Morning Reflection

There is just something magical about the morning light and the feeling you get when you hike up a mountain trail in the dark with only a headlamp and witness that first morning light hitting the peaks of the mountain tops (Alpen Glow).  After the wonderful sunrise, my wife and I sat on the banks relaxing and enjoying a granola bar before trekking back down the trail. The morning sun crept higher in the sky and as we were enjoying the warmth this stillness came over the lake and created a magical reflection. Bonus scene #2 arrived. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning at Lake Isabelle.

Photographers, you’ll notice I used an aperture of f/5.6 which is the lens’ sweet spot for sharpness.  I was able to control my depth of field with the use of a Tilt-shift lens. I was able to adjust my focal plane of my lens down about 2 degrees which allowed me to lower my aperture while keeping in focus not only the objects in the distance, but also the foreground elements as well.  Using a traditional lens I would have had to open up the aperture to f/11 or more to get all elements in the scene in focus. The higher f-stop also creates for more defraction in the lens and thus reduces the sharpness in the image. I wish I could afford a tilt-shift lens in my arsenal full time.  It’s a good thing that you there are companies that have them for rentals. If you ever get the opportunity to try one, I highly recommend it.  It takes some trial and error to understand how to use it, but once you do it can produce some amazing results.

Morning Reflection at Lake Isabelle – Click for Full Effect

Capture Notes:

• Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Lens: Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift Manual Focus Lens for EOS Cameras
• ISO: 100
• Focal Length: 24 mm
• Aperture: f/5.6
• Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec.
• Post Processing: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Software For Mac, Nik¤Software Silver Efex Pro 2 Software