As photographers, sometimes we overlook shadows as key elements of composition.
Claude Debussy said, “Music is the space between the notes.” Mozart said, “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” Truman Fisher, an American composer, said, “The pause is as important as the note.”
Photographers read the light; follow the light. Derived from Greek, the word photography means “drawing with light.” But we must also read the shadows. For often it may be the spaces “not in light,” or in the “pause in light,” that impact an image.
Onboard the Schooner Olad returning to Camden harbor.
Many photographers, new, amateurs, and some professionals, shoot sunrises and sunsets—nature at its most beautiful if you are facing east or west at the right hour. That includes me! Sun-up and sundown photos proliferate the social media. Why not? The photographer is sharing a special moment that he or she witnessed. It’s a grand feeling.
The reason I’m showing this photo is because it IS a sundown, but, there’s something going on in the foreground. I believe that is important, although not always necessary. Why? It adds to the storyline. It helps put the photo into a context.
To increase the contextual impact of a photo with the sun setting or rising, consider including a telling foreground. In this case, it is the bow of the schooner Olad, a 50-foot vessel out of Camden, ME.
I shot photos for an hour as the sun descended and infused the sky with beautiful colors. I tried from various parts of the vessel, all with the idea of capturing some aspect of the vessel in the foreground. This was it. When I clicked the shutter, my senses resonated as they often do when I get a good shot.
I believe this shot works because of the triangular balance of shapes in the left and middle. The two sails you see are headsails, one free flying, the other on a self-tending boom. Coupled with the boom, the three forms are triangular, which also repeats the theme of three, there being three forms (similar to a pin-wheel).
Without the bow and sails, this would be a nice sunset photo. If it existed, I’d probably crop half the water so the horizon was even lower. But having the three elements, proportionally balanced in the foreground, takes this mage up a few notches in terms of interest and engagement.
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Technical variables: There are at least two variables that challenge a photographer to attain well-exposed and sharp sunrise or sunset photos with foreground elements—low light conditions and distance between subjects (foreground to infinity). The sky usually requires a different exposure than the foreground unless you are happy with foreground silhouettes, which often work great. If you want everything in focus, you’ll need a small aperture to span the distance from near to far, thus allowing the greatest depth-of-field. Now you either have to use a tripod for a longer exposure or increase the ISO substantially. Increasing the ISO on some cameras creates visual noise in the image unless you have a camera with a relatively large sensor.
Technical details:This shot was taken using a Nikon D7100 at 1/25 sec and ƒ 1/16. ISO was set to 640. Focal length on my Nikon 24-120mm lens was set to 24mm which translated to 36mm being on a camera with an APS-C sensor (1.5x crop factor). Despite my care in balancing the settings, I still needed Adobe Lightroom to open up the shadows on the foredeck and sails and reduce some highlights in the sky.
The sun transits Sagittarius (the Archer)
between November 22 and December 21.
According to astrological belief, Sagittarius,
as well as Aries and Leo, are considered fire signs.
Generally, people with these signs search for things
that light them up, that create passion. They are
prone to sudden flashes of insight and enthusiasm.
This photo was taken in Montauk about 11:00 pm several summers ago in late August. The constellation Sagittarius is square in the middle. By connecting the stars and overlaying the mythological archer, this is what you get:
The Sagittarius artwork was created by Johan Meuris and accompanies Stellarium, the free and open source planetarium software. The image was released under The Free Art License. My son, Nick, helped me take the photo.
The silhouettes backlit by the moon river initially drew me to the scene. We shot it in color with a four-second exposure, camera on a tripod. I converted it to black and white and retained the amber of the fire and the glow on the faces. It was only after I produced the image that I figured out the prominent constellation hovering above the gathering.
