Fine art photography & Art of Dan Carmichael: February 2014

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Taking a Good Sunrise or Sunset Picture

Taking good pictures of a sunrise or a sunset is not about the sunrise or the sunset.

Sunrise and sunset pictures - or pictures of shoes for that matter - are a dime a dozen. There are billions of them. If you don't want your pictures to be lost in that crowd, you need to do something different.

Granted, pictures of sunrises or sunsets with flowers in the foreground are not terribly original, either. But the following picture is nice because in this picture of a sunrise, the subject is not the sunrise but rather the beautiful yellow flowers that fill the frame. And it is about the brilliant, colored morning light of the rising sun that is splashed upon these flowers.

When you are standing on a mountain looking at a sunrise, don't take pictures of that sunrise. Instead, look around you and notice what the beautiful light does in the environment in which you stand. Or turn around, away from the sunrise, and see what the light has landed on. That is your picture.

This picture was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina in the Doughton Park area.

Good Pictures are Taken not Given

A good picture is taken, not given. Good photography is accomplished, not presented. Some photographers think good pictures are all about location. That a trip to a national park or a special scenic location will automatically guarantee they will get good pictures. But taking good pictures is not about location, it is about good photography.

Good pictures can be taken right where you live - a local park, in the city, or even in your own back yard. There are many things right where you are that have all the elements needed to create a good photograph.

The following fine art photos were taken at a local park, right down the street. The subject is mundane. There is little that can be more commonplace than the trunk of a tree. But the pictures have good composition. They contain exquisite textures like in the bark of the pine tree and the pine needles on the ground. And with just a minimal of processing which included vignetting to bring the viewer's attention in, they turned out to be rather nice photos.

So before you pack the ice chest and gas up the car for a long drive to who-knows-where, take a look around you. All the elements of a good picture may be right where you stand.

Taken in a park near Greensboro, North Carolina: