Fujifilm X-T4 +16mm F/1.4 R WR: 120s, f/11, ISO160

If I were to summarize this morning’s sunrise in one word, it would be “suboptimal,” but that would make for a very short update. People who know me would never conjure the word “succinct.”

It all started when the morning crew met up in the parking lot and not 2 minutes later, another unassociated morning crew of photographers also arrived. It’s an easy place for photographers to encroach on others’ shots. Despite being a negative tide this morning, sand erosion meant it was unavoidable that the trim of our shorts would get wet this morning. The wind raked the water’s surface, making for non-glassy water conditions. The rock walls have been reworked since the last time I was out here. They’re quite a bit taller and looser than it had been, making the composition I visualized unattainable. I spent the better part of nautical twilight and a beautiful blue-hour burn searching for another composition, and when I found a spot and experimented with camera positions… I set up too low and got the following shot:

When the exposure finished and I checked the result, I realized I set the tripod up too low. The rocks in the foreground overwhelm the image so much that it takes away from the sky and the island in the distance. I decided to readjust the tripod to a higher angle getting a better balance of ocean into the shot, but by that time, the sun was ready to peak above the horizon. I had to switch filters to compensate for the added brightness and by the time the setup was complete, the sun had risen prominently above the horizon and left its hot-spot stain on my exposure.

In my desperate attempt to salvage the photo, I liquified the the hot spot to somewhat resemble the sun’s signature spherical shape, and I mixer brushed the corona to diffuse the yellow-orange glow. (The mixer brush is a tool I typically use for skin retouching, like a make-up sponge) Speaking of skin retouching, I am looking for models again to rework the portrait muscles if anyone’s interested in volunteering their time. Today’s compromise ended up being a good exposure / bad composition option, or a bad exposure, better composition option, but neither photo is one I particularly love.

Still, as early as it was waking up in the morning, and as lethargic as I felt in the afternoon when the coffee effects wore off, it was worth the while.

08.01.2020