Why you should always look behind you (especially at sunset!)
What's up Steemit! :-)
I'm still new here, but figured I'd just jump in and start blogging... So here goes.
I took the photo above on a trip to New Zealand in 2014. Sonia and I stayed in Queenstown for 3 days/nights and persistence definitely paid off when it came to capturing this one.
We scouted the area on our first day and found a great-looking jetty close by in Frankton and decided it was worth a shoot.
So we went back there at sunset on day 1 only to find the horriblest, dreary, grey - no - brown conditions. Seriously, it was so drab the sky actually looked muddy. It was cold too, so not a great success.
Ever the optimists, we decided to wake up bright and early the next morning to give it another shot at sunrise.
Same thing happened.
Strike 2!
Considering the whole area is just so stunningly beautiful, I was having doubts about putting our eggs in one basket and dedicating a third shoot to this jetty - but it was a good jetty, so we gave it one final try that evening.
Long story short… We saw a stunning fiery sunset!
Now you’ll notice that this photo I’m sharing isn’t OF that jetty… I’ll share that some other time maybe
The reason I’m sharing this shot I took standing on the jetty but facing the shore, is to share an important thing I always try to remember when out shooting… Which is to:
Always look behind you!
I was happily shooting away capturing the “classic” jetty composition which faced off to the left as you look at the image above. The whole sky was lighting up, even though the sun was over the hill and way behind me, so the colours were quite stunning anywhere I looked.
But in between shots I just happened to turn towards the sunset and saw this amazing glow and it was moments away from dying out.
So I swung the camera around, made sure everything was reasonably lined up, and fired off a few exposures.
It didn’t result in the greatest composition (if I’d planned to shoot this direction, I’d have tried to position the tree off-centre).
But it's still quite nice to look at, which is all I really care about when taking a photo.
Anyway, thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a comment if you have any questions about this photo (or travelling in New Zealand!)
Cheers
Steve
Great photo - many years ago I stood on that jetty! (it was covered in snow)
Here is a photo I took in 94 walking towards Frankton
PS - here is another Steemian you might find interesting
https://steemit.com/art/@samuel-earp-art/late-snow-in-queenstown-new-zealand-perfect-opportunity-for-painting-outdoors-art-and-photography
Thanks @sift666 how cool we stood on that same spot!
Yours is a beautiful shot too! Thanks for the link - will check it out now