TAKING PHOTOS AT TWILIGHT :

Posted on February 12, 2017 by 123photogo

TAKING PHOTOS AT TWILIGHT:

We have often heard that in landscape photography, the best time to take photos is “THE GOLDEN HOUR” or that time about 1 hour before sunset or the 1 hour after sunrise. The sun is more of a golden color, and the colors in your photos are just rich in golden color. Many photos are just a whole different life when taken during the Golden Hour. Here is a photo I took of a building in Salt Lake City during the Golden Hour. Notice the rich color in the building, and the richness of the blue sky as well:

Now there is another time of day, or night, that the colors become a whole new feel. And that is what we call “Twilight”. That is the time just after the sun has gone down, and the colors change from the golden colors to a beautiful blue or blueish purple. And there is an issue that may happen and it may be that you will see it, but, do you need to use the tripod? That is usually the case. The lighting may be of the point now that the lighting is just poor enough that you may need the use of your tripod to capture the colors you want in the scenery shots now, but, oh so worth it.

My wife and I were driving up around our golf course, when we looked across the course and spotted the beautiful colors of the twilight. We stopped and spent a few moments shooting down through the course into the last light of twilight, and captured some amazing colorful twilight photos:

Now, as I researched this even more, I find there are several time frames within the “twilight hour” that are set to give you a specified color scheme. Once you know this, then you can achieve the desired effect in the photos you are taking. I am attaching now an article written by: Stefan Hofer who has made it his study to get into this much deeper than I thought you could. I was amazed at this article and learned a lot from this and wanted to pass this on to you. Enjoy:

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY AT TWILIGHT

By Stefan Hofer:

There are various phases of sunrise and sunset, however each phase repeats itself twice a day – once during sunrise and once again at sunset. All phases during sunrise are the same for sunset phases – the only difference is chronological order i.e. when each phase begins and ends. Therefore, sunrise and sunset are exactly the same, except that sunset reverses the order of phases seen at sunrise.

Photo by kuhnmi; ISO 360, f/8, 1/50-second exposure.

Twilight phases at Sunrise:

Astronomical twilight
Nautical twilight
Civil twilight
Sunrise

The phases of twilight at sunset are the same just in the opposite order. Let’s begin with sunrise and discuss each phase separately.

The length of twilight before sunrise and after sunset is heavily influenced by the latitude of the observer; therefore I will not discuss the length of each twilight phase since it is highly variable. The first phase of morning twilight is known as astronomical twilight. This period of twilight occurs when the center of the sun is between 12° and 18° degrees below the horizon and slowly increases before day time officially begins.

Photo by Chris Chabot; ISO 100, f/8, 1-10-second exposure.

Most casual observers would consider the entire sky already fully dark even when astronomical twilight is just ending in the morning. Atmospheric colors consist of deep dark blue toward the horizon, and completely black when facing west. Astronomical twilight really brings cityscape photos to life. The deep blue mixed with warm artificial lights from city buildings, streets, and cars produce nice contrasts. Arguably, this is the best time to photograph cityscapes, but this clearly depends what you’re attempting to capture. Images during all twilight phases and during sunrise require a tripod. The photo will be blurry, regardless if your lens has vibration reduction or image stabilization.

Nautical twilight is when the center of the sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon. The primary color cast across the atmosphere is usually a deep blue hue with noticeable orange and yellow tones at the horizon due to the rising sun. Light will begin appearing quickly throughout this phase, and the blue sky will get begin to get brighter and paler. Details will become easier to distinguish but will lack most edge definition. Again, cityscape photographs are nicely produced during this phase. Most landscape photographs will be uninteresting during this phase because there is not enough available light. Silhouettes begin to look interesting, and get better in the next twilight phase.

Photo by Bryce Bradford; ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/20-second exposure.

Civil twilight is the brightest phase of twilight and begins when the geometric center of the sun is 6° below the horizon and ends at 0° sunrise/sunset. The horizon is clearly visible and shadows are easily discernable. Objects are clearly defined and no additional light is needed in most cases. The light cast during this phase can be anywhere from warm golden tones to cool pink tones. During civil twilight, the colors of the sky are going to change quickly. Colors of pale yellow, neon red, and bright orange will dominate the sky. If clouds are present they begin changing colors, first from soft pink then to deep ruby red. When looking westward you can see the twilight wedge, which is a mixture of Earth’s shadow and scattered light. The pink and blue hues of the twilight wedge are separated by multiple layers. Most landscape photos begin coming to life as available light increases and details become obvious.

When the sun finally rises, deep ruby red and dark pink colors splash all over the terrain. Shadows come alive and retain purple and blue hues due to scattered light. The contrasts of red and blue are at a pinnacle, and will arguably provide for the best landscape pictures. The mixture of colors and shadows helps distinguish form, shape, and texture, and these compositional elements should be utilized. The color of light is quickly changing from red to yellow, and you must react very fast if you decide to change composition or frame.

