I have been searching for setup advice on taking a beach sunrise shot but haven't found anything specific enough yet so I thought I was just post the question.

I shoot with a D100 with a 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF Zoom-Nikkor lens. I will also use a tripod. I will be there on Saturday, 6/26

Any recommendations on how to setup, set exposure, etc?

Thanks

No real difference for any sunrise. Regardless of whether this is an east coast (into the sun) or west coast (away from the sun) you will benefit greatly from a graduated neutral density filter. What are you looking to shoot? Sea stacks, waves, or ....?

Bob Johnson
Earthbound Light
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
http://www.earthboundlight.com

Bob Johnson - Earthbound Light - Nikonians Gallery
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Lots more new images!! - Weekly Phototips and Articles - RSS Feed

I shot a beach sunrise a few years back at Atlantic City, NJ. I metered for the water (which will be reflecting the sun). Started shooting prior to the sunrise and up to where the sun is completely above the horizon. Got great color and about 30 good frames from a roll of film (though they were nearly all identical).

For me, the sunrise over water was much easier to capture than a sunrise over land. I suspect it's all in the reflective quality of water.

Good luck, let us know how it works for you!

Callsign: KB3QMT
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~jeff.t.bishop/NewBuild/Index.html
Gallery: http://www.nikonians-images.com/galleries/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5650

”It’s light and nothing more…”
Jeff Bishop

M a r k . E

Dpends on what you *want* it to look like. To record the sky colors as you see them, marke's method should get you there. Be aware that the sky though will be much brighter than the land so if you are using a grad ND you will need to meter on the foreground and the sky, determine the difference and use a filter than will render the sky as you want it.

Bob Johnson
Earthbound Light
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
http://www.earthboundlight.com

Bob Johnson - Earthbound Light - Nikonians Gallery
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Lots more new images!! - Weekly Phototips and Articles - RSS Feed

Appreciate the quick replies.

What I want.....I hope for realy cool sky colors with some dunes and grass in in the foreground, ocean in the mid ground and the sun and sky/clouds in the background. I do not have a filter right now, but I will go to my local photo store and purchase if need be. Given that, not having one, if there is a steep learning curve in using one, I will need to consider that in my prepration for my Sat am shoot. I'm also shooting from the east coast.

I'm basically a novice that loves top notch equipment. I have had my D100 for just over 4 months now and just love taking a photo, processing it in Photoshop CS, posting it to my website, and receiving positive comments.

I can't wait to get up early and see what I can do. Whatever preparation I need just post and I will give it my best shot!

Marke - I only see a red x right now on the pic you posted.

Thanks again.

Since you are shooting digital, shoot multiple shots at different exposures and combine them in Photoshop later instead of using the grad ND. I still use grads to cut down on some of this work, but you don't need one.

Meter on the sky and remember what the setting needs to be. Ditto for the foreground and midground.

Set up your composition as you want it. Focus where you want (I'm asuming you will be stopped down enough to account for depth of field issues). Now, don't change any setttings other than the shutter speed from here on.

Now set your exposure for each of what you determined you will need and shoot away.

If you are shooting east after the sun gets above the horizon watch out for flare.

I'm on the west coast but shoot at sunrise on the beach a lot.

Bob Johnson
Earthbound Light
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
http://www.earthboundlight.com

Bob Johnson - Earthbound Light - Nikonians Gallery
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Lots more new images!! - Weekly Phototips and Articles - RSS Feed

"Since you are shooting digital, shoot multiple shots at different exposures and combine them in Photoshop later instead..."

HEY, that's cheating!

Are we trying to make better photographers or darkroom wizards? I am of the school of thought that once the shutter is pressed the image in your mind should be there of the film or ccd or whatever. Anything beyond that is starting to become less photographer, and more like oil painter.

I am not saying not to manipulate and have fun with some of your images, making them into variations of the original. We just need to be careful straddling that line. But that is just me, I could be totally wrong.

