and pull over into one of the many breaks in the mangroves and take sunrise photos. This image was the product of one of those days that the timing worked out well. It was taken about 6:45am, just before the sun broke over the horizon.Lighting
As I make my morning commute, I always have an eye on the sky. I've learned that high altitude cloud cover catches the pink of sunrise best, so I'm always looking for that. But this morning had more than just that; there was an extremely dense and well-formed cloud hovering low over the water. It was such a still morning that the cloud was nearly static, and the 8 mile span of the bridge essentially drove right past it. When I took this photo, its silhouette against the morning pink really struck me as unique.Equipment
Due to the hurry I was in to catch the color of the sky, only my camera and lens were involved in this shoot - a Nikon D3200 and Sigma 18-250mm, respectively.Inspiration
As is so often the case, this image in its final form was an experiment on my behalf. I have a number of shots without the ripple which were nice enough, but lacked concept. The morning was so still, the water was so flat, the sky was amazing... but something else was needed. Lacking a foreground subject, I experimented a few times with tossing a clump of mud in the water to create that ripple, that extra little pop to the image. It worked, and I'm very happy with the result.Editing
This photo was cropped, but no processing otherwise. I took it a number of times with different white balances in-camera and chose the shot with the best color.In my camera bag
The usual suspects - Nikon D3200, Sigma 18-250mm lens, Vello extension tubes, remote, tripod, Nikkor 35mm prime, a flashlight, extra batteries, memory cards... and bug spray.Feedback
It's cliche, but you do always have to be ready. You have to put yourself in a position to succeed. The timing of the sunrise is the main point here - without it, this image doesn't exist. And the ripple was a spontaneous idea on my behalf. There's no substitute for creativity. Don't be afraid to try something that might take your image up a notch. If you don't like the result, nothing's lost.
