Morning Light

by Linda

 

 

 

 

 

“Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.”  
~Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues~


Once upon a time I was not a morning person. Many parents, employees and employed parents probably share that sentiment.

Mornings used to be filled with chaos, crying, scrambling, washing, ducking, dodging, begging, high-stepping, bribing, mediating, investigating, solving, preparing, threatening, consoling, meal preparation, meal planning, washing machines started, dish washers loaded (sometimes) occasional doctoring and hugs and kisses. All before 8:00 am.

No wonder. By the time I got to work I was ready for a nap!

These days mornings are less stressful. As much as I used to dread the horrible sound of an alarm clock, I no longer need one as it seems I am now trained to rise early, even earlier than in the old days.  Early morning time has become "my" time. Time to reflect, enjoy and prepare for the day ahead. As often as possible, I watch the sunrise and "ooh!" and "awe!" at the sky as it changes color from deep, dark blue to pink, orange, yellow and gold. It's a glorious reminder that it is a new day, full of possibilities!

When I miss the morning show, I look for the beautiful light that the first light of day will cast. The morning golden hour is delightful. I am a shameless promoter of sun flare but I have to admit that the golden glow of light at this time of day makes me giddy!

My iPhone is a wizard at capturing sun flare, it's best captured holding your phone at an angle to the light source to get just the flare and not those red spots (there's probably some technical explanation for this having to do with the tiny lens, mechanics, yadayadayada)

When I want to get that golden light, nothing beats my DSLR. That light will just fill the viewfinder and one look at the preview on the back of the camera elicits more "oohs!" and "awes!" from me! I like to back light my subject with the golden light to be sure I get it all and get lots of rim light and some bokeh.  Depending on how much of my subject is photo worthy will determine what size aperture I use, sometimes wide open, sometimes close to 8, ISO is set very low, about 200, white balance is "sunny", and I usually let the camera set the shutter speed which will be fast.  I spot meter on something that is a midtone (not too bright, not too dark) and fire a test shot or 2 and make adjustments. I'm looking for the picture to be filled with the color of the light. Very little editing takes place on these pictures, usually only a crop or a spot or 2 will be cloned out.

Since our theme for September is morning, how ever your mornings proceed, we'd love to see them in the  FOL gallery and the FOL Phoneography gallery!  On Instagram use hashtag #focusingonlife.

Share the hustle and bustle around the house! Or share the beautiful sunrise and golden light this time of day offers!