God-rays can come and go fast. Other times they may linger a bit longer. When you are lucky enough to be able to include them in your imagery they just add so much warmth and wonder to these images.

This image was taken at Big Sur, California. The God-rays just draw you to the background. Yet, it helps to have a strong foreground. The ice plant in the foreground adds color and interest. There are rock in the middle ground. When we have a strong foreground, middle ground, and background you typically have depth in your image.

          God-Rays can be very difficult to photograph. The are typically very bright compared to the rest of the image. This makes getting the best exposure tricky. Make sure your camera is set to display blinkies when either the dark or brights are blown. Use your histogram. Remember that the right side of the histogram represent your brights while the left side represents your darks. Set your exposure such that the histogram is just, just not touching the right side. This may mean that your darks may be too dark. Your photo may not look nice at all. As long as your blacks are not touching the left edge of the histogram wall you are fine.

          In post processing just bring your darks back to life by sliding your dark slider to the right. It may also be beneficial to get to know your camera's sensor. I sometimes shoot even though my blinkies blink on my highlights. I have learned how much I can recover in post. Now I never do this if I don't need to. How do you know when you need to? You need to if your blacks are clipping. Another way is to bracket and blend. Personally, I will always do my best to get the image in one shot if possible.

          Do your best to work fast as you may loose the God-rays at any moment. This is way it is important to know your gear. This is not the time to figure out histograms or settings. You need to be able to control your gear without thinking so that you can be fast and so that you can concentrate of composition.