AnaW

Dramatic sunset

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

settings

Aperture f/22 ISO 50 Shutter 4/10 Focal Length 16/1

upload_date

Sep, 2015

Views

2261

Likes

+330

Awards

Lucky 3 Award

Featured

Contest Finalist in Sunrises vs Sunsets Photo Contest

Peer Award

+89

Superb Composition

+36

Absolute Masterpiece

+35

Top Choice

+27

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

All Star

Magnificent Capture

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 3

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Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

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Top 10 rank week 1

WOW!

Congratulations ! Spectacular image. Favorite !!

Congratulations on your Contest Finalist win in Sunrises vs Sunsets Photo Contest!

I am in love with this! Incredible way to kick off the year for me, thanks so much! Brought my spirit right back up! :)

Thank you :)

See all

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Behind The Lens

Location

This is the famous and very photographed tree at lake Wanaka, New Zealand. It was my first time at this location and now I can completely understand why it is so loved by photographers from all over the world. Natural beauty of surroundings, amazing light, always changing clouds, stunning mountains bring magic to any photograph all year around.

Time

This picture was taken during the sunset hour, that usually adds golden tones to the scene. I have been shooting at this location during sunrise also and it is equally beautiful with pink and purple colours.

Lighting

John Berger couldn't have said it better: “What makes photography a strange invention, is that its primary raw materials are light and time”. When I photograph I always look for the light and its interaction with the landscape, what objects get illuminated, what colours it adds to water reflections, etc. I usually have a vision of what I want to achieve with the image, shutter speed, iso and aperture settings play key role in the process. Experimenting with the settings gives you limitless options to explore your creativity and add something unique to the scene. Clouds are a great natural filter for the sunlight and often can be used to add a lot of mood to the scene. For this image I was very lucky to have fine textured clouds above the lake and sunset bounced of them creating beautiful light. Also I need to mention that weather was stormy on that cold winter afternoon creating a lot of waves. I took advantage of that using 0"4 shutter speed to capture water movement on the foreground, keeping it soft at the same time. Another trick that I used - is low sensitivity of light (iso 50) and f22 to create some dramatic contrast of lighting to my image

Equipment

This image was taken with Canon 5D Mark III and 16-35mm Canon lens. Tripod is essential for this type of photography. I used Manfrotto befree - a carbon fiber tripod. Remote shutter is a great tool to use for landscape photography, it helps to reduce any camera shakes and helps to create sharp pictures. I need to make a special mention about use of filters. As a landscape photographer I believe that image needs to be produced mainly in the camera, which sometimes is a difficult task due to different lighting challenges of the natural environment. Filters often come as a great help to balance light or add an effect to the picture. One of my favorite filters, also used to create this picture is 0.9 ND graduated filter (Hard grad Lee in this case) applied to the sky, to help balance the sunlight and keep texture in the clouds. If clouds and sky are overexposed, often there is no way to recover them in post processing. Another filter I used here is Mahogany 1 grad. filter (Lee). Mahogany 1 is a graduated filter with slightly purple tint. I wanted to use this filter on the sky to create more contrast between colour of the clouds and sky behind them. I think it complimented the scene beautifully.

Inspiration

I have seen many photos of Wanaka tree, often with very similar composition and light. And although a classic Wanaka tree landscape is beautiful, I wanted to create something different and very unique to proof that even a well photographed location can be seen in a completely different perspective with the creative use of filters and camera settings. This image received a bronze award on 2015 Epson Pano Awards and judges made a special mention about creativity level, helping to produce a very unique image from a very well-known photo location.

Editing

I have done a very mild post-processing to the image in Photoshop Lightroom, mainly adjusting white balance, removing vignetting from the filters and adding more definition to the mountains and water on the foreground. Sharpening water added even more movement to the waves, that gives an impression that it is almost live on the picture. Needless to say that I always shoot RAW to get more information captured by the camera.

In my camera bag

I have different equipment in my bag depending on the purpose of the photoshoot. If it is for the wedding photography, I use a couple of 5D Mark IIIs, 70-200mm II Canon lens and 24-70mm II Canon lens. Couple of Canon speedlights. I find that this kit is great and will cover all photo scenarios of the wedding day. My landscape photography bag is very different. I have recently moved to medium format and shoot predominantly with Pentax 645Z and Pentax 35mm lens, occasionally using Pentax 90mm macro lens. Medium format camera has incredible dynamic range so important for landscape photography and also ability to recover even very dark shadows. I also love the level of detail captured by its big sensor, that is absolutely mind blowing for astrophotography. The level of detail and definition that I got in the Milky Way shot on my recent trip to Tasmania is just astonishing. To support my Pentax 645Z I use Sirui carbon fiber waterproof tripod, that is light and steady for heavy duty cameras like medium format. I also use Novoflex Slim Pano head, that gives me the ability to create panoramic shots that I stitch in Photoshop Lightroom CC. Pano head is a great tool to create well leveled image without any distortion that you often get with wide angle lens, not to mention high definition that image would have comparing to a one frame shot. I always carry a great variety of filters. After years of using Lee filters, I have recently moved to NISI filters that offer incredible quality, nano coating, ultra low colour cast, IR coating, water proof to name just a few. I am using 100mm Aluminium Filter Holder Foundation Kit with filter holder, 0.9 soft grad ND filter, 0.9 reverse soft grad ND filter, Polarizer, 6 stop and 10 stop filters. Square filter system gives a lot of flexibility especially when you need to use graduated filter or few filters together (I often use 0.9 soft grad with 6 stop ND). I have been recently named an official NISI ambassador and couldn't be more proud to be associated with their incredible product.

Feedback

“A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera” Dorothea Lange. Be creative, let your imagination fly. Purpose of landscape photography is to make the viewer feel the environment. Almost physically. As if he was present at the scene. Pay attention to little details around, interesting angles, light, reflections, compositions. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, learn and experiment. Creative use of camera settings will make your photography very artistic and interesting. In the times where internet is flooded with millions of pictures, you face an incredible challenge to make viewer stop and feel captivated by your image. Ability to see extraordinary in ordinary is an incredible gift, that you can share with everyone through your photography work. I absolutely love Nature and our planet, its beauty gives me infinite inspiration. I fall in love with it every minute and I believe it reflects on my photography.

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AnaW

Dramatic sunset

Behind The Lens

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