Breaking Through New
Sunlight breaking through clouds on the Dragon Mountains in South Africa
Sunlight breaking through clouds on the Dragon Mountains in South Africa
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Jun, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the Drakensberg (Dragon Mountains) in South Africa.Time
We spent a short vacation in the mountains towards the end of 2015. This was the view from the house we rented in the mountains for this time. We were actually busy packing up to go home when the sun broke through the clouds after a morning thunder shower and lit up the mountain. I had to unpack my gear and took this shot.Lighting
The morning started out gloomy but at some stage the thundershower stopped and the clouds broke open to let through this wonderful display of light. The road is nice and shiny from the rain and the mountain and rocks are dark from the wet.Equipment
This was shot using a Canon 6D with a Tamron 15-30mm wide angle lens on a tripod.Inspiration
We were busy packing and most of my equipment and luggage was already in the car. I went back into the house we were renting for the holiday and saw this magnificent picture of the sun breaking through the clouds. I went back, got my gear and took this image. To be clear it was actually a bracketed shot of 5 images.Editing
In an original attempt to create this image I used Aurora HRD to merge the 5 images taken of this scene. I slightly enhances the sun rays as well as the road in Lightroom. After some thought and deliberation I redid the image from scratch using the method to combine multiple exposures in Photoshop for amazing Landscapes. It is amazing how much more control you have using this method. Like anything there are pros and cons. This method is much more complicated, takes more time and you have to be careful not to create noise in your images, but reviewing the results and the difference between the images it was worth it.In my camera bag
Canon 6D Canon 24-105 f4 Lens Canon 50mm F1.8 Tamron 15-30mm F2.8 Wide Angle lens for Landscapes Tamron 150-600mm zoom for WildlifeFeedback
Timing is important - If you see this effect somewhere, and it is possible to stop and take the image you should do it. I always try to get a few bracketed images in these situations with strong backlight. Sometimes I don't need all of them, but if you need them and don't have it it is terrible.I've setup one of my "Custom Setups" on my Canon to be 5 bracketed shots at -2, -1, 0, +1 and +2 with the Iso to 100. This way it it easy to take these shots without having to fiddle too much when these opportunities arise. Just make sure you have the correct Aperture and Shutter Speed and you are ready to go. In post I normally use Aurora HDR for these type of shots. It is an excellent tool and gives great results. This shot specifically was processed combining the multiple exposures using Photoshop. This give a bit more control but takes more effort.
