I tend to come up with a lot of my shot ideas before I head out shooting. For this sunrise I had a different idea in mind. While I ended up liking that shot idea, in my opinion, the unplanned shot is the better image of the 2.
One of Lake Winnipeg’s nicknames is Big Windy. Most of the time the lake has waves on it but this morning there was just a gentle breeze. Which is great for reflections and having some clouds in the sky adds an additional element.
After shooting the sunrise we decided to head back to the cottage, as I didn’t see anything that grabbed my attention to shoot. As we were leaving the beach I took a look back at the lake. I make a habit of looking back at the lake before I leave incase something catches my eye. The scene on the other side of the break rocks was beautiful. I headed over to take a couple of shots and when I looked at the back of the camera I knew that I had to head back to the cottage to grab my dress as I didn’t like the self portrait I had taken with the outfit I was wearing.
After I changed into my dress and was heading back to the beach the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds and provide a beautiful golden light. I decided to place myself on the rock facing towards the sun. This way it would illuminate the front of me so that there would be detail in my face. The light was coming from the left hand side of the image which is what is know as side light.
So what exactly is side lighting? Well it is just as it sounds the light hits your scene or subject from the side. Side light can be dramatic and beautiful which is created by having part of the subject/scene in the “shadows”. In the below image the front of the rock and the front of myself is lit by the light coming in from the side while the rock behind me is in the shadows.
The final image:
Beautiful Beginnings Photography 