Lookout Mountain
We went up to Lookout Mountain, Colorado for the sunset and I captured this shot of Jace and the mountains during sunset....
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We went up to Lookout Mountain, Colorado for the sunset and I captured this shot of Jace and the mountains during sunset.
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Apr, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at one of our favorite vantage points at Lookout Mountain in Colorado. We are avid hikers so we are always looking for new places to explore and new locations to capture.Time
Lookout Mountain is one of our favorite places to go watch and capture the sunset. We have frequented this spot because on one side you can see off into the mountains towards the continental divide and on the other you get a great view of downtown Denver. This particular shot was is one of my favorites from this location. This was shot at 6:57pm on April 24th, 2016.Lighting
I almost always try to avoid shooting in the middle of the day. I prefer shooting early in the morning just before or as the sun is rising and just before and as the sun sets. I really enjoy the wide range of colors and intensity you get from the lighting as time progresses. This shot I wanted to capture the colors from the sun setting behind the mountain range as they filled the sky and illuminated Jace (our Husky). The softer light in the mornings and at night are always something I search for when capturing photos of Jace.Equipment
I used my Canon T5i with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. No other equipment was used for this photo.Inspiration
Since we got Jace he has been a huge inspiration for me to pursue photography more. We started taking him on hikes when he was 4 months old and I instantly fell in love with taking photos of him on our adventures. This particular shot I wanted to capture the sunset with him sitting in the foreground. His red coat and the warm light from the sun played off each other perfectly to balance the colors.Editing
I almost always do a bit of post-processing for my shots. I captured this shot pretty dark and then planned to lighten it up in post process to preserve the color and light in the sky. I adjusted the exposure, my tone curve, and saturation a bit for this. My goal is to always recreate the scene I captured in both mood and view. This was a warmer night so I adjusted the temperature a little to reflect that as well.In my camera bag
Any time I consider having my camera with me I make sure I have my 18-55mm 3.5 and my 75-300mm 4 zoom lens. I usually use the 18-55mm when shooting landscapes and portraits of Jace. The 75-300mm lens is more for wildlife photography but I do tend to use it a fair bit when capturing shots of Jace while we are out camping or hiking and he is off leash. Most of the time I've also got a GoPro Hero4Silver and a 3 way arm attachment for it. Sometimes I've got a fetch harness as well for attaching the GoPro to Jace. I don't always carry a tripod so when I find myself in need of one I tend to use the 3way arm as a balance or I use my bag as a makeshift tripod to place my camera on. You can always find rocks or something to place a camera on in times of need.Feedback
Colorado is an amazing place for sunrise and sunsets; with so many places to hiking and camp views like this are not hard to come by. I always try to make sure I'm set up and ready to go well before the colors start to change so I can take advantage of as much lighting and color change as possible. When capturing shots like this try to make sure you shoot a little dark so you can recover some of the light and color in post. If you shoot too light you'll miss out on a lot of the coloration you'll see in person. When shooting with a subject make sure you've got them lit well enough, especially if they are being backlit such as in this photo. If you're not careful you'll end up with a silhouette (which isn't always a bad thing) and you'll miss out on some of the detail you may want to include in your photo.
