Welcome to AdoramaTV.
My name is Marcin Lewandowski
and in this episode of the Viewfinder
I want to talk to you about the joys
and opportunities of early morning photography.
Even though you might not be a fan
of waking up early in the morning.
Sunrise, it's quite an extraordinary time
of the day for photographers
and well worth getting up early for.
There are a few things that might sway you
to set the alarm earlier than usual
and I will start with an explanation
of how light changes through the course of the morning.
The first event that will take place
while we wait for the Sun to rise
is the Twilight called by photographers the blue hour
using the blue hue that appears on photograph
taking at this time of the day
especially deep blue skies.
Twilight starts about 1 hour before sunrise
when we can start to see objects
in the landscape,
while the Sun is still below the horizon.
At this time of the day our
photographic equipment will record
beautiful deep blue tones while our eyes
will still struggle to see.
The second phase that comes directly after Twilight
is what we photographers call
the Golden Hour.
This can treat us to a spectacular show of colors.
The golden hour is really never 1 hour long
and will differ depending on your location.
Basically the closer you are to the equator ,
the shorter the golden hour will appear
and the further away from the equator you are,
then the longer the golden hour will be.
Tones of light during this time can appear very warm
and whether you plan to photograph
in the mountains or with an urban landscape
this is the time when a beautiful orange
light will hit peaks and tops of the buildings
leaving the rest of the city
washed in the blue light of Twilight.
If you're lucky you might also be treated
with crepuscular rays,
also known as God rays or sunbeams
which look like separate columns of light
emanating from the Sun hiding behind the clouds.
After Twilight and the Golden Hour phases
comes the Sunrise.
This is an exciting time of long shadows
and strong contrast.
Light will still appear warmer in color
during the sunrise.
It will cool down as the Sun travels higher
up over the horizon
and if you're photographing in the city environment
it's a great time to look for reflections
and spots of light appearing
for short periods of time here and there.
On top of the light conditions
it's well worth mentioning other benefits
of photographing in the morning.
Due to the rapid temperature changes
once the Sun is above the horizon
we have a much bigger chance of fog
which can add an ethereal quality to our photographs.
Another thing is that wildlife wakes up
around this time and even if you're not
photographing in the wild, you should
notice more activity especially in the sky.
In the urban environment
streets will be emptier than usual presenting
themselves in a different way
than during a rush hour but also creating
opportunities and allowing us to be more
flexible in the movement.
As with everything else planning is a good way
to make sure that we'll get the most
from a sunrise. The weather forecast is
one of the first things to look at when
planning any outdoor photography you
must check the time of the sunrise this
will give you a better idea when to
expect the light of the blue and golden
hours another tip when planning is to
have a look at where the Sun will rise
I find the photographer's ephemeris a
particularly good tool to do this to
plan even more detail look on how light
travels across the landscape through the
day you can use the desktop version of
Google Earth to do this just give it a
shot and you will have a few less
unknowns to deal with once on location
have a look at the forecast and the time
of sunrise if it's encouraging enough
set your alarm clock a few hours earlier
than usual and you'll be pleasantly
surprised. Share your sunrise with us on Adorama
using the #Adorama
Subscribe to our channel for more
and check out the Adorama Learning Center
for more tips and tutorials.
This was Marcin Lewandowski for AdoramaTV
see you next time.