Pierre Steenberg

Maximizing skyscapes

September 03, 2017 • 2 Comments

What is the most interesting, the land or the sky? Whichever is the most interesting should be emphasized. If it is the land place the horizon on the top third or higher. If the sky is more interesting place the horizon on the bottom third or lower. Let's discuss this image: While the sky is busy lighting up and you know where the action is going...

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After sunset image post processing

August 27, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Let's start with the image today: This image was taken well after sunset. The foreground was pretty dark by now. Yet the sky was still quite bright, at least to the far right of the image. The light falling on the rocky hill is reflected light bouncing off of the clouds. With my Sony A7R II it is easy to lighten the dark shadows and black to recov...

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Anticipate good shooting opportunities

August 20, 2017 • Leave a Comment

It was a long day. We had been up since just after 4 am. We spent all day driving and hiking. We had kept a schedule similar to this for a number of day; it began to take its toll on our bodies. We were tired. We had a few hours free just before sunset. Everyone in our party took a nap; who can blame them. I really wanted to also take a nap but I j...

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Edit like a pro

August 13, 2017 • Leave a Comment

The tools available today to master your images are just mind boggling. I am amazed when I look at some of the files that my Sony A7R II produce in the most trying circumstances. Technology has not just developed on the hardware side but the software available today is just awesome. It used to be that you had to pay over $600.00 for PhotoShop. Now...

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Special phenomena

August 06, 2017 • 2 Comments

I am no weather scientist; I wish I was as it may come in very handy in the field of photography. I was shooting a seascape once and saw a bright light (sword like) going into the air starting at the horizon. This happened just after sunset. I had a scientist / encyclopedia type guy with me who explained the phenomenon scientifically. On another oc...

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Maximizing rainbows

July 23, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Who does not love a great rainbow? It is the rainbow that makes this image. I have said this many times before; when the storms come everyone goes inside but photographers grab their gear and go shoot. You have to be out there to get the image. Think safety first as storms can be dangerous. Please follow governmental guidelines for safety. Rainbow...

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Multiple lightning strikes during the day

July 16, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Getting multiple lightning strikes at night is easy; just leave the shutter open for a long while during a lightning storm. You can do that because it is dark and the image will not easily over expose unless there is too much lightning. Getting multiple strikes during the day is another matter (if you don't want your clouds blurred and your rain po...

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Using height

July 09, 2017 • Leave a Comment

There are more ways to create depth beyond just using lead-in lines and light. One can use height. Yes, when you are shooting down is just creates an open vista. It stretches the foreground and middle-ground thereby creating depth. Here is an example: This vantage point did not have the greatest amount of height but it was enough. Height enables y...

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Foreground, middle-ground, and background

July 02, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Not all photographs are the same. Not all landscape photographs subscribe to the same recipe. Some of them work very well without a foreground, while others don't really feature a middle-ground. Sometimes we break all the rules and still end up with a lovely image. Pro-photographers work beyond the rules, but they know what works, why it works, how...

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What you need to make day-time lightning images

June 25, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Let's look at our example image first today: This was taken late one afternoon. This was a fairly fast moving storm. The rain and lightning just took place in one area. Behind me was clear and bright. It was equally bright and clear to the left and to the right. Beyond the storm, straight ahead was also bright. So how do you control the ambient...

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