3 suns
McKee Beshers. Mosquito capital of Maryland. Hot, humid, and sometimes worth the trip. Sunset, sunflare, sunflowers, the 3 Suns. ...
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McKee Beshers. Mosquito capital of Maryland. Hot, humid, and sometimes worth the trip. Sunset, sunflare, sunflowers, the 3 Suns.
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Sep, 2016Views
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Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 32
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at McKee-Beshers in Poolesville, Maryland over a two day time frame. This is one of the two best known areas in Maryland for sunflowers.Time
What would you think if I said both sunrise and sunset? Would you believe me? Even if you don't, this really was taken at both times of the day. One was Saturday evening and the other, Sunday morning.Lighting
The sunset was not overly spectacular. A wasted trip for the most part. However, I was not going to leave without a sunset over the field, no matter what. The clouds were minimal, not very ideal for a sunset, so I decided to overexpose the shot by 2 stops to get a decent sunflare and some good foreground detail. Of course, that meant that the sky was blown. I took a second shot exposed to the sky and blended the 2 images. The blend was still not great, so I went back the following morning to shoot a sunrise. I blended one of my sunrise shots with my sunset shot and created this composite image.Equipment
Canon 5DMKII and a EF 17-40 f/4L with a SinghRay Daryl Benson RGND, all mounted on a Manfrotto 190CX-Pro, triggered with a remote release.Inspiration
Sunflowers in summer, a classic combination. Massive sunflower field, a bonus. I have wanted to shoot a nice sunset with some well lit sunflowers as a foreground anchor, or was it a sunflower field with a sunset anchor? Either way, it had to be done. I still want to get that "shot", but this will suffice for now.Editing
Oh yes, I did! Three pictures, three exposures, all combined (two sunset shots from the same day and a sunrise shot the following day), and then some additional clouds blended in. A lot of dodging and burning, multiple black and white layers as luminosity masks, and then some color tweaks in Nik Viveza until I got a product that I liked.In my camera bag
Normally the following; Canon 5DMKII, Canon 7D and occasionally a Life Pixel modified T1i. Canon 17-40 f/4L or 24-70 f2.8L, 70-200 f/2.8L ISII, Canon 50mm f/1.4 Lee Filter system, Lee GND filters, SinghRay RGND Yongnou wireless triggers Wrigleys Cobalt gum. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on what I want to shoot. On this day, it was just the MKII with the 17-40 f/4L and the 7D with a EF400 f/5.6L, plus my trusty filters.Feedback
Timing is everything. And if your timing is off, then some creative thinking and blending can do the trick. However, I would suggest the timing first. Studying the weather forecast is a must, and a little luck. I planned this shoot based on a mostly cloudy forecast that turned out to be mostly sunny afterall. Good weather or not, when shooting into the sun, a gradient ND filter is a must. A reverse gradient filter is even better. SinghRay, IMHO, makes the best, followed by HiTech. A reverse gradient has the darkest band in the middle of the filter, and then gradually lightens towards the top. The area below the band is clear, allowing for a well exposed foreground. Not an under-exposed silhouette. This allows you to shoot into the sun with much more control and a well balanced image. A tripod is also a must, with a remote trigger. If you don't have a remote trigger, then a delayed shutter can also work.
