Golden time
Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, at one of the riverside safari camps between Lake Kariba and the Mozambique border.Time
Early morning, just at sunrise. I was having breakfast on the verandah of the guest house.Lighting
There were few clouds in the sky and the lack of industry in the region means the air is relatively clear. The rising sun cast a warm glow on the bottoms of clouds and tinted the sky near the horizon, with the color fading to blue near the zenith.Equipment
Canon PowerShot SX 10 ISInspiration
I was impressed with the way the rising sun backlighted the far horizon, and reflected off the water of the river, but when I saw the man walking toward the river bank it just clicked into place. The way everything was reduced to basic shapes added to the stark drama of the scene.Editing
In post-processing, I enhanced the contrast and cropped for better composition, otherwise this is the result of the camera being on auto setting.In my camera bag
My go-to camera now is my Finepix S6800, with my Canon EOS Rebel T5 as backup. Occasionally, I'll throw my old Canon PowerShot SX 10 IS in just because it was my first digital SLR camera and I'm still attached to it. In addition, I lash a tripod to the outside of the bag--even though I seldom use it--and throw my filters, extra batteries, zoom lens, wide angle lens, and remote shutter release in and I'm pretty much ready for any shot that presents itself.Feedback
This is the kind of shot you can actually anticipate and plan for. Sunrises and sunsets happen every day, the key is finding a good vantage point so you have dramatic composition, and start shooting as soon as the first rays of light appear on the horizon. As in this one, when the man appeared in the viewfinder, you'll occasionally have these little serendipitous events, so just go with the flow. Again, shoot lots of frames. The more you shoot, the greater the chance you'll get that 'money' shot.
