This Is Why I Get Up Early Each Day

Iron workers Placing Reinforcement Steel into Concrete Form For Pier Cap.
Iron workers Placing Reinforcement Steel into Concrete Form For Pier Cap.

Click on the image to open it in another window.

I get up every morning hoping to find a sky with this much texture and color. On this particular morning I was given a wonderful start to the day when I saw the colors start to intensify as the sun rose in the sky. The morning light and the wide range of light made this scene a natural for shooting it as a high dynamic range image. Even with such a wide range it was only necessary to use +2, 0 and -2 EV to capture the shadow details as well as the highlights and mid-tones. I try to keep the number of frames I use to a minimum to help combat the noise that inevitably occurs when underexposing the frame to capture the highlights and then merging them to create the HDR image.

The more I use HDR techniques and adjustments the more comfortable I become with them. In my book NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 is the leader for creating realistic HDR images with minimal halos and believable transitions across the tonal range. I want my images to convey a sense of the wonder I feel when I’m shooting them and the natural beauty in the scene. In this image I am very pleased with the balance of warm and cool light and the peaceful mood that accompanies sunrise on the river.

 

6 thoughts on “This Is Why I Get Up Early Each Day

    1. Thanks Phyllis it’s the same thing when I’m on a motorcycle trip those first moments of the day make getting on the road early worth it too. Thanks for your excellent description of the photo and the kind comment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.