DSC_0020
Mar, 2017Views
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suezyg2345
April 27, 2017
Great shot! Reminds me of VanGogh Starry Night. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Welcome to ViewBug.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken off my back porch in the Mojave desert just below the Sierra-Nevada mountains.Time
I took this in the late afternoon after a long day of work. I noticed the sun dogs in the clouds as I was driving home and knew I had to try and get a good picture.Lighting
Getting the sun dogs clearly while the sun is staring right at you is clearly challenging. I had to carefully adjust the aperture and light sensitivity, balancing them with the right shutter speed to get the colors of the light refraction in the clouds without washing out the whole photo.Equipment
All I used was a Nikon D3400 with a 18-55mm lens set on a tripod. I used the built-in LCD screen to adjust the frame without burning my eyes.Inspiration
Sun dogs are pretty rare out in a desert, especially ones of that size, so I wanted to preserve an image of them.Editing
I try not to do too much post processing, I get tired of seeing other people's oversaturated high-contrast photos, especially when the outdoors are involved. I generally only do enough to bring out the natural colors and details if I couldn't get the lighting right in the initial shots.In my camera bag
Most of my captures are up in the wilderness areas of the Sierra-Nevadas, so I try to keep it light. All I bring is my camera body and a couple lenses that allow me to capture both close and long range shots as needed.Feedback
I would say try to stay aware of what's happening around you. There's always something going on; the sun hitting a mountain ridge just right, clouds generating just the right conditions and lighting, or even a person or animal posing in a peculiar way in front of an interesting background. All these variables can make for some amazing shots, but are also fleeting, so you have to keep your situational awareness.
