About the Image(s)

I have always struggled with sunrise and sunset photos. Although they have improved over the last few years, I still was not satisfied. I have taken multiple night sky workshops with Bryan Hansel and he recommended I consider filters to improve my photography. In late October, I had a workshop in northern Minnesota with the Wisconsin Area Camera Club Organization and I brought my newly purchased filters and holder.

This image was taken at sunrise at a location commonly known as "The Rock" on Lake Superior. I used a 6-stop ND filter and a 3-stop reverse graduated ND filter. I shot it on my Nikon Z8, with my 20mm f lens & adapter. Camera settings were ISO 1600, f/11, 1 second. I took many pictures at different shutter speeds to see what I liked best. I liked the texture of the water at 1 second.

For editing, I used Lightroom with some minor global adjustments and slight crop. Side note: I shoot in camera neutral if you would like to know the details of the global adjustments, I can include them in the future or in the comments. I added some masks to warm up the rocks slightly, brighten water, and add subtle vignetting. I have included the original image.