The Late Summer Sun

June brings opportunities for lighting scenes I don’t get to see often during the year. Driving around servicing clients after 5PM, at this time of year yields hours of daylight, and very special sunlight indeed. If I took this picture while the Sun was high in the sky the bottom half of the horses would be deep in shadow and the trees would have dark holes where the sun couldn’t reach. Late in the evening, when sunshine skirts the Earth, light spreads out across the landscape bathing objects in warmth and beauty.

This picture is from the West side of Marsh Creek State Park looking East over a horse farm towards the lake. The Sun was setting at my back (a bit to my left) lighting the horses, lake, boats and picnic area on the opposite shore. The only thing I needed to compensate for was my shadow, so I raised the camera high above me on the tripod, and chose a focal length to get a little farther away.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm f/16 ISO 100 5 image HDR