Sunset Lighting, Barkers Creek Reservoir
Low lying clouds at sunset over the Barkers Creek Reservoir near Harcourt.
Sunset lighting is beautiful to behold and a joy to photograph. Here’s some thoughts for how to describe sunset together with tips for making great photos at either side of sunset.
Beautiful Sunset Lighting at Barkers Creek Reservoir
I dug deep into my photo vault to find this image. Made in Central Victoria at the Barkers Creek Reservoir near the tiny town of Harcourt.
Known for apples and wine Harcourt is just off the highway between Melbourne and the regional city of Bendigo, where my dear old mum was born.
The land where the house my mum was born in once stood now holds a motel. It’s just across the road from Lake Weeroona in North Bendigo.
I remember the time we all made the trip back to Bendigo for her older brother Bill Gearon’s 90th birthday celebrations. The next time we returned was for uncle Bill’s funeral.
How Best To Describe Sunset
Many words and terms are used to describe the sunset. Some adjectives that are commonly used to describe sunset include the following:
Romantic
Dramatic
Warm
Spectacular
Glorious
Magical
Apocalyptic
Flaming
Fluorescent
Golden
Brilliant
Strictly speaking sunset occurs when the upper edge of the sun appears to sink below the horizon as a result of what's referred to as the diurnal motion of the earth.
The diurnal motion refers to earth's daily rotation, from west to east, that causes stars and other celestial bodies to appear to move from east to west.
What matters to most of us is that, as the sun appears to drop below the horizon, light particles scatter and a lovely atmospheric effect evident as soft, warm light occurs.
It’s the crescendo of the golden hour, which many consider the time of day best suited to pictorial landscape and nature photography.
There are clearly many ways in which we could attempt to describe sunset. But I suspect most folks would speak of how, at that time of day, the sun bathes the world in warm, soft beautiful light.
More importantly they’d use adjectives to describe how they feel when experiencing the world about them at sunset.
And it’s that individual and most personal experience that we should all try to explore in the photos we make at sunset.
As Above So Below
This photo, while it appears to be a sunset, was actually made during the afterglow sometime after the sun had set below the horizon.
The secret to being able to anticipate a great afterglow photo can be described as follows:
A lack of clouds gathering along the horizon which might, otherwise, act to block the sun’s rays.
Overhead clouds which act as huge reflectors to catch and reflect the light back down towards the earth below.
Including a highly reflective surface, like water, in your composition can really bring sky and earth together into a harmonious composition.
I’m glad that, through careful exposure and processing, I’ve been able to hold tonality in the brightest areas of the sky.
Conversely I was happy for the deepest shadows to render black, thereby allowing them to help frame the surface of the water.
Patience in Photography Is Rewarded
Sunrises and sunsets are wonderful to behold. To have the opportunity to record your experience of such events is, perhaps, one of photography’s greatest gifts to the enthusiastic artist.
Just remember to arrive well before sunrise and, when it comes to sunsets, hold firm as the most beautiful light may not occur until twenty minutes or more after the sun has actually set.
Choose the Light To Live by
There is a sunrise and sunset everyday of our lives. We all have the choice to be outside and to connect with nature, regardless of where we live, at these times of day.
To witness, record and connect with such radiant beauty is, perhaps, one of life’s great experiences.
It’s such a simple choice to make. Yet we routinely choose to do other things.
Please make the decision to experience the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset at least once this week. And the more often you do it the more likely your life will change for the better.
For even in life’s darkest moments we can always choose the light.
That’s more than a metaphor, it’s a recipe for a happy life based around a transcendence.