Sunset over the Sogne Fjord in Norway. Photo: John Einar Sandvand
PICSPIRATION SUNDAY: Two hours passed as five minutes when I admired the sunset over the Sogne Fjord in Norway.
I am on summer vacation and decided to go for a few days car trip to Norway´s longest fjord: The Sogne Fjord (Sognefjorden). One night I found myself at Stegastein – a beautifully built view point close to Aurland. It was indeed a photographer´s dream.
The camera all set up for sunset photography.
I ended spending almost two hours at Stegastein, marvelling over how the colors and light changed as the sun sent its last rays over the beautiful fjord. Of course I was not alone. Tourists came and left, all impressed by the view.
For a short while most of the sun was covered by skies – and the sun light was sent very focused in one direction. This was the effect you see on this photo.
When doing sunset photography I usually try to be at the location at least an hour before the time of sunset, preferrably more.
Tips
- Check Suncalc.net – a great site for landscape photographers where you can easily see the time of sunrise/sunset for any location.
Technical info
ISO: 100. Aperture: f/13 to give sufficient depth of field. As sunset are high contrast scenes I chose HDR to get all elements exposed correctly. The photo is composed of five exposures: 1/80 sec, 1/40 sec, 1/20 sec, 1/10 sec and 1/5 sec.
I do the basic editing in Lightroom and then use HDR Efex Pro to put the exposures together. HDR Efex Pro is an excellent program, with lots of presets. I usually click through these, and choose the one that gives the most natural look. Then I tweek a little on the settings, before moving back to Lightroom.
The final touches were done in Lightroom.
Photo location