As the sun continues to rise in the sky, colors shift from yellow to white. This is why the first hour of sunrise and sunset is called the “golden hour“, because red light shifts to gold. After the first hour of sunrise the color of light begins turning whiter and is not conducive to most landscape photography. The only circumstances that could create gorgeous photos in midday are during storms when the sun breaks through high clouds illuminating spots of land. Otherwise, forget about taking good landscape pictures – they will not be compelling.

Photo by Chris Sorge; ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/1250-second exposure.

The best time of day to create evocative landscape imagery is during twilight and sunrise/sunset. There are rare exceptions when these “rules” do not apply, which is why if you are seriously considering landscape photography you must be out in the wilderness during these hours. Yes you will miss breakfast and dinner, yes it will be hard waking up very early in the morning, and yes you will be frustrated many times when the photo opportunities are just not there because it’s too cloudy, or no clouds, etc. But who ever said photography was easy?

This stuff is not meant for the meek. As with anything in life you have to really want it. You have to be passionate about taking away a beautiful photo, even though it took many visits to the same spot to get your photo. This stuff can be grueling at times, but for me, the rewards far outweigh the repeated disappointments. I hope this article has helped those seeking to become landscape photographers.

About the Author:
This article was written by Stefan Hofer (stefanhoferphotography.com). A creative photography enthusiast.

123Photogo.com

Entertainment & Learning for the Photographer

THIS WEEK’S WINNING PHOTOS INCLUDE A SNAKE EATING AN APPLE? REALLY?

Posted on February 8, 2017 by 123photogo

Leave a Comment

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

FEBRUARY 9TH, 2017

As I start to put this week’s photos together, I have already found some of the most amazing photos. I am so excited to share with you this week’s Photos. Beautiful, amazing photos from some of the best photographers around the world. Every Thursday, I look all over the internet, Facebook, Pinterest, wherever, to find photos that are worthy of being called winners, Photos of the Week. Hope you enjoy this week’s winners:

Photo by Sean Nicholas > Photoshop & Lightroom

I love a creative portrait. You take a beautiful girl, put her in a costume and special makeup and you now have a beautiful art piece as well. This has been tastefully done to bring out a special feeling of a warrior princess to me. Congratulations Sean on this masterful Portrait. This is a fun portrait, and worthy of “Portrait of the Week”.

Photo by Todd Wall

Some people just know how to use all the rules of composition to put together the perfect photo! And Todd has graced this page before and you can see why. The leading lines, the color of the picture, everything about this makes me want to hang it on my wall. Congratulations Todd, for putting together a great masterpiece. And the Title of the picture: “Fall up the Tracks”

To see more of Todd’s pictures, or to shop for some of his art, go to:

https://www.facebook.com/ToddWallPhotography/?pnref=lhc#

Giulieta Alfa Martina Romeo w/ Roberto Tozzi

Whoa! This photo just stops and grabs you for a moment. Is that a ??? No, it’s a ? You are right. This is a photo of great still photography and makeup done to perfection. What is still photography done with makeup like this? Magnificent. Anything that will make you stop and stare at it for a moment will be worth the time to realize the time and effort this took to put this photo together. Really. Amazing photo, and time went into this. This had to be worthy of being a “Photo of the Week”

SUNSET IN FROSTY

🇱🇺 by Milly

Sometimes the winter and fog can bring us some amazing photos if you look for it. And if you get the timing of the light, and angle just right, you can create an amazing photo from what normally seems like just a ho-hum picture. But, look at how Milly took this opportunity to take a chain link fence and barbed wire fence covered with frost, and waited for the backlight of the sun to create an amazing photo. I know that sometimes patience will often create the best photo. Congratulations to Milly for capturing this photo.

Unknown Photographer

Sometimes I hesitate posting a photo that has “Unknown Photographer”. One time I did that, I had the photographer reach out to me and prove that he was the actual photographer. I was glad to re-post the photo and give them the credit they deserve. This photo is one that truly is just one of those that you can tell just is a piece of art. I don’t know how far it has gone around the internet. To me there are several kinds of people who would love this photo: the horse lover, the winter season lover, and the sunset lovers. All in one photo. What a great picture. So, hopefully, I will re-post this again as the photographer is found.

Photo by: Claudio Piccoli . Photoshop & Lightroom

Claudio has such a feel for photographing dogs. Now, I hope you will take a moment and enlarge this or see it on your computer, not just on your cell phone, because you have to see the dog’s eyes. They have such an expression. This just makes this whole photo just priceless. What a great capture of a dog having a good time. Congratulations Claudio for showing us another great photo this week that truly makes us all smile.

Claudio is a well know photographer in taking pictures of dogs and other animals. See more of his work on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/claudio.piccoli.photographer/

Or check out his own website: http://www.claudiopiccoli.com/

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

————————————————————————

That is this week’s Photos. Amazing. And I think I could enjoy all of these on my wall. I hope you enjoyed them too. See you next week for more great photos.

123photogo.com

Entertainment & Learning for the Photographer

WHAT IS THE LARGEST FAMILY PHOTO YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN? HERE IS ONE THAT HAS 500 PEOPLE !

Posted on February 8, 2017 by 123photogo

123Photogo

Entertainment and INSTRUCTION for the Photographer