How to Shoot Dawn Shots made simple.

Urunga at Dawn is something heavenly.

  

Ten helpful tips by a super photographer Heather Angel on shooting dawn shots.

1. Check time of sunrise or sunset and aim to get on site well beforehand so you have time to select the best camera angle and lens. Remember to pack a flashlight – particularly in the morning.
 2. Use the brief time when the sky is lit indirectly by a magical alpenglow, before the sun rises or just after it sets, as clouds and snow-capped mountains are painted with a rosy glow that may also be reflected in water.
3. To increase the depth of field of a static subject and to soften moving water, use a long exposure with the camera on a tripod.
4. If including active wildlife in the shot, either go for a slow shutter speed to gain creative blur, or push up the ISO.
5. To balance out the exposure between a bright sky above and a darker scene below either use a grad neutral density filter or bracket the exposures and combine using HDR.
6. Use people to provide scale alongside tall buildings or on bridges.

7. Reduce risk of camera movement spoiling a shot

• use a remote release or a self-timer
• lock up the mirror
• add extra weight to the tripod center column

8. If there is not enough light on a foreground subject, paint with a continuous LED light.
9. Look for shapely silhouettes to set off against a colorful sky.
10. Use a long lens to find a picture within a picture.

by Heather Angel PIXIQ
 Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr