Early Morning Glory

[Sailorstu]

My first sunrise outing since picking up a DSLR. My better half was amazed when I hopped out of bed at 4:30 am, grabbed a coffee, and started shooting by 5:15 at one of my favourite spots in Ottawa called New Edinburgh Park. C and C welcome.
The Old Ottawa City Hall

Just after sunrise.

Plane flying into the sunrise. Just before sunrise.

[Barbara Ponder]

Lovely images! I especially like the 2nd one!

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Nice. Getting out of bed early paid dividends big time.
Now, what DSLR got you up and going so early?

[Sailorstu]

[QUOTE=AlwaysOnAuto;510057]Nice. Getting out of bed early paid dividends big time.
Now, what DSLR got you up and going so early?[/QUOTE

Canon T5i. I'm a relative beginner but I have to say this makes a great retirement hobby!

[Stagecoach]

Good set Stu, it's the best time of day to get the camera out No 3's my favourite.

[ST1]

Excellent set Stu and well worth getting up early for. The mirror surface on the water and your compositions have worked very well.

[IzzieK]

Love #1 and #2 very much...You should wake up early more often...The reflection on #1 is very engaging...and #2 is just glorious. For a beginner, you did very well. Now that you are retired and hooked on photography, it will be nice to see more images from your sojourn.

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[Krawuntzel]

Hello Stu
impressive work for your first DSLR-sunrise.
I like #2 best: good composition of a calm early morning with subtle colour transitions in the sky and water. For my eyes a little bit dark in the trees.
#1 is also nice; I would crop a bit from the right, to get rid of the tree/bushes at the bridge and especially the weeds (?) in the lower right corner; this would also slightly off-center the building.
#3 for me poses a problem: the "tracks" of the plane as a symbol of noise - although kind of a leading line towards the rising sun - somehow "destroy" the calm mood of the early morning; just my opinion.
And a question: the EXIFs of #2 give a shutter speed of 1/1600s at ISO 200 and F/9???
Erwin

[Sailorstu]

Hello Stu
impressive work for your first DSLR-sunrise.
I like #2 best: good composition of a calm early morning with subtle colour transitions in the sky and water. For my eyes a little bit dark in the trees.
#1 is also nice; I would crop a bit from the right, to get rid of the tree/bushes at the bridge and especially the weeds (?) in the lower right corner; this would also slightly off-center the building.
#3 for me poses a problem: the "tracks" of the plane as a symbol of noise - although kind of a leading line towards the rising sun - somehow "destroy" the calm mood of the early morning; just my opinion.
And a question: the EXIFs of #2 give a shutter speed of 1/1600s at ISO 200 and F/9???
Erwin

Hi Erwin, thanks for all of the feedback.

#1 - I included the weeds in the lower right to try to add some depth perspective but perhaps they become a distraction. I agree that the trees to the right don't add anything - I guess initially I was thinking that when combined with the trees on the left they would frame the buildings. I am including another composition of that photo but I am struggling also with this one. You will see I included a bridge on the left and I wanted to hang on to every bit of reflection, including the big tall structure's reflection. To do so I need to keep the trees to the left edge of the photo and some of the weeds in front bottom left. Again, in some respects I like having the weeds in to offer the photo more depth. What do you think of the new one?
#2 - You are correct on the EXIFs for this one. (1/1600s at ISO 200 and F/9). I took about 250 photos on this outing and before going out I had read a few articles on shooting sunrises/sunsets. One article recommended sticking to F/8 - F/11 and then playing with shutter speed and ISO to achieve the desired exposure. When I first arrived I was shooting with a 1600 ISO because it was so dark (which is why #1 is noisy). As soon as it became lighter I turned back ISO (perhaps too much). Anyway, I have a variety of shots that I haven't processed yet but I like this version of #2 because I have tried to keep the sun and its reflection more subtle and less prominent than it is in some of my other exposures where the brightness of the sun washes out the sky more.
#3 - As you will see from the "new version of #1" that I am posting I was contending with alot of airplane contrails in the sky so I caught many in these photos including in #3. In #3 I decided I liked the symbolism of the line tracking toward the sunrise.
Thanks for all of the feedback and input. If you have other advice on taking these types of photos, particularly settings you have found that work best in this type of situation I would be most appreciative to receive it.

I would appreciate any other advice or thoughts on taking these types of photos. I really like sunrise and sunsets and there is some great scenery to accompany them around Ottawa.

[Sailorstu]

Nice captures.

Thanks Shadowman!

[Sailorstu]

Love #1 and #2 very much...You should wake up early more often...The reflection on #1 is very engaging...and #2 is just glorious. For a beginner, you did very well. Now that you are retired and hooked on photography, it will be nice to see more images from your sojourn.

Thanks Izzie - my retirement passion is only infringed upon by higher priority taskings coming from my loving better half which explains me getting up at all hours!

[Sailorstu]

Excellent set Stu and well worth getting up early for. The mirror surface on the water and your compositions have worked very well.

Thanks Peter!

[Sailorstu]

Good set Stu, it's the best time of day to get the camera out No 3's my favourite.

Thanks Grahame, I'll definitely be going out early again. I just need to plan for a longer shoot because the lighting is fantastic in the immediate aftermath of sunrise - I didn't realize just how fantastic it was.

[Sailorstu]

Lovely images! I especially like the 2nd one!

Thank you Barbara, #2 is my favourite as well.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I never would have guessed, based on those shots, that you area a beginner Stu.
Nice work.

[bnnrcn]

Lovely shots

[Sailorstu]

I never would have guessed, based on those shots, that you area a beginner Stu.
Nice work.

Thanks Alan. Lots of time in retirement to read and learn and I'm out nearly daily to take photos to improve. Great hobby.

[Sailorstu]

Lovely shots

Thank you Binnur!

[deetheturk]

Very nice Stu, I really like this image!