Hauling around the old tripod (or not)

We pulled into Canyonlands NP in Utah for sunset photos. This park is huge, and without a definite place to photograph we drove to a popular overlook and parked. (As mentioned before, during the day you can hardly get a parking place here, but it was nearly 7:30 and the place was mostly empty.)

The sky to the west promised a kind of bland sunset with no clouds. I’d seen this many times. The sun would set behind a few mountains and with no clouds it would be pretty, but nothing to photograph. So, all that to say, I did not take my tripod, I told my wife, in fact, that I was just going to enjoy the sunset. But not being a complete fool I took my camera.

Why on earth am I laying on my belly taking photos the hard way?

We hiked along the rim trail for about a mile, the sun was getting low and just as I suspected, it was not going to be anything special. Then I turned around and saw a gorgeous rain cloud approaching. It was big and puffy and just starting to turn red. We got up and ran across the peninsula, for lack of a better term, and snapped a few photos. Curses!! I needed to use my graduated ND filter, which thankfully I had slipped into my jacket pocket, but I could not hold my camera and steady the filter while hand holding it. Curses again!! I needed my tripod. But I didn’t have time to run back to the truck and get it.

Time to improvise.

As you can see from the photo, I got on my belly, inched towards the edge of the cliff and used a rock and my sweatshirt for a tripod. I balanced all that so I could use my ND filter. While in the back of my mind I was a bit concerned about being a foot or two from the edge of a 500+ foot drop to the canyon floor, I steadied myself, held my breath and composed the shot. I took 5-6 exposures and thanked my wife for not laughing too much. Then she showed me the above photo.

Not at all graceful, but it worked!

Here’s the photo I laid down to get.

Why lens filters are so cool (and you need 'em)

I had just set up for what I hoped was going to be great sunset photography when a nice couple approached and asked what kind of filter I was using while photographing in Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah.

I explained to them that I was using a graduated ND filer. Clear on the bottom and gradually getting darker towards the top. I explained that it made the photo even as far as light was concerned, so you could balance the photograph. If you meter for the sky without one of these filters you will have a really dark foreground, in this case the canyon. If you try to get the canyon correctly exposed you will have a washed out sky, as you can see in the photo.

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A 3 stop graduated neutral density filter makes a huge difference in your photos, and saves tons of time in post processing.

He caught on right away, but she could not grasp the concept so I let her borrow it to shoot a few frames, but it wasn’t making a very clear difference on her camera - she had many setting on automatic. So I took the filter and placed it over half of my lens and snapped the photo so she could see the dramatic effect the filter made. It was an “ah-ha!” moment for her, and she said she’d be ordering one when she got back home.

Another woman standing nearby with whom we’d had a running conversation with also commented that she had a full set of filters, but that she’d forgotten to put them in her camera bag. (I am guilty of that) But she added that she could easily get the same effect in her processing back home. After that brag, and without missing a beat, she quietly asked if she could borrow one of my graduated ND filters for a few frames. Smart lady!

Using one of these dramatically decreases the amount of time you need to post process your photos. Buy some filters and use ‘em.

This is just one of the subjects I cover in my workshops.

** I use Singh-Ray filters for all my photography. (I do NOT get any compensation or discounts for this endorsement)