Sunrise at Oxbow Bend ~

Sunrise at Oxbow Bend ~ Variety in a landscape shoot Hi Everyone! This past September, I took a trip out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park for a photography weekend. Jackson Hole is probably my favorite place in the world and a significant photographic inspiration for me. It is not only gorgeous and magical, but has strong personal meaning for me. For as long as I can remember, I have spent summer vacations there at my grandparents house near the Snake River. My weekend agenda was to get up before sunrise each morning and head out to one of the many spectacular locations in the park. The first morning, my mom and I headed to Oxbow Bend, a famous spot where you get a glorious view of Mt. Moran and it’s reflection in the Snake River below. We had been skeptical about the weather as the forecast called for clouds and rain. I was only there for 3 morn- ings though and the weather is never certain, so we headed out early with our coffee in hand. As luck would have it, the morning was spectacular with beautiful color and perfect clouds to enhance the sunrise. In this mini pdf, I want to show you how over the course of a couple hours or so, I was able to get a handful of unique images. Simply by changing the direction in which I shot and in waiting for the light to change as the sun rose, I was able to achieve a variety of shots in the same loca- tion. In each image, I considered my composition carefully to capture the allure of each vantage point and view. I will include the settings for each image. Please note that these were handheld shots. I recommend and do typically use a tripod for landscape images to increase sharpness and keep the ISO as low as possible. Unfortunately, we did not discover my mom’s second good tripod until the next day and my attempt to use my grandpa’s very old tripod with unstable legs was frustrating at best. As the sun rose, the colors in the east were incredible and reflected strongly in the water. The sun had not yet started to shine on the mountains, so I began shoot- ing the eastern view. The two images on the right are not identical compositions but very similar. In the top image, I shot and processed to maintain detail in both my shadows and my highlights. In the lower image, I used creative underexposure to create a silhouette of the trees and shadows. Do you prefer one or the other? Do they ISO 1600 f/14.0 1/13 have different moods for you? The top one feels warmer and brighter to me while the bottom one feels as if the sun has just barely peeked over the horizon. Neither is more correct than the other but is simply a matter of creative vision. In the image on the next page, I have captured Mt. Moran and it’s reflection in the Snake River. This is after the ‘alpenglow’ (red glow) hit the mountain range and at the peak of color to the west. In this image, I wanted to highlight both the colors in the water and in the clouds with the main focus of Mt. Moran in the center of the frame. IISO 1600 f/16 1/50 ISO 2000 f/20.0 1/125 The colors of sunrise are beautiful to photograph but do not put the camera away once the sun is up. As the sun rises higher, you can still take gorgeous images. The brighter light can enhance texture and create vibrant colors. The increase of light on the whole scene can also make it easier to expose for your landscape images, helping to maintain detail in both your shadows and highlights. When the sun is higher in the sky, you can create a starburst to add impact in your image. I always ISO 800 f/20.0 1/320 try to take advantage of this oppor- tunity whenever I can. The image on page 5 is once again the western view of Mt. Moran. This has a much different feel than the first image taken during the colorful sunrise. While it was taken from a slightly different vantage point, you can see that the change in light gives a different feel, yet still beautiful in its own way. In this image, I positioned myself to capture the colorful grasses in the forground. The most interesting clouds were low to the mountains, so I composed with a bit more of the frame beneath the horizon than above. The contrast of warm and cool tones in this image help to add depth. In each image from this morning, my goal was to try to capture for a viewer the scene as closely as possible to how I saw it in person. As I edited the shoot, I wanted to feel the same emotions as I did in the moment I pressed the shutter. In post processing landscape images, I typically add more clarity, contrast and vibrance than I do in my processing of people. ISO 800 f/18.0 1/400 SOOC The image on this page was shot to the southeast. I loved the reflections of the trees in the water, the line of the river and the wispy clouds in the sky. I shot this with my 16-35mm at 16mm. I specifically shot this to capture some of the grasses in the forground and to accentuate the line of the Snake River. The shot to the right was my straight out of camera orientation. ISO 800 f/20.0 1/200 Take with Nikon 16-35mm at 16mm After editing this image, I began to FLIPPED HORIZONTALLY feel that perhaps the lines in this image would create a stronger scan path if it was flipped horizontally. (image left) I love the flip because the line of the trees and their reflections act as a leading line in from the left and over to the right. Then the river winds back to the left in the background. There are situations where a flip simply will not work, such as flipping the Teton mountain range. In the image here though, the landscape is not as distinguishable so the flip can work. On this page are a couple more shots taken as the sun rose. In the image on the right, there was still a bit of the alpenglow on the mountains. This is looking southwest. The image below is a similar vantage point taken closer up. I loved the way the light was hitting the hill across the river and if you look close you can see a bird flying above as well. Settings for both images: ISO 1250 f/16.0 1/200 Both taken with Nikon 16-35mm Top at 16mm Bottom at 35mm While landscapes are gorgeous in color, do not underestimate the power of a strong black and white landscape image. Skies with interesting cloud formations and images with a broad tonal range lend very well to black and white conversions. The colorful sunrise of Mt. Moran is one of these images. You can see how I edited this images in BW among additional landscape materials in my portion of the Breakout “The Road Less Traveled: Finding Your Unique Path”, available in the CM elearning store. Next time you go out for a landscape shoot, be sure to consider all directions, play with creative expo- sures, vary your perspectives (e.g. lay on the ground), be patient for light to change, accetuate colors and textures, and consider your lines and foreground interest. Good luck with your next landscape shoot and please share your image! ~Kristen .

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