HDR of Mill Ave Bridge

I’m really like taking photographs of bridges and while in Phx. I did this HDR capture of the bridge and some architecture. I waited until sunset since the sky was hosting some great clouds.

Capturing that perfect sunset

Photographing the perfect Sunset – Part 1

When’s the last time you looked at a sunset? No, I mean really stopped, sat down and watched a sunset develop. Well my friend this is the first step to being able to capture a great sunset photograph.

Yes we all have busy lives and we see the sunset every day as we perform our many daily tasks so we don’t need to study a sunset to take a picture right? Wrong, if you want a sunset image that everyone wishes they photographed one must know a few things first.

Ok, here’s the deal, one day a mate comes along  and asks me “You mind Googling Sunsets?” so yes we consulted the mighty Google   <– a quick Bow here –>  and we got many sunset pictures to view and compare.

Now the question was “look how awesome that sunset picture is”, and over here is one with similar clouds, color etc. but just looks like another average sunset picture. Why does the first one have these awesome rays of sunlight bathing across the landscape, really rich colors and the 2^nd sunset pictures although it’s a nice sunset it just not that knock out picture like I want to capture.

You see kind readers, they shot this sunset picture at the wrong time for the type of picture he wanted to capture. Seems logical I know but let me explain, I give myself about 1 hour on location to photograph a sunset. A sunset lasts lets say 10 to 15 minutes max (at least the sweet spot of a sunset) and out of that the time we have about 5 to 10 seconds to actually capture those perfect rays of sunlight that bath the desert floor.

These precious few seconds when the sun is dropping below the horizon and at just the right moment, presents us with a bouquet of beautiful sun rays that disappears in a blink of an eye.

Take a moment to water the local plant life and you’ll miss it, grab a water out of the cooler, you might see it but you won’t capture it, give the sweetheart a few smooches while enjoying the beautiful sunset… it’s gone! (Ok maybe in the last case we don’t care and we’ll come back another day to get the shot.)

You get the idea we have to be ready, prepared, anticipating the moment, and you’ll have the killer sunset image that everyone wishes they had photographed.

Yes I agree there are many beautiful sunsets photographed before and after this short window of time, but if you want to get more images like this, take the time to study and enjoy a few sunsets, we can easily prepare ourselves for that narrow window of time that produces this type of sunset image.

Don’t Miss the Tucson Lightning Show

Lightning in the Tucson area is one of the most impressive and phenomenal events that occur during the summer monsoon season. The five mountains ranges that surround the Tucson area provide the absolute perfect backdrop for outdoor photography enthusiasts at any time of the year. Tucson’s’ monsoon season provides an element of drama to the already scenic composition of sunsets, natural desert plants, geographic layout.  

 

While out on a photography assigment the Monsoons rolled in and put a hult to the current project scheduled for the evening. So after packing up to head home the lightning was close by and I pulled of setup and captured this shot.

Photography by 520 memories

Behind the lens Tips and Tricks

Behind the lens is were to find tips, tricks and techniques to get your best shots while in Arizona. How I captured the photo and More!

The Glow of a Sunset can be awesome

The disappearance of the sun below the horizon is referred to as a sunset. Just before and after it disappears below the horizon is when we photograph these beautiful Arizona sunsets.

Another advantage to capturing Arizona Sunsets is monsoon storms,  they often bring lovely sunsets afterwards. As the sun was setting the glow was awesome I couldn’t pass up photographing this sunset.

Photography by 520 Memories

Lightning in Arizona is Killer during the Monsoons

One of my favoriate things to photograph is Lightning during Arizona’s monsoon season.

Sunsets at Gates Pass Tucson

While Arizona is known for beautiful sunsets, gates pass in Tucson is popular spot with photographers and tourist alike.

Photographing UFO’s in Arizona

Ok, not really but I thought this was some pretty cool time lapse captures.

While I was in Phoenix doing a photography job at ASU I wanted to do some HDR images at sunset so  after finishing up I found a spot that I wanted to do a couple of HDR shots. While photographing the HDRs I noticed all the planes over head making an approach to the airport and did this Time Lapse of the planes and lightning.
550 frames captured for this movie, 13 frames a second for the movie.

Black and White Saguaro Cactus

I love black and white pictures. I photographyed this Saguaro as the sun was going down.

Black and white pictures can be some of the best ways to showcase the Arizona terrain. Sometimes I will set out to capture images in black and white and timing is important. For a good black and white image I want good contrast and so I shoot these early in the morning or later in the evening as the sun is setting. I look for spots with good cross light to really pop the contrast in the mountains.

picture by 520memories

Time Lapse

New Time lapse

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