Monday, February 16, 2009

Sun Rising Over Watson Lake

The sun just moments after cresting the horizon - Watson LakeA friend (and fellow photographer)invited me to visit him up north for a visit and a photo shoot. We shot at Watson Lake outside Prescott, AZ starting just before the sun crept over the horizon. It was a beautiful cold Arizona morning and some of the snow from a previous storm remained despite a week of warm daytime highs in the 40's.

After shooting the ambient light of the rising sun, I wanted to try something a little different and use some strobes. The foreground of this image is lit predominately by strobes. As you might guess, shooting into the sun with the surfaces of the foreground facing away from the sun (toward the camera), they would have been very dark without a little help from artificial light.

Strobist Info:
2 SB900's and 1 SB800 camera right (needed lots of light to compete with the bright sunlight)
1 SB800 camera left to throw a splash of light on the left side of the main rock in foreground.
All strobes fired full power using CLS

6 comments:

Shining Windows said...

wow! love your work. thanks for leaving a comment on my nyc series. i am new to all this.

Elvis Milic said...

Hey Darren,

Thanks for leaving a comment about our "lemon" shoot. My wife actually came up with the title as I never heard it before but loved it for the pictures we posted. I am not a member of the AZPPA. I was thinking about them as well as the ASMP. I have not had enough time to join and be a part of all these groups which I would love to join. I do like your work...edge with lots of contrast...great stuff...take care! Elvis

Andrea Hanks said...

Darren, you made my day with your positive feedback on my Dreamworks stuff. I used my SB800 on camera and realized I really should have had more light. I did another shoot last week for Bathcrest with another photographer and we used four strobes. The commercial stuff is super tough.I see that you have a great understanding on how to light everything well. I am really impressed with all of your stuff. I may become a fan of your blog!

i love beauty said...

Hey darren, some of your images are realle bombs! I adore this one with the stone. Did you use HDR for that? Thanks for you invitiing comment in my blog. Yes the secret is the softness right ( ;

Cheers
Madelein from Ireland

Poppa-D said...

@Madelein from Ireland,

No HDR on these. The dynamic range (or appearance if it, anyway) on the shot with the stone in the water is because I used to strobes to illuminate the foreground.

Ben and Janelle said...

Hey. Stumbled upon your blog from some else's. I grew up just outside of Prescott (Chino Valley), so it was neat to find your blog and then find my hometown on there! Good work!