5:30 PM, 10/12/12, 1/60 sec at f/10, 24 mm, ISO 400, Canon EOS 60D
When I arrived at the top of the mountain for my highly-anticipated sunset pictures, I rushed out of the car with Sophie, camera, and recently acquired monopod, which I thought would be great to use for the sunset shots. Quick. Portable. And the WRONG piece of equipment. I had a difficult time holding it still and had almost as much (maybe more) camera shake than if I had hand-held the camera.
What did I learn? Lesson #3
First: USE A TRIPOD FOR LANDSCAPE. I said that before, didn’t I? If you look closely at the image above, you will see that the details are not sharp. This image would not print well — not one to hang on my wall.
Second: Notice that my ISO is even higher than in the shots taken earlier in the afternoon as you can see in a previous post. I reasoned that since there’d be less light, I should bump up the ISO. Again WRONG! Keep the ISO at 100 for the cleanest shots.
Nature provided me with a glorious opportunity to create some fabulous shots (just look at the incredible light show in the sky). My inexperience and my haste ruined them. I’ve probably read all of the advice about landscape photography before, and I’ve probably taken notes in workshops on how to take good landscape shots; however, I guess I needed to make my own mistakes in order to learn the lessons.
By the way, if you look closely, you will see houses at the base of this rock formation. Wouldn’t it be super cool to actually live there?
Next post: Sunrise shots the next morning
Ramblings 
I love how you can see where the rain starts and stops.
Isn’t that cool? I had not noticed this image at first and am now glad I took a 2nd look. I still don’t think it will print well because of the quality (I’ll try it) … but the sky! Ain’t it grand?
As the saying goes: practice makes perfect! Everything learned from books and workshops need a lot of practice before it becomes perfect. Still love your photo
Scrapy! You are so right…until I actually get out there and mess with the buttons and dials it isn’t worth anything. I really like this shot, although, as I said, I don’t think it will print well … but I think I’ll try anyhow. Now I’m itching to go back to the same place (with the SAME MAGNIFICENT SKY) and re-create the image but this time doing it right. I remember reading something Monet and his frustrations with catching the light. Now I understand exactly what he was talking about as I chased the light all over Sedona.
I am truly blown away by your talent, Mona. I love how this picture captures the rich colors of the mountains and the beautiful darkenss of the storm. It is captivating.
Katie! HI! Thank you so much. This is when I am truly at peace…when taking and editing images. This is where my soul lies. I have such a long way to go before I can make money with this, but I’m working at it. For now, it is my peace.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Amy, I get such pleasure “talking” about my shooting and traveling times. Thank you.
Wow that lighting was amazing! I love moments like those 🙂