Morning Sunrise With Majestic Oak Tree

[GMAN]

I headed east to a remote location and had to cross a few barbwired fences to get to this location. With my aperture set at 5.6, shutter speed 1/200th, with a focal lenth of 55mm, using my 55-255mm lens. Since this is all new to me, I failed to properly focus correctly, several times! This was the best out of about 30 exposures. This was my 1st sunrise and I was a bit worried about the proper settings. In time, I think that applying the proper settings and focusing correctly will come!..Any suggestions as to attaining the vivid blue sky?

Camera Model Name
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
Firmware
Firmware Version 00.00
Shooting Date/Time
2/16/2010 06:56:48
Tv(Shutter Speed)
1/200Sec.
Av(Aperture Value)
F5.6
Metering Modes
Evaluative metering
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
100
Lens
EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Focal Length
55.0 mm
Image size
4272 x 2848
Image Quality
-
Flash
Off
White Balance
Daylight
AF mode
Manual (MF)
Picture Style
Standard

[FocalFrenzy]

That's a gorgeous location. I can see why you went to the trouble of getting this shot. I use the same camera and have found that setting it to manual (M) mode, gives me the best results. Your exposure time seems to be about right, but if your F-stop had been set to a higher number (F9-F11), you would have a sharper image. In low-light conditions such as this, you may get a much slower shutter speed, but setting your camera on a tripod and using the self-timer or a remote release will insure a nice crisp shot. As for the blue sky, sometimes setting the white balance to "Tungsten" will help acheive this. If you shoot in RAW, and use the software that came with your camera, you can try different white-balance settings to help you get the desired effect. Then a curves or levels adjustment will fine tune the look your hoping for. I hope my comments have been helpful.

[navcom]

I agree with focalfrenzy's comments. Compositionally speaking, I like your shot. On the technical side, for the best image quality, always use a tripod whenever possible. This solves many image quality problems. Some other tips for sunrise photos...

- Use an aperture between f/8 and f/13. F/5.6 is too wide and will cause a narrow depth of field, leaving much of your image soft or even out of focus.

- Use the "shade" setting for white balance. Shade produces a warmer image which brings out sunrise colors better. "Daylight" will produce a cooler image and many of those reds and oranges will not pop as well. Better yet, shoot in RAW (and still use shade as the setting). That way you can change your white balance in post-processing at will with the push of a button.

- Use your shutter delay option (usually 2-second or 5-second...whatever your camera offers). This will give even better image quality as it will delay the picture long enough to allow the mirror to swing up and then waits till the camera settles down from it's movement before it opens the shutter itself.

Hope that helps!

[GMAN]

I appreciate the comments from both of you...It was really cold out and I was trying remember white balance, aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc, etc. I will head out there again tomorrow and attempt a crisper shot....I will also set my image quality to RAW. So f/8 - f/13 and a delay from 2 - 5 seconds, and I'll use shade for the white balance..I'll keep those things in mind!...

FocalFrenzy - check out this image of a tree that I photographed..It reminded me of yours!

[Abhi]

Nice composition.....lovely photo!!

[LeeR]

Wonderful shot. I have never seen jetstreams like that before. I know that if I was in that situation I'd be spending a great deal of time working with different arrangements of the elements you have here. Those lines are just amazing. Don't know that I could have done any better, but it sure would have been fun to try.

[craigmstevens]

I am actually glad you did not capture a vivid blue sky in this shot. To me the the orange creates a much more dramatic shot. I really like this shot.