Golden Hour
To learn more about photography, I have been reading Tony Northrup’s book, Stunning Digital Photography. It’s a great deal for $10. One of the tips mentioned in the book is to take advantage of the “Golden Hour.” This time period, one hour before sunset or one hour after sunrise, provides some of the best light for taking pictures. It’s not as harsh as direct sunlight, adds some color to the picture and in my case didn’t cast many shadows. I figured I’d test out this “golden hour” claim and take some pictures of my own, so I flung on my camera bag and walked over to North Antelope Valley.
I was almost immediately greeted by this cool angle of the Beadle Center. I really like that this picture has two distinct regions: the buildings on top and the wavy lines on the concrete below. I HATE that there is a street light right by where the sun was setting. One of the things I’ve learned about photography is that getting the perfect angle is incredibly difficult. Especially when you’re photographing something immobile like a building or mountain. There are almost always distracting objects or lights. In this case, the street light ruins an otherwise awesome angle.
Another example of the same problem. I really like this picture. The lighting looks good, the subject is arranged in a cool manner, but it is ruined by a streetlight. I also had to remove two really bright lights in post.
Experimenting With Shutter Speed
I also spent some time experimenting with shutter speed. I found a small waterfall along the stream at the bottom of the valley.
One of these images was captured at 0.5s shutter speed, the other at 1/1000s.
Natural Frames
While I was walking the trail, I kept an eye open for any natural frames that I could use. I found this pipe near a building along the trail. Although I am not entirely satisfied with the picture (I wish there would have been a better subject to frame inside the pipe), I think the idea is cool and I might keep the spot in mind in case I come up with something to frame in the picture.
Next Week
I think that next week I might focus on some things closer to my apartment. The courtyard out my window looks promising…