Here’s one from a week ago, as the terrible weather kept me inside during the whole of last weekend. This one was taken one afternoon when the sky looked promising. I expected a nice sunset and found some time to go out.
The big mistake I made was to head for a location I did not know very well because I thought the meandering stream there, combined with the wide, unobstructed view, would make for a nice subject. I arrived at the spot long before sunset, so had all the time to look for a suitable composition and setup my camera. However, right before sunrise, I found myself still rushing around because there was not a single vantage point that provided me with an image that I was hapy with. In the end, I settled for this relatively standard composition of a silhouetted tree against the evening sky. The recently mowed reeds and the ditch are nice diagonal elements and the pinkish afterglow light is pleasing to the eye.
However, had I gone to one of my ‘private’ places, the ones I visit often, I would have walked straight to the best position to shoot from and could have waited for the right moment. The result would probably have been the best shot of that particular location in my archives.
So lesson learned: do research when the light is not right and head to familiar places when it is. Of course, one can always get lucky by being at the ‘right place at the right time’, but to be honest, such is the exception to the rule. Well, at least in my case. Predictions for next weekend are ‘really cold winter weather’. Fingers crossed and ready to head to familiar places!
Sunset Tree; Canon 5D Mark II w. 17-40/4L; 2.5s af F16 and ISO100; ND Grad filter, remote release, bubble level and tripod
