lancek

Let There be Light

The sun sets in the Russian River Valley in early Spring.

The sun sets in the Russian River Valley in early Spring.
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May, 2015

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Awards

Zenith Award

Top Shot Award 22

Creative Winter Award

Curator's Selection

Legendary Award

Member Selection Award

Staff Winter Selection 2015

Absolute Masterpiece

+17

Superb Composition

+16

Outstanding Creativity

+15

Top Choice

All Star

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 20 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at the southern end of the Russian River Valley area of Sonoma County's wine country, between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa in California.

Time

This was taken on March 28th in early spring, just before sunset.

Lighting

I knew it was very risky to shoot directly into the sun, but if it turned out I knew it would be exceptional. I used the branches of the tree to moderate the intensity of the sunlight, and I counted on the moisture in the air to bring out the color of the sky and background, and to reduce lens flare.

Equipment

This was made with a Nikon D800e and a 70-200mm f2.8 lens. I used a Gitzo tripod with a Kirk ballhead and a cable release.

Inspiration

This is a location that I have photographed many times before, but the lighting is usually harsh and hazy. When I saw the western sky taking on a colorful warm glow this day, I decided to linger in this spot. I am a big fan of oak trees. I knew this picture would either be exceptional or bomb since I was shooting directly into the sun. I like backlit scenes and rim light, so I take a chance now and then when I see opportunities like this.

Editing

This is a single RAW exposure that was processed in Lightroom and Photoshop. I do the initial editing in Lightroom with some minor adjustments and finish in Photoshop with curve adjustments, highlights and shadows, and sharpening. In this image I brought up the warmth and saturation a little bit as well, a little goes a long way. The day after I uploaded this image, the fusion drive in my iMac had a catastrophic failure and also erased the backup drive at the same time (Apple later recalled this drive, but too late for me). Since I swap backup drives every couple of months, most of my files were easily restored, but I had to use disk recovery software to recover this image as well as a few hundred other files from the 17 day window of when I last swapped backup drives. Making this image a very well-earned one.

In my camera bag

I have a backpack camera bag by Think Tank that has two Nikon D800e bodies, one with a 24-70 2.8 lens and the other with a 70-200 2.8 lens (which reduces the need for lens swapping). I also have a 50mm 1.4 and a 300mm f2.8 (a monster lens with its own carrying case) and a 1.4 teleconverter for when I really want to zoom in. I have a Gitzo Series 3 carbon fiber tripod with a Kirk ballhead and a Nikon cable release. Even though I am a landscape photographer, I make most of my images with the 70-200 lens. I only bring the 300mm lens when I am pretty sure I am going to zoom in close to something (like the moon or wildlife).

Feedback

If you are going to shoot directly into the sun, there are several things you can do to reduce lens flare and have a useable image. One is to use objects (like branches or leaves) to reduce the intensity of the sunlight. Another is to wait for particularly humid skies or clouds to soften the intensity of the sunlight and to "hold color", white skies are usually not that interesting. You also want to avoid really high f-stops. This image was at f8 which was pushing things a bit, but I wanted all the oaks to be in pretty good focus. I use a cable release and I use a lens hood and my hand to block the light on part of the lens (when possible) to reduce flare, while trying to avoid getting my hand in the picture. It's difficult, but the results can be worth it. This is actually my personal favorite of all the pictures I took in 2015.

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lancek

lancek

Let There be Light

The sun sets in the Russian River Valley in early Spring.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow lancek

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