frankstaigliii
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Behind The Lens
Location
At the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone at Yellowstone National Park. I was on the West rim looking East. It was during an eight day visit to Yellowstone National Park. It was an amazing trip as I was able to forgot about the normal daily grind and immerse myself in the raw, natural beauty that Yellowstone is known for. This is one of my favorite images from that incredible trip. Every time I look at it, it is like I am back sitting on the side of the canyon in awe at the natural wonder.Time
It was around 8:30 to 9 am in the morning in early September.Lighting
I love the way that the filtered sunlight back-lit the trees causing a silhouette. At the same time, you get the magnificent coloration of the morning sunlight through the fog, which obscures your view of the far canyon and lets your imagination take over for what the other side might look like. The soft, filter light magnified all of the crevices and shadowing that helps to make this shot exceptional.Equipment
I almost always use a tripod with my natural and landscape shots. It allows me to use much longer exposure times. I shoot this with my Nikon D5000 with my Nikkor 18-55 lens without a flash.Inspiration
I was was one of the few people out that morning. At the point when I took this shot, I had been there for around two and a half hours. I just love being the first or second person out in the natural environment. It was so quiet and calm. I was able to let myself just be absorbed in my surroundings and let this shot come to me! There was some fog moving in and out of the canyon. It was just the perfect timing when it lifted with the heat from the morning sun and I was able to capture that magic moment! Moments like this are very spiritual and special to me. I really enjoying just hanging out in natural and waiting with anticipation of whatever is presented to me.Editing
I do not perform a lot. I do exclusively shot in Raw and use Lightroom for my post processing and to convert to JPEGs. If it takes me longer than few minutes, it is not a good photo and I typically delete them. I don't have the time to take hours on a shot to make it perfect! Nor do I want to. I try to do as much as possible in the camera with the perfect exposure for my vision of the scene before me. I do a little sharpening, contrast and minor color saturation changes.In my camera bag
I always pack either my Nikon D5000 or D5200 camera body. They allow me to take great photos and are both easy for me to use. My typical lens is my 18-55, 1:3.5-5.6G lens. I also carry Nikon 70-300, Nikon 80-400, and my Sigma Wide Angle lens. I love my neutral density filters to increase my exposure times as well as my polarizing filter. My best and most used piece of equipment is the tripod. It has made such a huge difference in the quality of my photography.Feedback
Get up early, and stay out late! Be patient and you will be rewarded. I am a firm believer that you can take great photos twenty-four hours a day once you learn a few simple techniques!