That magic light

Magic hour, golden hour, civil twilight, whatever you call it that time when the sun is below the horizon just before sunrise or after sunset is a magic time of day.

Photographer seek out that time like moths to a flame. The scientific term is rayleigh scattering, sunlight is passing through the densest part of the atmosphere causing light rays to scatter. Here's a link for more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering

 

This scattering occurs as the sun set below the horizon. Civil twilight usually last for 20 -30 minutes after sunset or before sunrise. There are many resources on the net for finding out when this golden hour occurs. Here's a partial list:

http://www.golden-hour.com/

http://photoephemeris.com/

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php

 

 

Scouting a location will save you time and headaches. Sometime you get lucky and stumble on a scene that just begs to be photographed.

As I stated in earlier post, Myself along with my brother will be hosting photography workshops starting in the midwest but expanding soon to other locations throughout the country. It's 3 days of sharing and shooting. If you would like to join us head over to www.naturalightworkshops.com and check our schedule and book a workshop. We're also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/naturallightworkshops/

Hope to see you at a workshop.

 

Happy Easter everyone.
Christ has risen! Praise be to God!

I'm excited to be bringing photography workshops to the mid-west and beyond. My goal over the each weekend is to be able to help our participants grow as photographer and provide some guidance to help them make photographs. The great part about these workshops is they are  hands on. We'll be in the classroom sure, but we'll be spending most of our time in the field.
Anyone can take a photograph a true artist MAKES a photograph. Hopefully our workshops will teach people how to make a photograph.

 

I've got a lot of information to share and really excited to spend a weekend making great photos.

 

One thing my wife and I got to do was take a trip to Nassau Bahamas last December. We spent 4 days with my good friend James and his wife.

We had a wonderful time and look forward to going back soon.

I'm happy to announce that my brother and I will be hosting an outdoor photography workshop at the Starved Rock State Park in Illinois May 30-June 1.
I got the idea last fall to start doing workshops to help people take better photos. I've seen and heard so many people struggle with their cameras and after 30+ years of photography I thought it'd be nice to give something back. Dave and I have over 60 years of photography experience combined.
Our long range plan is to conduct workshops around the country, Arizona, Washington State, Utah, Florida etc..
We've got openings for 15 photographers of all skill levels. Each workshop will be conducted with the students need first. The low class size will allow us to provide individual instruction.We're going to be heavy on the shooting end, with some classroom instruction thrown in.
If this sounds like something you'd like to do, head on over to www.naturalightworkshops.com and check it out. We're also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/naturallightworkshops/
We're stoked about this first workshop and are looking forward to many more.

Wow been away too long. Health issues with me and my wife have kept me away,  but all is well and back at it.

Tuesday the 15th saw a lunar eclipse one of 4 over the next two years make an apperance here in the midwest. I got up at 2 am and got off several shots before sleep called me back to bed.

I shot these with a 300mm lens at ISO 2000. Exposure was 1/6 of a second at 5.6. The star in the lower corner is Sirius. I took a photograph every 15 minutes over the hour I was out.After uploading them and tweaking them in Adobe Lightroom I ported them over to Adobe Photoshop where I stacked them for the final image.

Here's the last of the photographs.

 It was mighty chilly out that morning (28F) but well worth getting up to see one of natures wonders.