Blog | 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?

Are You from Lemuria?

Lemuria is a legendary lost continent that was supposed to have been in what is now the Pacific Ocean. It existed during the time of Atlantis but sank into the sea, as did Atlantis. However, Lemuria was supposed to have gone down before Atlantis.

Many more of Edgar Cayce’s past life psychic readings were for people who had lived in Atlantis than for people who had lived in Lemuria.

Memories of Alien Beginnings

It turns out that I’m not the only one who has memories of being an alien. Recently I talked to a young man who had a very vivid dream. He realized the dream referred to a memory of coming to earth as part of a work team from another planet. The workers were mining gold. When the workers rebelled because of poor conditions, they were abandoned on earth.

Sunrise Photography

A foggy morning with an orange sun swathed in cloud at sunrise.

Even though I woke up really early, still, it wasn’t worth taking a photograph.

It had all the ingredients for a great photo, but no drama whatsoever. The fog was not colored by the sun. It looked murky and grey. That won’t do.

Carol Chapman —

Do you, like me, have trouble packing?

We’re getting ready for a big family reunion get together. In an email, I asked if everyone had finished their packing yet. My nephew wrote:

No worries Carol…I’v got packing down to an art. Undies, shorts, jeans,
t-shirts and maybe something decent to wear to a restaurant.
Everything a guy needs to kill the devil…

I replied:

I wish it was that easy for me.

How hot will it be for my morning walk? Can
I wear something sleeveless to help get rid of my farmer’s tan or will it be
too cool with the wind off the ocean in the morning for sleeveless? Will the
wind be off the ocean in the morning? Let’s see, the land heats up, the air
rises, the air over the cool water fills the space creating a convention
current. OK, there probably will be wind from the ocean to the land in the
morning, but when does it start? The land has to be pretty hot for the
convention current to start. When will that be? Before or after my walk?
What if the land is so cool overnight that the wind is going from the land
to the ocean in the morning.

Wait a minute, it’s August and the water should be pretty warm. Does it matter which way the wind is blowing? No, it only matters if there will be a wind especially if there’s mosquitoes. How bad will the mosquitoes be in the morning during my walk?

Best to walk after the convention current starts (back to When will it start? to decide whether or not to use insect repellent and therefore what clothes to wear that it
doesn’t matter if they get sprayed.) I guess I need sleeveless just in case
the convention current has started, tops with sleeves if it’s cooler than I
expected.

What do I have in the shorts, capris and pants department that
will complement the tops I’ve chosen to bring? For mid-day, because it will
be hot, will I just spend all of my time in the house or indoors and
therefore have no need of shorter shorts. Do I dare to wear shorter shorts?
Do I have any that aren’t the ones I wear for cleaning the house? But, if I
wear the longer shorts–that just makes my farmer’s tan worse!

What will the
other women be wearing? Smart casual, sloppy casual–I think not, totally
relaxed casual–a bit of both probably. Wow, it looks like most of my
clothes are mainly in the blue color range. I really need to brighten things
up with some red and pink. How about some yellow? Oh, I have a yellow sun
hat.

But will it fit in my suitcase. Oh, it doesn’t matter, I’m not flying.
But, will the sunhat get crushed when John loads the suitcases in the trunk? I need to make sure I put the sunhat in the car before he starts loading the
trunk.

Would a dress be too dressy for the restaurant or is everyone just
going casual? What do I have that is casual but a bit dressy for the
restaurant? If I wear the dress, will I be too cold in the restaurant if the
air conditioning is too cold? Have I remembered a long-sleeved fleece just
in case the air conditioning in the restaurant is too cold? Maybe a fleece
is overkill unless the restaurant is really cold. I should bring a lighter
long-sleeved shirt too. etc. etc. etc. Will I have room in the car if I
bring all this stuff? What can I weed out.

I should try your system: “Undies, shorts, jeans, t-shirts and maybe
something decent to wear to a restaurant.” Scary! I might forget something!