Michael Tuuk
Pennybacker Sunset
My first trip up the cliffs near Pennybacker Bridge (after 20 years in Austin...photography makes you all of a sudden make a point to visit these places). All day long the sky had been full of amazing clouds so I figured this was as good a night as any to make this trip. What an awesome sky and an awesome viewpoint (actually many different viewpoints available up there).
Came away with 3 types of shots from the evening.
(1) Pre-sunset where the sun was behind the clouds. Great backlit clouds and eerie looks in the sky.
(2) The above view where the sun was sandwiched betwixt earth and clouds. Allowed for the cool starburst. Mix of clouds in sunlight and in shadow.
(3) After the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon. This had the deepest color across the horizon but the darkest sky with all clouds in shadow due to the thickness of the clouds on the horizon.
All of them were very cool in their own way but this is my current favorite. It was shot at f11. I also took this shot at f22 which made for an unbelievable sunburst -- the star effect extended across the bridge and all the way out of the frame. Loved that effect but it overwhelmed the image a bit. Maybe I'll post one of those for fun at some point. Even in this image (especially if viewed large) you can see effect just to the left of the bridge. [Update: Large starburst can be seen here: Large Starburst
I spent about an hour up there, watching the changes in the clouds and the light, snapping off some frames every few minutes. What a great place to sit and reflect on God's awesome creation.
5-exposure HDR, f/11, tonemapped in Photomatix, merged with original exposures in CS4. Cleaned up with Noiseware and and final touches in Lightroom.
Although I took this last night I'm cheating a bit and using it for today's dailyshoot.com photo [bird's-eye view]. I doubt I'll have time to shoot anything else today...
Pennybacker Sunset
My first trip up the cliffs near Pennybacker Bridge (after 20 years in Austin...photography makes you all of a sudden make a point to visit these places). All day long the sky had been full of amazing clouds so I figured this was as good a night as any to make this trip. What an awesome sky and an awesome viewpoint (actually many different viewpoints available up there).
Came away with 3 types of shots from the evening.
(1) Pre-sunset where the sun was behind the clouds. Great backlit clouds and eerie looks in the sky.
(2) The above view where the sun was sandwiched betwixt earth and clouds. Allowed for the cool starburst. Mix of clouds in sunlight and in shadow.
(3) After the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon. This had the deepest color across the horizon but the darkest sky with all clouds in shadow due to the thickness of the clouds on the horizon.
All of them were very cool in their own way but this is my current favorite. It was shot at f11. I also took this shot at f22 which made for an unbelievable sunburst -- the star effect extended across the bridge and all the way out of the frame. Loved that effect but it overwhelmed the image a bit. Maybe I'll post one of those for fun at some point. Even in this image (especially if viewed large) you can see effect just to the left of the bridge. [Update: Large starburst can be seen here: Large Starburst
I spent about an hour up there, watching the changes in the clouds and the light, snapping off some frames every few minutes. What a great place to sit and reflect on God's awesome creation.
5-exposure HDR, f/11, tonemapped in Photomatix, merged with original exposures in CS4. Cleaned up with Noiseware and and final touches in Lightroom.
Although I took this last night I'm cheating a bit and using it for today's dailyshoot.com photo [bird's-eye view]. I doubt I'll have time to shoot anything else today...