nickeykolev

Sunset over the lake

This time, it was not only the mosquitos that enjoyed the beautiful sunset over Shiroka Polyana lake

This time, it was not only the mosquitos that enjoyed the beautiful sunset over Shiroka Polyana lake
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NIKON D610

settings

Aperture f/22 ISO 640 Shutter 1/3 Focal Length 400/10

location

Shiroka Polyana, Khaskovo, BG

upload_date

Oct, 2020

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Behind The Lens

Location

This is the "Shiroka Polyana" lake (translated as "Wide Meadow" from Bulgarian), which is located in my favorite part of Bulgaria - the Rhodopes Mountain. This area of the country is full of beautiful natural lakes and is an area, which hosts a number of mostly summer nature festivals. It's a place where you can escape the summer heat for a weekend and just chill in the scattered camp sites. I was there only for one night, going off to the place after work, so I took my camera with the idea of doing an early morning photoshoot. It was late autumn, so I hoped to get a morning mist over the lake. As it so often happens, nothing goes as expected, as in the morning it was poring rain and I didn't even get out until the sun was high up :)

Time

It was right at sunset. I've had just arrived at the spot an hour before that, after some 4 hours drive, more than half of them on mountain roads. I remember that I was just finished setting up my tent and opened a can of beer to chill for a bit on the ground, as I was a bit tired already. I didn't even get my camera out of the car, as I just wanted to spend a nice night with my friends around the campfire. As I was just chilling, chatting with one of the guys in the camp, at first I didn't even notice the colors change in the sky. I was completely not ready for what happened a couple of minutes later, when another friend came along and asked me "Where's your camera? Didn't you see the sky?". And then I did. And I ran to the car as fast as I could!

Lighting

The sky was so spectacular, so colorful and playful, that the only thing I could actually do is quickly find something usable as a foreground and get an exposure on the brightest part of the sky. I didn't know how much time I would have and how would the light change, so the only thing I wanted to achieve is to not overexpose any part of the sky. I remember that the clouds were actually not moving, so I got lucky enough to capture a couple of shots of the brightest part, which was so nicely diffused through the clouds.

Equipment

The photo is taken with a Nikon D610 with a Tamron 24-70 G2 lens. I didn't have an ND filter with me, so I got it with closed aperture, as I wanted to lower the shutter speed and get a more smooth water surface. The camera was of course, mounted on a tripod.

Inspiration

Well, the moment I saw what was happening in the sky, the boldness of the colors, how the sunset light was softened by the clouds, how the clouds themselves are on layers I was stunned. The scene was looking more like a painting than a real world. I was lucky enough, as we chose a spot, where I even got the far end of the lake making a beautiful vanishing point. It was an incredible scene.

Editing

For that image, I didn't use any stacking. Looking at it afterwards, I realized that it could've been even better if I got my focus right and get at least two images with focus in front and infinity, so I can stack the details in the water even better. Aside from that, in post-processing I usually do some level adjustments, primary shadows and blacks, as I tend to underexpose my shots. I like contrast, colorful photos, so contrast and exposure is another main tweak I usually do in post.

In my camera bag

For my Nikon D610, I have the Tamron 24-70mm G2, which proves to be the most versatile, extremely sharp zoom lens I have ever shot with. Now, I got myself a Tamron 15-30mm lens, which I wanted for a long, long time. I love ultra-wide lenses, I used to own a Samyang 14mm, but it was a bit hard for me with the manual focus on the wide angle. I also just got a NiSi S5 filter system for the Tamron wide lens.

Feedback

For one - do not ever get too lazy to get your gear with you. This shot is the proof that you can miss something incredible for just a couple of minutes. I would've regret it. Secondly, as always - I keep telling myself to get my head up for a moment and enjoy the view, instead of taking hundreds of shots. When I do that, I'm able to find a little different composition, or something interesting on the ground, something interest on the side. The sky that day was so hypnotizing, that I couldn't help but just gaze at it.

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nickeykolev

nickeykolev

Sunset over the lake

This time, it was not only the mosquitos that enjoyed the beautiful sunset over Shiroka Polyana lake

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow nickeykolev

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