I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days in New York last week. While I didn’t take that many pictures, my wonderful wife convinced me to go to the top of Rockefeller Center (the better view of NYC, in my opinion). I wasn’t even sure I was going to take my camera this trip, but in the end, I am glad I did.
As I was looking through my pictures, I noticed a simple, but important lesson that many people forget. Can 20 minutes really make a difference for a photograph? You be the judge:
The top photo was taken at 8:33 PM, the bottom photo at 8:54. I put both photos through my regular editing cycle, HUGE difference. Why the difference? The sun had gone below the horizon and we had entered the blue hour, pretty striking difference, right?
I could have taken a photo similar to this with a point and shoot, and a reasonable attempt with a cell phone. What did I do? I turned off the flash, and I used the plexi glass I was leaning against to steady myself, it helped with the slower shutter speed. Simple things like hanging around after the sun has set can add so much to an image! The sky was gray and flat, and I knew I wasn’t going to get the sunset I had hoped for, and while I could have settled for the top image, I knew if I waited just a little bit longer I could really get a special photograph.
If you are using a camera that allows for some control over the settings, I bumped up my ISO top 1000 (light sensitivity, but adds “noise” to image), that helped capture the light in the buildings, and let my shutter close a bit quicker. So next time you are out taking pictures, and you wonder what else you could do to make your photograph a little bit more special, wait 20 minutes.
Brady Withers Photography 