Feature Photo
"Sunrise Over the Smokies"

"Sunrise Over the Smokies" was photographed this spring in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I had the opportunity to photograph there for a week at the end of April and was blessed with exceptional conditions.

Technical Considerations:
Camera: Canon 1DS MKIII
Aperture: f/22 - A small aperture was used to maintain depth of field from the foreground tree through to the mountains in the background.
Shutter Speed: 1/4 sec
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 120 mm - A telephoto lens was used to compress the distance between the foreground trees and mountains. The telephoto lens also helped to make the sun appear larger and closer in the photograph.
Lens: Canon 70-200L
Filter: None
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 stop - I exposed for the highlights to protect them from overexposure and this required me to adjust the exposure compensation down -2/3 of a stop. This resulted in the trees going pure black, however, that was the visual effect I was after.
Tripod Used: Yes
Cable Release Used: Yes
Mirror Lock-Up Used: Yes

Creative Considerations:
When I arrived at this location it was approximately 1/2 hour before sunrise. I often like to arrive early to give plenty of time to work out a composition before the action happens! I usually look for three components, the background, mid-ground, and foreground. In this particular shot the background and mid-ground were obvious (as long as the light cooperated). What wasn't so obvious was the foreground, there were bushes, rocks, and of course trees. The other option was just to zoom in on the mountains and eliminate the foreground all together.

As you can see I choose to include the trees, mainly because I loved their starkness and the way they looked silhouetted. The placement of the trees was critical, I wanted to create good visual balance and also emphasise the large tree in the right foreground. I achieved this by placing the large tree one third in from the right and balanced it with a series of smaller trees occupying the left third of the scene. With the trees in place all that was required was to wait for the sun to make it's appearance!