Sunrise, Lake Lowell

For the last couple of days I've been doing some more reading on panoramas, landscapes and how to make photos sharper. I couldn't wait to try some of the stuff out, so I got up this morning and biked down to one of my favorite locations, Lake Lowell. I got up around 6:00 am, so that way I could take advantage of the nice soft light of dawn, and of course get photos of the sunrise. When I got there the sky was still a little gray. That gives a little challenge, because colors tend not to be as bright and contrasting in overcast light. However, after a few minute the sun came over the horizon, suddenly the sky turned yellow/red, giving everything a very nice warm tint.

Something I've been trying out lately has been a tripod. I've had one for a long time, but haven't used a whole lot. If you look at a lot of landscape photos, everything from front to back is in focus. To get this photographers have to use a high aperture, and because they're shooting at dawn or dusk to take advantage of the soft light, they have to use a slow shutter speed to get the right amount of light. Since it's impossible to hold a camera and take a picture with these settings. Every landscape photographer uses a tripod. For the longest time I was wondering why my landscapes weren't turning out right. They'd be blurry, or most often, not sharp. After I read what I was doing wrong, I always pack along a tripod when I think I'm going to be taking landscape photos! 

By the way, check out my first panorama!