Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Colorful Landscape - It's All About Light


The photos in this post were all taken this morning within about two hours time. Up before dawn and watching the pretty clouds in the west, I thought it might be a good morning for a colorful dawn light glowing on the clouds and Lions Head. I put the wide angle on the camera and positioned the tripod as the first of the pink began to show up in the clouds.


Later, with early sunlight on Lions Head I changed position to photographed trees still in shadow against the brightly lit rock of Cathedral and Lions Head. Where the earliest sunlight on Lions Head produces red and orange, a bit later the light reflected from the rocks is more yellow in color as seen below.


An hour later heavy clouds almost fill the sky and filter the light. The color in the photo below is so muted I could have got almost the same shot in black and white.
Yet, the day is still good for color photography. When zooming in to photograph birds or flowers, or just about any close up of a subject, better color and detail is possible with overcast skies or filtered light rather than direct lighting. I put the wide angle lens away and switched to a macro lens to photograph orchids blooming in the house in the soft, cloud-filtered light from a window.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's just something special about the colors from a rising sun, isn't there? So vivid, fresh, clean. I just love the top one!

Howard Grill said...

It really is amazing how quickly the light changes...something that most people who aren't photographers or artists tend not to be aware of. Great to have a positive outlook and change your photographic subjects depending on what type of light is available. I used to get irritated when the light changed or wasn't right for what I planned to photograph...now I have finally learned to work with mother nature and not fight.

Con Daily said...

Thanks Tracy, and Howard, for your comments. I didn't plan to post on the light until it changed so dramatically today. You are right Howard, you can't fight mother nature, she makes the rules.

Anonymous said...

Nice series...well done.
Best,
louis