AustralianLight - Landscape Photography AustralianLight - Landscape Photography

AustralianLight - Landscape Photography is my new site with my good mate Bernie. If you have found my blog posts useful over the years, then how about giving us a hand to promote AustralianLight.

We are doing everything we can to get our australian landscape photography out there and guess what..... it's bloody hard work!! So please visit the gallery and if you like what see, share it with your friends.

Thanks, we really do appreciate your help. - Russell

Saturday 9 June 2007

Rusty's Ramble #4: "If you build it, he will come"

"If you build it, he will come" (it's a line from a Kevin Costner movie) or in photo speak... "If you wait, the image will come".

Just a quick ramble about an image that I shot this afternoon.


I drove up to the Qld Sunshine Coast for some R&R and camping today. 2.5 hours from home and I am dealing with freezing temps, gale force winds and the difficulty of finding something worth photographing.

Shortly before sunset I had just about given up, in fact I had given up, but I forced myself to get the cam out and take at least one pic so that the day wasn't a complete waste.

I looked around were I just happened to be and figured that "I may get a shot down there". So I set up for what was a very ordinary shot in dull light. While doing this the phone rings and my wife is calling me back to camp to pack up and go home.... "it's too cold and sleeping in a tent is just not on!"

So I have a dull and boring shot, I have a freezing wind that is sending brass monkeys looking for welders and I have my lovely wife in my ear saying "let's go".

Then just for a few seconds this happens.... 



...the light broke through the clouds and lit the scene in a way that I had never even hoped for.

So the moral of this very brief ramble?

"Wait it out till the light is gone, because you just never know what will happen."

Sunsets and sunrises change quickly and if you are not ready and waiting, you may miss something special. (I am not saying that this image is anything fantastically special.... it's just something that I was not expecting, that came out of absolutely nothing and then it was gone)


Cheers

Russell
My Gallery: http://www.pixelpix.com.au/gallery
Australian Digital Photo Of The Day: http://www.potd.com.au

Photography help for beginners - Film & Digital Camera Techniques - Post Processing - Photography tips and tricks - Rusty's Ramble


5 comments:

  1. Great advice Russell, it's so true.

    Just the other day I was looking for some sunset pics but there was nothing but grey. After the sun had gone down, I packed up and went inside. About 10 mins later I happened to glance out the window and quickly ran out to catch this: http://potd.com.au/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-93957

    So you're right, never give up until the light is completly gone.

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  2. Nice one Keith. Yep... hang out till dark, cause "it ain't over till the fat lady sings!" ;-)

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  3. I had a similar situation where I gave up and walked away... to see the twilight colours break through for just long enough to tease me...
    If only I could buy patience on Ebay..

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  4. a lesson to be learned and know of first hand. PeterM and I went out one afternoon hoping to get some good shots with the thunder clouds looming over head, by the time we got to our location, they had just disappeared and left a grey & boring sky. We ventured to another location on the other side of the inlet where we saw a break in the clouds and had hoped that near sunset we could get some light on the rocks on the shore, just to squeeze off a few shots for exercise I guess. With about 5 minutes to go before sunset, it just went off! every imaginable colour and the both of us were scrambling in all directions, shooting as many direction compositions as possible. I'd have to say I don't think I've shot so many keepers that look so different that occurred in a 5 minute shooting spree. As you say Russ, stay till there's no light left, we did that and laughed all the way home from an outing that looked like it was to die a fizzer.

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  5. 9 out of 10 times the light will not play and there will be no special images to be had..... but that 10th time makes the other 9 totally worth the effort. You never know when it will go off, so you just have to be there to see.

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