Light of the Morning
2 Samuel 23:4 Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springs out of the earth,
Through sunshine after rain.’
Struggle with capturing sunrise or sunset photos? Ignore for a moment that your camera might shoot in-camera HDR, sunset mode, night mode, creative mode, etc. I will share with you some tips I use to create images like the one above!
Being able to communicate tell the camera how much light you want to capture is a bit complex but once you know it, you know it! This image was shot with a Canon 5D Mark III, f4.5, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, manual mode, RAW image, cheap lens. This camera definitely has more features than I ever utilized. To dial in my settings, using the in-camera meter, I adjusted my settings by viewing through the lens in the opposite direction of the sunrise. You heard me! Face your sunrise/sunset, turn 180 degrees, dial in your settings, about-face, capture, and make minor adjustments as needed.
Sounds easy enough, right!?!
For landscape images (and portraits), the first setting I set is my aperture or f-stop. This tells the lens how much light to let in… the lower the f-stop the more light the lens will allow in. For this particular lens that I was using, f4.5 was it’s sweet spot! It was an older Canon lens and through a few trials, I found f4.5 to be very consistent. Low aperture = more light, softer image. High aperture = less light, sharper image. Aperture options (f1.2 - f22) depend on your lens capabilities.
For portraits I like to shoot at a low aperture f1.2 - 2.8.
Family f3.2-8.
Flowers f5.6.
Landscapes f5.6 up to 22.
On bright sunny days, I set my aperture to f8 and adjust the other settings from there.
Next, I set my ISO. The ISO setting changes the cameras sensitivity to light. An ISO setting of 100 (bright sunny day) will not be as sensitive to light as say a setting of 2500. I prefer to keep my ISO as low as possible. The higher the ISO the more grain/less clarity your photos might capture. The 5DM3 has a pretty high ISO tolerance but I still start at 200. Getting to know your camera and taking a few test shots at different ISO settings will help your cameras low light capabilities. Low ISO = less light. High ISO = more light. ISO settings are based on your cameras capabilities.
Finally, my shutter speed I set to 1/640 sec. A faster speed than needed for this image but I needed to accommodate the lens I was shooting with. The shutter of my camera was 1/640 of a second. The higher the shutter speed the less light being recorded. Low shutter speed = more light. High shutter speed = less light. Shutter speed is dependent on your cameras capabilities but your lens can assist in the ability to capture fast speeds… the more light your lens will allow, the faster you can adjust your shutter speed. However, this can also be accomplished by increasing your ISO, but remember… an increase in ISO might weaken your image.
You see, the three work together to complete the image. If I hadn’t adjusted my shutter speed to 1/640 and left it at 1/200, my camera would have capture too much light… some of the highlights could have been recovered since I was shooting in RAW but a lot of the information would have been lost.
I hear all the time, “my cell phone takes great photos, why would I need a camera?” Well, you don’t need a camera unless you would like to enlarge the images. Most cell phones are packed with high megapixels but low resolution. Before sending in an awe-mazing cell photo image to have blown up and framed on your wall, confirm that your image can be enlarged to that size. Check out White Wall for size recommendations and brilliant print options.