NZ Sunrise - Help!

[CamG]

Ok so this was taken from Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland, this is one of the better pics I got of the sun breaking over the clouds. But in the bottom half of the photo you can only just make out a tree line that was on the horizon.

Is there any way I can let more light in to capture these trees, without the sun washing out the picture, I took over 200 photos that morning and this captured the sun best, and I like the way it's interacting with the clouds, but as I said any help with the tree line would be awesome!!!

Thanks people!!

Camera: Fujifilm s1500
Tv: 1/2000
Av: 7.1
Exposure Comp: -1.67
Iso: 100
Flash: Off
Tripod: Yes

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi CamG,

Wow! This is a great image! I don't think that you need to include the tree line. I think it is great just the way that it is.

If you want to bring in the trees, you could try a subtle, realistic HDR. Or, you could blend two images together one of the sun and one for the trees. You could try reducing the shadows in camera RAW.

However, I don't think any of these methods will produce an exceptable image. I think it is best just like this.

Great image!

KG

[navcom]

What you are dealing with is dynamic range....that is, the range between the brightest and darkest spots in a scene. The human eye can see a much wider dynamic range than your camera can. This is the reason you "see" a sunset normally but your camera must decide between washing out the sky to get the foreground exposed or underexposing the foreground so the sky can be exposed properly.

In a sunset or sunrise, the dynamic range is huge. That's because your photo contains one of the brightest objects you can photograph...the sun. What you need to do is get the scene to fall into a narrower dynamic range. There are a couple ways to do this.

One way, as KG said, is to use HDR techniques. To do this you take three more more pictures of the exact same photo (read "tripod"). One image is exposed for the sky, one for the foreground, and one inbetween. Then use Photoshop or other software to merge the images together to ultimately get a higher dynamic range.

Another way (the one I prefer) is to use graduated neutral density filters. These are square or rectangular filters. Half the filter is clear and the other half looks kind of like the shade from a pair of sunglasses. The transition between clear and shade is "feathered" so you don't notice the transition as much. You place the shaded area over the sun and the clear area over the foreground and...viola!...the sun is "pushed back" in exposure and the image is equalized. In theory this works great. In reality, it takes a bit of practice...but it's not rocket science either.

Hope that helps!