Tobers
Prominent Member
Inspired by Liquid's description of the "golden hour" as something akin to low sun shining through a shower curtain, I got up at 05:00 today to see if I could figure out what it is all about.
Oh my God that's early! Sunrise at 06:00 enabled me to get back over to Windsor Great Park to see what I could find. Things to note:
1) it's cold - frost on the ground
2) the grass is wet with dew and your trousers & shoes get soaking
3) the light changes very fast
4) you need to know what you want to take a picture of and have a plan
I ended up wandering rather aimlessly as the light changed. I missed a whole bunch of shots because I didn't have a proper plan and by the time I'd worked out what I wanted to do, the sun was "too high" i.e. the soft yellow/red tinge had gone.
I also found that my tripod is completely and utterly ***** - I needed longish exposures and although it looked solid, a lot of shots are blurred from camera movement - Manfrotto 190XPROB (I think that's right) is on my shopping list.
I couldn't figure out what filters to use (if any at all) and lost more time fannying about putting them on & taking them off, and swapping them between lenses. I missed a beautiful layer of mist over the grass which lasted about 30 seconds before it was gone. Grrr!
I finished up with 3 or 4 decent shots which I need to post-process (I wont put them up "naked" - too embarassing!) so I'll get those on tonight and post them here.
However, it was an invaluable experience. The light really is different, making some things stand out that didn't before, some fade into the background etc, with the light characteristics changing literally minute by minute. I'll certainly do it again sooner rather than later especially as dawn will be hideously early in the coming months.
Highly recommended!
Toberzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Oh my God that's early! Sunrise at 06:00 enabled me to get back over to Windsor Great Park to see what I could find. Things to note:
1) it's cold - frost on the ground
2) the grass is wet with dew and your trousers & shoes get soaking
3) the light changes very fast
4) you need to know what you want to take a picture of and have a plan
I ended up wandering rather aimlessly as the light changed. I missed a whole bunch of shots because I didn't have a proper plan and by the time I'd worked out what I wanted to do, the sun was "too high" i.e. the soft yellow/red tinge had gone.
I also found that my tripod is completely and utterly ***** - I needed longish exposures and although it looked solid, a lot of shots are blurred from camera movement - Manfrotto 190XPROB (I think that's right) is on my shopping list.
I couldn't figure out what filters to use (if any at all) and lost more time fannying about putting them on & taking them off, and swapping them between lenses. I missed a beautiful layer of mist over the grass which lasted about 30 seconds before it was gone. Grrr!
I finished up with 3 or 4 decent shots which I need to post-process (I wont put them up "naked" - too embarassing!) so I'll get those on tonight and post them here.
However, it was an invaluable experience. The light really is different, making some things stand out that didn't before, some fade into the background etc, with the light characteristics changing literally minute by minute. I'll certainly do it again sooner rather than later especially as dawn will be hideously early in the coming months.
Highly recommended!
Toberzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz