Sunrises or Sunsets?

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT NATURAL LIGHT

October Sunrise – Somewhere at Sea

Nowhere better but at Sea can the difference between photographing a Sunrise and a Sunset be realized. Especially in my case because a boat makes for a poor platform to rest a tripod…a necessity when using slower shutter speeds. Using a higher shutter speed, while recommended for a longer lens (or “zoom”) for cell phone cameras, often results in excessive “noise” in photos which in turn lowers the quality somewhat.

(Note: Electronic “Noise” is much more prevalent in the dark, or shadow areas of the photograph and is mitagated to an extent in colder weather or climes in digital cameras.) Visualizing this is normally not a concern when posting to Social Media or The Web because poor resolution is normally unseeable in small image file sizes and pixel counts. Keep this in mind if you ever plan to reproduce an image into any kind of Print Media.

Here (below) is another Sunrise, captured very close to the same time of day (my Metadata tells me the upper and lower photos are about 15 minutes apart, taking into consideration seasonal time change). In this image, my “platform” was the hood of my 4-Runner. I was able to steady the camera on the hood surface, allowing a much slower shutter speed which also resulted in much less noise in the dark areas. If you are looking at this on a cell phone, it will require you to “Zoom In” tightly on the dark areas to discern any difference. Even though the Sun was a few degrees higher than in the first image, the presence of a morning cloud cover kept the light in the Foreground low. This is further evidenced by the shadow from a street light, on Captain Harm’s Tartan 33, “Harm’s Way”, in the foreground. Using the hood as a tripod, I was able to come up with an acceptable photograph. The clouds doubled as a “diffuser” against harsh Sunlight and also added interest to the image.

Sunrise Over The Neuse River.
New Bern, NC

While the “Twilight Period” is much the same between the two times of day, (Dusk and Dawn) the time period you have of catching the “perfect light” is much shorter during Sunrise.

It was explained to me years ago by a well known Professional with 2 simple phrases.

“Think of the time you have…During Sunrise, the “Perfect Light” comes toward you very quickly, (like a speeding car on a collision course)

During Sunset, the light is moving away at a gradual, albeit steady pace…giving you much more time to choose your moment”

There is a couple of other factors to consider about differences in The Light.

The Morning Light, while not as colorful in most instances, is more on the “cooler” side (visually) of the Kelvin Scale and is a much softer light and a more subtle light. “White Balance” comes into play here as a camera setting and will be discussed in another post. This softer Light is favored mostly by Wildlife, a few Landscape and some “Urban” photographers because the animals are more active, Landscape features more pronounced and most city people are not yet out in force.

The Late Afternoon Light, gives us an abundance of what is popularily called “Golden Light” and is a major choice for Wedding, Portrait, Engagement and Event Photographers for a couple of reasons.

1. It’s warming effect on skin tones and foliage.
2. They have more time to shoot, with the Light slowly fading away.
3. And Yes.. there is one more… Most People won’t get out of bed early enough to get prepared and then move fast enough to get photographed in a quickly arriving light.

Port Call at Sunset
New Bern, NC

For Me..I still like photographing Sunrises the best. Especially when I have that 0400-0800 Morning Watch and I am already in place (with my coffee) to witness and greet the birth of another day in Paradise.

Life on the Water

November Sunset in Upper Broad Creek, Along The Neuse River, in North Carolina

Sunsets seem to be the image of choice for ANYONE who’s holding a Camera or Cellphone while on or near the Water. Why is that? The two just seem to go hand-in-hand. But in some Photography Circles, They are an Old as a Cliche as can be had for a subject. It is curious thing. If you’ve seen one sunset, You’ve seen them all, Right?

I’ve thought about this a lot. And coming from someone who has photographed everything from Brides to Trucks to Waterfalls, One would think that a sunset before Me, would be, well… “just another sunset”. I know for sure that they are certainly the bane of most all Image Editors. They’ll let you know, right up front, “No Sunset Pics” and that’s because they have millions in hand already. But I think I might know a partial answer/explanation to the above question.

Maybe, It’s because.. Like Winter’s Snowflakes, We see Every Single One as Unique and Different. And they ARE, to those of us that can load up a terabyte of drive space with our sunset images alone.

Thank Goodness.. And God’s artistry.. that no two Sunsets ARE alike. Ever. Just how boring would that be? Each one seems to be more beautiful than the last. And once again, We are amazed! We just can’t let that moment slip by, Can we?

So each time we experience one, It’s almost as if our eyes tell us that we’ve never looked upon one that beautiful before. (Constant amazement is Great, isn’t it!)

Thoreau described it perfectly with his statement quoted above. Among other things, We don’t just “look” at sunsets. We “see” them. And each of us, by Nature.. see things differently at times. Throughout history, this is manifested in all of the world’s greatest artist’s work.

So the next time someone just has to show you their latest recording of the oldest image subject in the world, try and Think about what is was that THEY saw when the button was clicked or the shutter was pressed. Through someone else’s eyes, You just might be amazed too.