Digital Photography Composition of the WeekSouth Pacific Sunset
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Digital Photography
Composition #9 - 3 June 2009 |
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After a rainy Hawaiian day, the reward was in the sunset - in its spectacular color and in its promise of better day tomorrow, according to the sailor's adage:
Red in the morning
sailors take warning!Red at night,
sailors delight.
As the direct sun was hidden by clouds, it was easy to follow the advice in the headline, exposing for the sky and not the sun. To meter this image, I first framed the image above the sun before locking exposure. Then, I moved the camera back down to re-frame the image as above.
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Photo
Critique
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This is as much a sunset picture as it is an abstract study in light. Rather than a bright, unshielded sun that says "look right at me", the filtered yellow sun allows the eyes to sweep the broad tonal range of the image. The image has a strong horizontal feel brought on by the low horizon, the horizontal brightness of the sun, and the linear wisps of the clouds, all reinforced by the horizontal crop. No rule of thirds used here, as bringing the horizon up higher would fight with the horizontality. But, keeping the sun off-center balances the image nicely against the dark clouds to the left. Take away the bottom shadows altogether, and this could be a photo of the gaseous clouds above the planet Jupiter. Or, take a closer look, below, and the clouds seem to be afire.
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The foreground (see full image at the top) provides good contrast and a foundation or counterweight to the vivid colors above. This reinforces its abstract qualities, but provides no clues as to the location of the photograph. |
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An alternative approach for this photograph would be to use the abundant palms and rock outcroppings in silhouette to add context to the foreground. |
