ChrisSiefken

Sunset on the Lake

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

settings

Aperture f/13 ISO 100 Shutter 1/50 Focal Length 28/1

upload_date

Jul, 2015

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on the bank of Leonard Lake in Ellsworth, Maine. It was a place I used to frequent growing up so I stopped by to relive some old memories and found a spectacular sunset.

Time

My wife an I got there a bit earlier but as we watched the sun start to set, I took a few minutes to set up my camera. It was just passed 6:00pm, right in the last moments of golden hour.

Lighting

The lighting is all natural. I didn't go to that spot intending to take photos so I didn't have any equipment with me. The ambient light was just enough inside the wooded area to show detail in the surroundings without taking the true focus off the sky and sun.

Equipment

I used a Canon 5D Mark III with a variable ND filter mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and remote shutter release.

Inspiration

It was a photo of happenstance. I wanted to show my wife some of my hang out areas when I was in high school, lucky for me, I've learned to keep my camera close by.

Editing

I did most of the tweaking in Adobe Camera Raw then brought it into Photoshop where I did a hue/saturation adjustment and added a couple of masked soft light layers to enhance the detail and contrast in certain areas.

In my camera bag

I carry what I like to think of as the bare essentials: My Canon 5D Mark III, 24-105mm lens, 70-200mm lens, and little things like extra batteries, cards, shutter release and ND filter. You can take just about anything with that and it's not to much to carry around.

Feedback

Remember always to keep your camera close at hand. Even when you aren't going out to "shoot photos." Some of my best photos are from unplanned encounters. With a shot like this, try to find that middle ground exposure where you can still get details in the darker areas without blowing out the sun. Also, be extremely careful shooting directly into the sun. As a photographer, your eyes are everything and you don't want to ruin them for a photograph. Set up the shot using the live preview or by not looking directly through the eye piece (which is what I do). After that, set your focus to the hyperfocal distance and click away!

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ChrisSiefken

ChrisSiefken

Sunset on the Lake

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ChrisSiefken

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