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Capturing the Good from Bad
by Bill ThorsbyShip's Photographer
Digital Deck Crewmember
Welcome back to the studio. I trust you are having a good start to the 2006 year. I have found that this time of year is one of the times I shoot the least. Why you ask?...well for one, it's cold outside, and because of that there are no flowers. Due to weather fronts, it tends to be overcast so I just feel like staying indoors or doing something else. I tend to spend time looking at older pictures and it occurred to me...there is one thing that remains constant - the rise and fall of the sun. Granted it might be covered with clouds but it usually is up there somewhere. So I went hunting for pictures and found some that can be taken almost every day and what's neat, the worse the weather, the better the shots. So let's see what gets better as the weather gets worse.
Yes, you guesed it, it's a sunset. This particular picture was taken as I was driving away from the sunset and toward a dark storm. As you can see in the side mirror, with a few clouds in the sky, it makes for a dramatic view. Now I can't recommend the use of a camera while operating a vehicle, but for a contrast like this, you can always pull over to the side and take a shot. Remember we want to take the picture and live to enjoy it.
In this next sunset, I tried to do what I thought I'd like the best...get my entire picture frame filled with a sunset. Yes, the colors were dramatic, but if I zoomed in to cut out the tree, I'd lose some wonderful clouds that contributed to the overall splendor of the picture. Now during a sunset you don't have long as the light fades - maybe a minute or two at best - so I decided to change my composition and include those trees I thought I wanted to eliminate.
The final result of running up the road about 100 feet, was the ability to shoot our third and final picture. In this photo, you can see the results of keeping the trees in the picture. The trees form a natural frame for the sunset and bring to life the beauty and mystique of the mountains. On a side note, this wasn't shot with a digital SLR. No, I used my little 2 mp point-and-shoot camera. So remember when the lights starts to fade, grab a camera and catch the wonder of nature.
Foremost of all...Happy Shooting,
Bill Thorsby
billthorsby@ssreflections.com
Ship's Photographer
Digital Deck Crewmember
Reflections Publishing Group, LLC
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