sunrise Archives - Laughing Frog Images

Going in for a swim.

Posted on November 11, 2015November 8, 2015 by Kurt

This image is part of the OBX sunrise series.

However, this image spoke to me and said that it was worthy of a post all its’ own.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I see things in images that not everyone else does… And, yes, I do believe that a picture can say a thousand words.

When you’re shooting (well, at least this happens to me), you don’t always notice everything that’s happening in an image at the time you’re making it. It’s also likely that not every happening and every detail stands out to you when you look at it on your camera screen. And sometimes, you really don’t see everything the first time you see it on your monitor.

Somewhere along the way – it hits you! “It” can be a lot of things.

“It” hit me in this case as I was preparing the OBX sunrise post.

Going in for a swim isn’t always just going in for a swim. Have you ever sat on a beach and seen a young child run towards the water, arms raised in excitement and anticipation? Or seen someone on their first visit to the ocean doing the same thing? If you take a breath and pause to savor the moment, it is a special moment to share, if only from a distance.

As I was going through the images, I noticed something in the lower left corner of this image that had eluded me before. Yes, there are the “big things” in this image. There’s the golden glow of the sun. The nuanced textures of the water and the waves. Footprints in the sand. There’s a lot going on here if you take the time to ponder the image, and not just look at it.

And, there’s what appears to be a sea gull in silhouette from the rising sun, it’s wings casting soft shadows. He or she is in mid-stride heading towards the water, wings outstretched like a child. Was it the anticipation of the morning swim? The excitement to catch a wave? The awe and energy of a new day?

I’d prefer to think that it was one of those instead of an early morning stretch!

What do you think was happening here?

The full image can be viewed by clicking here. You can find the sunrise gallery by clicking here.

It could look great on your wall. Or on a mug. Or a water bottle…

OBX Sunrise

Posted on November 9, 2015November 8, 2015 by Kurt

On a clear morning, there are few things like an OBX sunrise. OBX is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Don’t know where it originated or when, but it’s saves keystrokes so I’ll take it.

(And yes, to those of you who’ve seen it up and down the east coast, it’s beautiful everywhere!)

If there is no haze or clouds, it’s a pure unadultered and unobstructed sunrise – the sky lights up and the sun edges its’ way above the horizon. It doesn’t take all that long to happen either – all of the OBX sunrise photos added to the sunrises gallery on Laughing Frog Images were taken within a span of 15 minutes.

If you’re lucky like I was, pelicans, sea gulls and other shore birds will fly through your viewfinder and you’ll end up with the birds in silhouette.

Making your own sunrise over the water images like this is fairly easy. First, take the rule about not shooting into the sun and ignore it. Second, select a low ISO, Third, select a high shutter speed. Fourth, select a medium to high aperture. Then, shoot away! Vary your exposures by a stop or two up and down so that you get a broad selection of images to choose from.

The image above was made at ISO 100, 1/1000 second, and f8.

If you’re shooting with a smartphone, tablet, or point and shoot, and you can select the exposure point – pick right in the enter of the sun streak on the water. Then, move the selection point up, down, left and right so that you’ve got several different exposures to choose from.

If you like sunrises, check out the sunrise gallery.

If you like OBX sunrises, or any sunrises for that matter, but can’t get to the shore to photograph them yourself – well, we’ve got you covered – and covered for 25% off of sunrises and everything else on Laughing Frog Images through December 15, 2015.

Sunrise Done Different

Posted on March 3, 2015March 1, 2015 by Kurt

Most of the time you see a picture of a sunrise, the photographer is looking at the sun…

Always having to be different, the Frog presents an alternative way to capture a sunrise. Look the other way!

While on vacation in Hawaii (before you East Coast folks start, it’s closer to me than Boston is right now…) on the island of Kauai, I awoke to a very bright day (which is easy to do when you’ve traveled west).

I looked to the east, and the sun was hidden by a cloud layer. No shot there…

But, as I looked to the west, well, here’s what I saw:

The mountains were in shadow, the clouds were lit by the sun, there was a faint rainbow, and the moon was still out!

Being 2015 and all, I did what most anyone would do – I grabbed my phone to take a picture! I would have grabbed my camera, but the phone was closer and the rainbow was changing (for the worse) before my eyes as the sun rose behind me.

This image is straight from the camera’s raw file (Nokia Lumia Icon), and was cropped to a square image and converted to a jpg for posting and sharing.

I tried to play with it a bit in an editing program to bring out the rainbow, but as every action has a reaction, and the reactions were not favorable, I decided against that train of thought.

You can find the image here on Laughing Frog Images.

Thanks for looking!

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