Carol Chapman | Carol Chapman

How I Learned to Create Depth in my Photography

I learned the technique of including something in the foreground to create depth from a young photographer I met while on travel. I think it occurred during one of my visits to the Northwest. I’d spent the day taking photographs of Mount Rainier, one of which was used for the month of February in the Edgar Cayce Calendar for 2008.

We were staying in a rustic hotel which meant that our rooms did not have individual television sets. In fact, there was only one television set in the building. It sat in the entranceway of the hotel where the hotel clerk could watch it during the dull times of the day when he sat alone at his desk.

I assume the young photographer wanted to see how the photographs that he had taken that day looked so he connected his camera to the television set in the lobby. As a result, anyone going to or from their room could see the young man’s pictures.

His photographs were gorgeous. I stopped to admire them. The young photographer volunteered that his photographs did not get really good until he learned to create depth in his images by including something in the foreground. Instinctively I had been taking many photographs that showed depth because of something in the foreground. I probably learned it in photography school as well. But, it wasn’t until my encounter with this young man that the advice sunk in.

I don’t know his name, but I thank him. His example helped me out.

Carol Chapman —

More on Making Your Sunrise Photographs More Interesting with Depth

Here are a couple more suggestions for creating depth with something in the foreground. If you’ve seen my Edgar Cayce Calendar, you’ll notice that there are three sunrise photographs included . . . for the months of January, March and November in the 2009 calendar.

Here”s the link:

http://www.EdgarCayceCalendar.com

In the January photograph, you can see that I used shore grasses in the foreground to create an amazing sense of depth. The dynamic sunrise with its reflection in the water adds to feeling of depth.

In the March photograph, a sailboat and pilings create depth. Without them, the photograph would look flat.

The November photograph is enhanced by the upturned boats and trees in the foreground. I also used flash to illuminate the leaves on the ground in the foreground to create more depth.

Carol Chapman —

Sunrise Photography – A Sense of Depth

Yes, if you’re there at the right time in the right place, you can encounter a wonderful sunrise to photograph.

You can also enhance the photograph by including something in the foreground, for example, a sunrise in the sky and craggy rocks with mountains in the background, a fisherman with the ocean in the background or some tree branches with a waterfall in the background.

The sense of depth you get from having something or someone in the foreground brings the photograph alive.

Carol Chapman —

Sunrise Photography Safety

I don’t have to say to be careful when taking photographs of the sun, do I? After some deliberation, I believe it needs to be said:

DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.

I know this is difficult, especially when the sun is the main character in your photograph. And, I must admit, that I sometimes don’t follow my own advice. Afterwards, I worry about sun damage to my eyes.

You can get severe damage to your eyes if you stare at the sun, even when it is low on the horizon.

That’s another reason a cloudy sky makes a good sunrise photograph: you are protected from damage to your eyes.

Carol Chapman —

Sunrise Photography: Getting the Light Right

To get the light right in your photograph, you need to vary the exposure. This is quite easy to do. By “Vary the Exposure” I mean, “How to get darker and lighter photographs” when taking sunrise photographs.

Most of us have cameras with automatic built-in through-the-lens exposure meters. By this I mean that most of us have cameras that allow us to take photographs without having to manually adjust settings on the camera. It just all happens automatically for us.

However, you may find it very frustrating when you take a sunrise photograph and discover that the photograph you see displayed on the viewing screen on the back of the camera does not look anything like the image of the sunrise you see with your eye. It may be too dark or too light.

The reason for this is that the camera’s exposure meter is usually set to make its light measurement at the center of the viewing screen. Therefore, if, when you’re framing up the picture on the viewing screen, you put the bright sun in the center of the viewing screen, the exposure meter will think the whole picture is very, very bright or even too bright. Your photograph will be very dark.

If, when you’re framing up the picture, you have the foreground, which is dark, in the center of the viewing screen, the exposure meter will think the whole picture is very, very dark. Therefore, the camera will overcompensate and will lighten the dark foreground. You will get a very light photograph.

Knowing this, you can play with the exposure of your sunrises by centering the image at different places. You can make dark, light, and medium light-intensity photographs by changing the place where you center the image.

Carol Chapman —

Tips for Taking Magnificent Sunrise Photographs

Here’s another very important suggestion for getting fantastic sunrises with your camera:

Be sure your equipment is ready to use.

For example:

Make sure your battery (ies) are charged

Have space for many exposures on your media card

Make sure your empty media card is loaded in your camera

If you’re using film, have the film loaded and ready in the camera

The reason for being absolutely prepared as you begin to take your photos of that fabulous sunrise is that the sky will change by the second. If your media card is full, your batteries depleted, or your film not loaded, you may be sorely disappointed when the sky blazes with color or rays stream out from the sun for a second or the sun breaks through the horizon.

Everything progresses so rapidly during a sunrise!

How to Take Fabulous Sunrise Photographs

My sunrise photos are often published or sold, matted and framed. Here are my suggestions for wonderful sunrise pictures. To begin:

Be there. This requires that you either preprogram your internal alarm to wake you up or to set the alarm clock beside your bed to wake you.

Be there before the sun breaks through the horizon. Often the best images occur before the sun breaks through the horizon . . . sometimes, long before – that means at first light, just as the horizon is turning from black to grey. That way, you can catch the many nuances of changes in color and cloud formations.

Sunrise Photography

At times, I wake up very early in the morning . . . before first light . . . with a dream telling me to wake up NOW because there will be a magnificent sunrise worth photographing.

This morning, I woke up early, but with NO dream, wondering why my internal alarm system had awoken me. Peeking through the curtains covering the window, I saw that even though it was still pretty dark outside, there was the hint of a good sunrise–a band of dark red just above the horizon and clouds over it. My best sunrise photographs have been the result of the rising sun’s interplay with dynamic clouds.

By the time I was at the beach, the sun had already popped above the horizon. However, because of the clouds, the sky looked resplendent. Coupled with crashing breakers against the shore, the sun rising through the clouds made a beautiful image.

Lost Continents

Athough I automatically think of Atlantis when pondering lost continents, or possibly Lemuria, I read in an online article at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuria_(continent)

that two actual lost continents exist in the Pacific Ocean (Zealandia) and the Indian Ocean (Kerguelen Plateau) that were once above water.

Familiar Familial Relationships

Have you ever had the experience that you feel unusually close to a member of your family who is not one of your parents? For example, an easy rapport with an aunt or uncle, a niece or nephew? A cousin?
I wonder if this is a person you knew in a previous lifetime in a closer relationships, for example, a parent or child?

I assume the young photographer wanted to see how the photographs that he had taken that day looked so he connected his camera to the television set in the lobby. As a result, anyone going to or from their room could see the young man’s pictures.

I don’t know his name, but I thank him. His example helped me out.