South Mountain Sunset
Jun, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken on the National Trail on South Mountain in Phoenix Arizona. This beautiful trail I have been hiking since I was young so I always take every opportunity to get out there and capture the beautiful sunsets. This is one of my favorite spots right after the looping point.Time
Probably one of my favorite images captured from South Mountain to date. We got going around 4pm and did our normal weekly hike but headed up getting delayed as we came across some desert tortoises and a baby rattle snake that day that slowed up down. Right after we begin looping back we did a little off trail exploring finding this beautiful spot right before the peak off the sunset. We all got out cameras ready and waiting for the sky to erupt into color. This photo was taken in the summer of 2015 around 7:15 pm.Lighting
Whenever you are shooting sunsets there is always a peak moment but the moments leading up and after can be just as fruitful. There is still a lot of color in the sky and as soon as the sun gets low in the horizon you can play around with different settings bringing the shutter down to a few seconds for really cool effects. This photo was taken out of a time lapse I shot to show the peak of the sunset.Equipment
This was shot with a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition attached to my Sandmarc Pole.Inspiration
This has been one of my favorite hikes since my childhood and I remember being younger always wanting to capture the beauty of the trail but never could. Still as a young adult I do this hike every Monday when I am in town and always love to capture the different views, sunsets and my hikes.Editing
Usually there is a lot of post processing for any GoPro image. I shoot in pro-tune which basically adds no color so you can change it later to fit your vision. It is like shooting in Neutral in any DSLR. This photo I just boosted the colors to match what it looked like in person pulled down some highlights open the shadows a bit and then lens corrected/sharpened the image.In my camera bag
Depending on where I am going my gear varies. I am very into carrying the bare minimum gear to capture the look you want. Usually I always have my Canon T3i w/ 10 - 18mm lens, 18 -55mm lens with an attached battery pack. Then I carry my GoPro w/extended battery attached to my Sandmarc Gear Pole which I use to take photos and a tripod for the GoPro. I then will always carry a cleaning cloth, spray and a Joby Travel Tripod that works for everything.Feedback
The biggest advice I have is to get creative with every shoot. I have been doing this hike for every week for years but I still pull images that are from the same spot and people ask me where they both were taken. Use your perspective of how you see the world to play with different angles. Make sure you look up what time sunset is and get into your spot about 20 minutes early and prepare to stay 45 minutes after to lay with different lighting.
