cottons sunrise
Jun, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this on the beach that I have called home for the last 36 years. It's located on the south end of the city of San Clemente, California.Time
This is a sunrise. I'm not sure of the exact time but it was early. Before I made my coffee.Lighting
Sunrises happen very fast. Unlike a sunset that might linger for 30 minutes or so, a sunrise can happen in a total of 10 minutes. The best part, when it really lights up, can last for as little as 1 minute! You have to be ready to go when it happens!Equipment
For this picture I used a Canon 7D, Canon 10-22 lens and a tripod. Shot at f5.6, 14mm (x1.5 crop), 1/10 sec at ISO 100. I wore a t-shirt, shorts and was barefoot. The ocean washed over my feet and the feet of my tripod as I shot. It was the end of October with a nice high presure system keeping the air warm. A beautiful morning to be up early.Inspiration
The atmospheric conditions for great sunrises and sunsets had been good for the past few days. The night before I had a good feeling there would be an epic sunrise the next morning. I was homeless at the time and sleeping in my van. The spot I slept at had a great view to the east of this small beach city. I could see the sunrise every morning over the mountain ridge lines. I could see it was going to be spectacular right away. I got up and headed straight to the beach. I knew the shot I wanted and exactly where I wanted to be to get it.Editing
I shoot RAW only. This might sound odd to many photographers here but I still use a 10 year old editing software for now. I 1st convert the RAW file to a tif in Canon DPP. I then put it in Lr2 and did a few adjustments. There are no adjustments done to saturation. I did use a little vibrance and clarity. I wanted this picture to have a dramatic impact so I pushed the processing a little more than I usually would. I had to use the recovery slider to save highlights in the bright orange and red areas. A little fill light and a little blacks. No noise reduction at all was used. From there the file was converted and saved to a jpg.In my camera bag
My bag is pretty basic. Canon 7D body, Canon 10-22, Canon 50 1.4, Canon 100-400, Canon 100 macro 2.8L. Canon 580ex speedlight, Sandisk cards. 8 stop variable ND filter. I usually don't carry it all at the same time. Manfrotto tripod and ballhead. I also use a SPL water/splash housing, built for my 7D, for my water shots.Feedback
You have to be ready! Sunrises happen so fast. You need to have a plan. Know where you are and where you need to be before it happens. Give yourself enough time to not be rushed. If you are going to be at the beach, bare feet are recommended for soft sand. If it's sharp or rocky some rubber sandals will help. If you might get wet or walk in water wear shorts or a swimsuit. Also, it's usually cold this early in the morning so plan accordingly. Another thing I think is important is to not push the colors in post too much. Keep it as much as what it looked like at the time. I sometimes even pull back the saturation and contrast to make sure it looks natural and not fake. Watch the highlights! Shoot RAW and don't over expose and risk losing the detail in the color/highlights. Oh and one more thing, use a tripod.
