earth, water and sky
A gorgeous sunrise over Riviera Nayarit, with wave motion courtesy of a short "long exposure". Action and beauty rolled into one. Viva Mexico!
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A gorgeous sunrise over Riviera Nayarit, with wave motion courtesy of a short "long exposure". Action and beauty rolled into one. Viva Mexico!
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Nov, 2016Views
2769
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Awards
Summer 2020
Contest Finalist in Show The Beach Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 28 Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Genius
Virtuoso
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
On the beaches of Riviera Nayarit, Nuevo Vallarta, MXTime
My favorite time of day, when most of the region still sleeps and the place belongs to me, blue hour at dawn.Lighting
This is a unique location in the sense that a sunrise and a sunset can be captured over the water from the same spot. In Autumn, the sun rises over the mountains to the east about 45º to the beach, bathing the clouds with its morning colors. This particular morning had nice clouds and a touch of haze that worked well together to provide a great canvas to work with.Equipment
For this shot, I kept it simple. A Canon 5DMKII mounted on a Manfrotto 190CXPro3 tripod, a Lee Foundation filter holder loaded on a Canon EF 17-40 f/4L with a Lee 0.9 soft GND, all triggered with a Satechi remote intervalometer. Out of all the tripods, I like the 190 pod for water based shots. Not only is it light, but the CF handles water better than any aluminum pod. When I shoot in water, my gear also goes in the water........Inspiration
Nuevo Vallarta is our annual vacation destination and I have come to learn a lot about the lighting here at all times of day. There is a beach, a bird sanctuary, a marina, tropical landscaping, architecture and people, tourists and locals, all around. A photographers smorgasbord. Street, landscape, macro, IR, portrait, whatever one desires to shoot. As a Dawn Patroller, sunrise is my favorite subject. My inspiration comes from the clouds reflecting the sun and a strong foreground element. As a resident of the Chesapeake Bay area, I also prefer to shoot a water element, as the water also reflects the magical dawn colors. This shot was taken after spending about an hour walking the beach scouting for a foreground element. I wanted to convey water movement, so I played around with various shutter speeds and ND filters until I found the combination that I liked. Even though I used a 17-40, I still used the 'manual zoom' method after settling on the 20mm focal length to get composition that I wanted. After all of this, it was just waiting for right set of waves to capture. I believe I took 20 different exposures to get this movement on the surf.Editing
Sunrise/sunset always benefits from some PP, even after the care that one takes in getting it right in camera. For the post on this, I first tweaked the contrast and exposure balance in LR5. Once exported into PS, I created several luminosity layers to balance the foreground to the background. Then, with the aid of NIK Viveza, I worked on the warmth and structure of the image while trying to keep the whitecaps as neutral as possible.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.Feedback
Planning ahead and knowing the area is probably the single most important advice. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and sunrise times. Sunrises and sunsets provide but a small window of opportunity, so you need to use that window wisely. Get on location well before the sunrise and bring a flashlight. If you have an opportunity to scout the location ahead of time, then even better. Scout for your foreground element. Then frame a few exposures to see if this is indeed what you had in mind. With enough time, you can always find a better FG element without having to rush. For cloud and water movement, invest in several high quality ND filters and holders, a very good tripod and a remote shutter release (wireless is best) I carry 7 filters with me at all times. When using filters, you will need to decide which part of the photograph that you want to show movement in, sky or surf. For sky, use a darker ND filter, for surf, a lighter filter, or just stopping down to f/18 or more, if the light is right. And most of all, don't be afraid to get wet. By getting into the action, you will get the framing that snapshooters will miss. If you are a more adventurous type, like myself, I would highly recommend insuring your gear.
