mstoner18
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this picture from my hotel balcony at Virginia Beach. My wife and I vacation there often and I make sure that I get up before sunrise at least a couple mornings during our stay so that I can get some sunrise shots.Time
I got this shot around 6:30 in the morning on a warm August day. One of my favorite subjects to photograph is a beautiful sunrise. I am sure to get up early enough to get my coffee and my wife and I just sit on the balcony and enjoy our coffee and the beauty of the start of a new day.Lighting
This photo was taken several years ago and at that time I was just a point and shoot kind of guy. So I didn't know much, nor really cared much, about lighting. I just tried to capture the natural aspect of what my eyes were seeing. I rarely use a flash even today. I try to use as much natural lighting as I can.Equipment
This picture was taken with a Fujifilm Finepix point and shoot camera. That is all I had at the time. I didn't even have a tripod then. This picture is one of my favorites. I would have loved to have my DSLR and tripod at the time.Inspiration
The shipping lane in the Virginia Beach area is just a few miles off shore. With this shot I saw the ship coming from the South. I was trying to capture the ship just it entered into the sun's reflection off of the water. I was fortunate that it all came together pretty well that morning with the clouds, the sun and the ship.Editing
I didn't do anything with this picture. It is exactly as it came out of the camera.In my camera bag
Up until my son bought me my Nikon D3200 for my birthday last August, I only carried the point and shoot camera. Heck I didn't even carry a bag. Now my bag holds my D3200 camera body, Nikkor 18-105 mm VR lense (which has become my favorite), Sigma DG 70-300 mm macro lense, an assortment of filter that I really don't use much yet, spare memory cards, spare battery and charger. I also carry a can of air and plenty of lense cloths. And finally, I still carry my Fujifilm Finepix point and shoot camera. Just in case I want to do some underwater shots.Feedback
The main thing here is to be sure you get up early enough to grab your coffee and get set up and ready. Take lots of shots. The beauty of taking sunrise photos is that the sky, the light and the colors change very quickly. don't get stuck in taking shots at the very same direction and focal distance. Change it up often. Be ready to change your settings as the sunrises and the lighting changes.