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John Vander Ploeg's picture

Awakening

Sunrise in the Mount Baker Wilderness

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4 Comments

Could you please guide us on how you made this photograph? I have tried several times creating a similar photograph, but I cannot seem to get the contrast that you get. Is this determined by the conditions or good editing?

Hi Bas, I think one of the biggest criteria for getting a shot like this is the dynamic range of your camera. Make sure it has at least 14 stops of dynamic range, more if you can get it. If your camera doesn’t have great dynamic range then you will be forced to bracket and blend images like this in post. While this may sound easy, in a forest scene like this one, it’s a little more difficult. Mostly because the foliage is being blown by the wind and it’s hard to get identical frames to overlay. If you do need to bracket I recommend using luminosity masks to blend the exposures. With all that said, I also used luminosity masks to target the highlights and then added a little saturation and luminosity. Thanks, hope this helps!

Thank you for your detailed response! I'm using the A7III, so it should work. I'll give it a shot!

You are welcome, the a7lll has amazing dynamic range you should be good!