Spring Sunset, Bandon, Oregon(c)Darlene Lyon Kruse - All Rights Reserved
"Spring Sunset, Bandon OR" reminds me that this old adage is at least partially true: "How do you make a good photograph? F/8 and be there" -- of the two, Be There is the vital one. 90% of the success of this photograph is because I was there...with my camera...on a tripod when Mother Nature put on her show. I wasn't in a restaurant eating dinner or at the motel watching TV. I was standing on the beach, in awe of what was happening in front of me. 10% is because of elements I had some control over: composition and exposure.
This is one of nearly 100 shots from that evening. What I love about this particular one are its painterly quality...the soft colors in the sky...the perfect clouds, just the right shape, just the right amount...the pink underpainting on the clouds...the rim light on the waves...and that one wave in the lower center that rises up with such energy and presence.
Often sunset photography at the Oregon coast means waiting in the wind and chill, hoping for a colorful sunset. Even on a seemingly clear day that holds the promise of a sunset full of color and light, the sun too often dips behind a cloud-bank or fog-bank and doesn't fulfill its promise. This evening, though, the sun put on a show of light and color, and I was rewarded for Showing Up, for Being Present.
Photographed with Nikon D300, 27-70mm f/2.8 lens at 35mm. ISO 100. Circular polarizing filer. 1/4" at f/16. Gitzo tripod with Linhof head.
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