This rugged Maine coastline Image was taken near the Owls Head light house in the Camden. I worked the area with a number of lens, angles and horizon lines but something was missing. Then the light came and just began to kiss the rocks and boulders above the water line.
You can get that great technical image and have the core elements within frame however when young lady light enters the area you have something fresh and exciting to work with and you had better be prepared to work fast and adapt to her whims and beauty.
What does that mean ? You need to keep an eye on your exposure, your high-tones are all going to go hot very quickly, (less than 2 minutes). Your subject of focus is probably going to move (less than 2 minutes). Where ? It depends are you side-lit or front-lit, Watch and create to take advantage. The two minute warning (of sorts) comes from the fact that the sunlight will travel noticeably every two minutes and the effect of this will be especially relevant in the shadows of early morning.
So you need to be prepared by understanding that fact, knowing your equipment; ie, What are your camera settings (AWB=cloudy), Picture control = Vivid, Push AWB +2 to warm or -2 to cool. There are other concerns, do you need a .9 split grad handy (I did on this Image).
I’m just saying that the 1/250 sec ‘click’ encompase all that you know, understand, feel and want to convey, it houses the equipment, travel, location scouting, it holds that 4AM alarm buzz to get here, so your are now here with the magic light and moment, ‘So you got one shot, don’t blow the opportunity’ because the virtual others may want to share that 1/250 sec …
