As a photographer, I wished that I had been able to isolate the red rose hips of these Sitka rode bushes … but it was nice to have a sunny day, and if it meant that I had to deal with sunlight on background, I couldn’t complain too much.
I was out at Fort Worden State Park shooting a roll of film (testing out a new-to-me camera) when I saw this group of bike riders silhouetted against the sky. I liked the two patches of sunlight on the grassy hill leading up to the riders. They came down the hill and rode up the road past me … and I took another photo of them riding away. The image shows a black top service road covered with forest litter after a particularly windy night.
Kodak Portra 400, converted to black and white in Lightroom.
Late fall has the madrone around Fort Worden losing their bark (well, they are losing something all year round, it seems). It adds some variation in the colors.
Images shot on Kodak Portra 400 with a Nikon F100.
There is quite a bit of difference between shooting into the sun and shooting away from the sun. There are many folks that caution you against shooting into the sun … there can be challenges with lens flare and reduced contrast. However, in the image above you can see the reflection of the sun on the pond … something you can’t get if you only follow ‘the rules’. The image below (Mt Baker in the distance) was shot a few minutes later than the above … away from the sun. It took less work to get a decent exposure, but it also doesn’t seem as dramatic.
Dappled light is charming, but getting the exposure right can be a challenge. There is quite a range of exposure values. Adobe Lightroom Classic is the program I use for ‘post-processing’. It’s a great tool for photographers … although there is a bit of learning curve.