Sunset on Oahu
Sunset on the north tip of the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Sunset on the north tip of the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii.
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Nov, 2015Views
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Awards
Lucky 3 Award
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Genius
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. It is actually one of the first sunset photos I had ever taken with a DSLR.Time
The emotion behind this image still excites me every time I see it! I took this photo at sunset, but it started so much earlier than that. I woke up around 4:30am that morning with butterflies in my stomach. I had been planning to propose to my girlfriend for months, and after much organizing, it finally happened. That day was bliss, and as the evening neared we decided to celebrate by watching the sunset from our favorite beach. The evening was warm with a cool breeze from the East. The sand was soft, and the waves crashed gently against the shore; and much to my delight, lighting was gorgeous. Suddenly, in that moment, just as the sun had almost disappeared below the cloudy horizon, my fiancée jumped to her feet and began to dance! I quickly fumbled through my backpack and grabbed my camera, and just as the sun disappeared I captured this photo. This photo was taken on August 12, 2015 at 6:04pm.Lighting
The evening sunlight at the time I captured this image was pretty perfect. It wasn't too harsh, but it provided enough enough contrast to really bring out the details on the edges of the clouds and the waves. I also decided to leave the shadowed areas of the scene dark. I really liked how my fiancée's silhouette stood out from the sunset, and I felt like when I brought up the details of her face, she began to blend in to the background too much.Equipment
This image was captured with a Canon 70d, and a Rokinon 14mm F2.8 lens. I didn't use any other equipment.Inspiration
It was purely the emotion of the moment that inspired me to reach for my camera. I was not planning on taking any photos that evening so that I wouldn't be distracted from time with my fiancée, but seeing her dancing with the sunset in the background was just too hard to resist photographing!Editing
Under normal circumstances, I would set up a tripod and take either 3 or 5 bracketed exposures, and then blend them together to make sure I captured all of the details in the highlights and shadows. For this photo, however, I only had one image to work with, and therefore only made minor lighting and color saturation adjustments. For me this photo was more about replicating what I saw instead of creating the perfect scene.In my camera bag
My go to camera bag kit is fairly minimalistic, but all of my equipment is well used and loved. My set up starts with a Canon 6d and an almost always attached Canon 17-35mm f2.8. I generally use it in the 35mm range, but since I do so much landscape photography, the wider focal range comes in really handy. Next I have a 70-200mm f4 L lens from Canon, which I use for cropping in more on landscapes, and getting a nice compressed look on objects that are spaced a little too far from each other. And lastly I have my Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, which I kind of just use for portraits and getting a shallower depth of field effect. The other piece of kit that I never leave home without, is my LEE filters Neutral Density kit. I use these accessories in almost every landscape photo I take.Feedback
In all honesty, it is pretty hard to take a bad photo in Hawaii, but my biggest piece of advice would be: Always be prepared, and always expect the unexpected. That might seem like the cliche thing to say, but in all actuality, the deciding factor between whether you get the shot or not ultimately comes down to being prepared.
