Another sunset from my trip to Joshua Tree National Park earlier this spring. One of my favorite areas was Hidden Valley. Rich with amazing rock formations, the valley is a great place for photographers. The photography workshop group I was with went there one evening to photograph the night sky (photos to be posted in a few days) and I decided I had to return to photograph the sunset. I chose this rock outcropping because of the gap. I looked at my sunset planning tools and concluded that the sun would hit this gap a few minutes before sunset. I photographed another location (another photo to be posted in a few days) prior to photographing this one. My objective was to get a solid starburst right at the center of the gap. Mission accomplished!
Photographing into the sun is not only very tough but dangerous as well. Never look directly into the sun in the viewfinder and, if you have to, avoid doing so for any length of time. Wide angle lenses are less dangerous than telephoto lenses but risky nonetheless. I’ve developed a technique for these kind of shots so it’s easier for me to do now that I have developed this technique.
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5DS using my Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 Lens set on 16mm. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/13, shutter speed at 1/125th of a second and the ISO set at 100. I used a tripod for stability. This is a series of three bracketed images (-1, 0, +1) brought together into a single image using Lightroom’s HDR feature. I then completed the image in Photoshop using Nik Color Efex Pro.
You can see my new gallery for Joshua Tree NP by clicking here. I will be adding more photos to the collection as I process and post them.
© 2017 T. Kahler Photography
You can also follow my work on Google+ or Facebook.
PS: Please don’t respond to this message as it will not reach me. Either post a comment or forward your response to my email address (terry@tkahler.com).
