scott_bancroft

Island Sunset

Another beautiful sunset on Groote Eylandt, a remote island off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory. The wet season provides crisp clear evening skies. ...
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Another beautiful sunset on Groote Eylandt, a remote island off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory. The wet season provides crisp clear evening skies.
Read less

Canon EOS 700D

settings

Aperture f/22 ISO 100 Shutter 15/1 Focal Length 18/1

upload_date

Jan, 2016

Views

106

Likes

Awards

Zenith Award

Fall Award 2020

Outstanding Creativity

+16

Superb Composition

+10

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on Groote Eylandt (pronounced "island") in the Gulf of Carpentaria; It is the largest island in the Gulf and is part of North Australia. I spent 9 months on the remote island as a pilot, and during the evenings I would teach myself photography to allow me to capture my travels throughout remote Australia.

Time

After a long day flying around the remote islands and mainland in the Northern Territory, I took the camera out to my usual spot and started practicing silhouetting. This photo was taken just after sunset around 6:45pm toward the end of 2015.

Lighting

The mellow sunset tones made for an amazing background for the palm trees. This shot points directly west, so I had to wait till the sun had fully set to avoid the harsh direct sunlight. With the dark sky to the east it made the shot easy as the palm tree area facing me was already dark.

Equipment

This was shot on a Canon 700D with a kit 18-55mm lens. and a very basic $20 tripod.

Inspiration

Spending time out remote gives you a lot of time for reflection, as well as time to learn new things. I took the time I wasn't flying to learn photography. I had always envisaged this shot from the first day I arrived on the island. After reading a few articles I decided to take the step and try create the image I had in my mind. This shot didn't come easy, it took a few days to try get the right lighting and weather. The weather in the Gulf of Carpentaria can be unpredictable, you either have clear skies or skies filled with thunderstorms and pouring rain.

Editing

This photo was taken when I first started taking photos. I didn't have a laptop or any computer to process photos, but I had my iPad with the Lightroom app. The post processing was very basic with adjustments to exposure, sharpness and vibrance. Looking back on my early photos I can't believe how far I have come with shooting and processing. I can't believe I didn't even straighten the horizon!

In my camera bag

My equipment bag has vastly improved and changes constantly. With my regular flying schedule as a pilot I need to keep my bag as light as possible. These days I will keep my Canon 700D with a 10-22mm EF-S attached at the top of the bag, with my 50mm F/1.4 in one of the slots. In the other slots and pouches I keep my Joby Gorilla Pod, Var. ND filter, GoPro Hero 6 (w/ mounts and accessories), laptop (MacBook Pro 15") and if it is a long trip away from home I will pack my Wacom Intuous Pro tablet.

Feedback

Looking back on this photo I can definitely say the first thing to do for landscapes whether HDR, silhouetting or taking it on your phone is to straighten your horizon. A straight horizon will make a photo look 20 times better. As I only had an iPad with Lightroom on it, I had to get the shot as perfect as possible in camera. I found for me to get the silhouette as dark as possible I had to use a very small aperture F/22. The small aperture resulted in a longer shutter speed at ISO100. this worked fine for this day as the wind was near calm. But with stronger winds it may be easier to shoot multiple photos and create a composite or to use a faster shutter speed with a slightly larger aperture (around F/11-F16) or a higher ISO. A sturdy tripod also is a must if shooting long exposure in windy conditions, the slightest breeze can shake the camera set up enough to prevent crisp images. Shoot in RAW! I shot this as a JPEG because I couldn't edit RAW on my iPad at the time, but raw allows so much freedom in post to get the exact colours and tones you are looking for to make your image go from great to excellent. It is definitely a step every photographer needs to take. Once you are comfortable editing in raw, you will never go back to JPEG.

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scott_bancroft

scott_bancroft

Island Sunset

Another beautiful sunset on Groote Eylandt, a remote island off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory. The wet season provides crisp clear evening skies. ... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow scott_bancroft

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Another beautiful sunset on Groote Eylandt, a remote island off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory. The wet season provides crisp clear evening skies. ...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.