Actually, that is just my jealous film bias speaking out on all those digital advantages.

biographie
My Nikonians Image Gallery

>I am of the school of thought that once the
>shutter is pressed the image in your mind should be there of
>the film or ccd or whatever.

Then Ansel Adams was the biggest cheater ever.

Combining different exposures in Photoshop in order to overcome the ability of the sensor to record what your eye can see is not cheating.

Cheating would be if you never even went to the beach, or if you did, that the sun never rose because it was cloudy, or if you painted in the Loch Ness monster or something.

Bob Johnson
Earthbound Light
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
http://www.earthboundlight.com

Bob Johnson - Earthbound Light - Nikonians Gallery
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Lots more new images!! - Weekly Phototips and Articles - RSS Feed

I have agreed with that evaluation of Adams. He wasn't nesseccarily the best photographer, but his darkroom work is great. I have always thought that if he was shooting slide film, many of the images he captured would have been terrible.

biographie
My Nikonians Image Gallery

Thanks again. I'm a novice for sure but I have come to the understanding that shooting digital there will always be some sort work in the digital darkroom. I have played around with combining different exposures in Photoshop with mixed results. I will give it my best shot and post my results later for comments. It seems like the more I understand with photography in general and my D100 the more I realize there is to learn. Anyway, the last few months certainly have been fun.

Later

Since you mention you're in the novice stage, just a note on metering. Bob says above to: "Meter on the sky and remember what the setting needs to be. Ditto for the foreground and midground."

You don't want to be using Matrix metering when you do this. Use spot metering and zoom in as close as you can to get a spot reading on just the part you want (bright sky, dark water, whatever). That will get you the right meter reading. The spot meter reads an area a bit bigger than the centre focusing rectangle in the viewfinder.

Remember though, that each of those meter readings will be what is needed to turn that particular part of the picture into a mid-tone (neither bright nor dark). If you want that particular part to be brighter or darker, you need to use a bit less or a bit more exposure.

Example: you meter the sky at a certain place. Let's say you're using f.16 and you get a reading of 1/60 sec. You want that place to be brighter than a middle tone, but not totally bright washed out. So, you decide to make it one stop brighter. That means it needs one more stop longer exposure (the longer something's exposed, the brighter it gets). One more stop of speed puts you at 1/30 (remember, you're keeping the aperture the same so you don't get different depths of field in the pictures you want to combine). If you use Manual exposure, just adjust the needle settings in the viewfinder by turning the speed dial until you hit +1 (note that's to the left of center, unlike what you might expect). Then make a note of what speed that gives you (1/30 in my example). Then do the same for other parts of the picture - darker stuff you may want to put at -1, for example. Make a note of what that gives you. Shoot at those various settings, combine, and enjoy.

Nothing but experience will teach you what +1, 0, and -1 really look like, but the idea is fairly simple.

Doug G.

Doug G

Remember that once you have the images on disk, you can combine them again later on, as your experience in the digital darkroom increases. Capturing good material to begin with is just as important as ever and once that is done you can keep reworking it again and again. Just like Ansel did.

Also, digital darkroom work isn't so much as "necessary" as it is an opportunity to take control of the "second half" of photography. With film (for the most part) once you press the shutter you're done. You give the film to a lab and they do the rest. With digital, you can take control.

Bob Johnson
Earthbound Light
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
http://www.earthboundlight.com

Bob Johnson - Earthbound Light - Nikonians Gallery
Nature Photography from the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Lots more new images!! - Weekly Phototips and Articles - RSS Feed

Glad I checked one last time before leaving. I'm printing this thread and heading to the beach. I will practice this evening during the sunset as well. Thanks so much and I will let you know how it goes.

Got back yesterday and it worked out pretty well, I think.

I have not tried to blend two different exposures so what you see is as shot with one having a minor exposure adj as I shoot RAW. I was surprise at the coloring looking so cool. It looked a but flat on TV.

Anyway, here they are and I'm open to comments/suggestions.

Attachment #1, (jpg file)
Attachment #2, (jpg file)
Attachment #3, (jpg file)