First photo project - I'd love to hear your opinions!

stephdwyer_77 · Mar 21, 2008

Hi everyone,

On a recent vacation to Maui I played with the camera shutter speeds, white balance and other settings to see what kind of effects I could get while shooting the sunrise from the top of the Haleakala volcano. Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice, it was gorgeous! I'm definitely a beginner at photography so I wanted to get your feedback on how I can improve, and any ideas you might have on good settings to capture these types of moments. I have a Canon Powershot SD950 IS Digital Elph digital camera.

Thank you!

P.S. It might be kind of hard to see on the computer but there is a star in the top right corner of the first picture (the dark one).

31M0 · Mar 21, 2008

I LOVE the sky in that first one.

But all three shots are beautiful, really really good shots in my opinion.

stephdwyer_77 · Mar 21, 2008

Thank you 31M0! I thought they turned out nice but I wasn't sure if I was just being biased because I took them

popoyaki · Mar 21, 2008

They look good. I think I see the star, but I'm not sure. The 1st one is my favorite also.

jdjd1118 · Mar 21, 2008

The colors are beautiful! I like the blue sky in the first one, but really like the clouds in the second one! Keep up the good work!

passerby · Mar 21, 2008

They are beautiful photos to me without enlarging it. And no I don't see any star et al anywhere - just the sun and it's overwhelming rays :lol:

.

Oh btw for the critic. Do you really have to go to Maui to get this kind of shot? Can you find a spot in your area somewhere? Just curious you know.

stephdwyer_77 · Mar 21, 2008

I live in Sacramento, CA so unfortunately we don't have sunrises like this

Sometimes the smog will make for some pretty colors in the sky during sunsets, but that's about it. In these shot at the top of the volcano we were at about 10,000 feet, so we were actually above the clouds. It was freezing but well worth it!

Socrates · Mar 21, 2008

passerby said:
They are beautiful photos to me without enlarging it. And no I don't see any star et al anywhere - just the sun and it's overwhelming rays.

Oh btw for the critic. Do you really have to go to Maui to get this kind of shot? Can you find a spot in your area somewhere? Just curious you know.

Pssst...
The sun is a star!

stephdwyer_77 · Mar 21, 2008

lol, true!

wing352 · Mar 21, 2008

I like all 3 of them,but how did you get up to the top of Haleakala before sunrise ? I can tell how committed you were to take these photo. when i went up to the Haleakala volcano last september, it took me about 2 hours (rain and fog) and i didn't even get up to the very top (I only visited "House of the sun" at 9,740ft) because we couldn't see anything except fog.

:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:

passerby · Mar 21, 2008

Socrates said:
Pssst...
The sun is a star!

Uhm....yeah true, how can I missed that :lol:

. That is a good one.

stephdwyer_77 · Mar 21, 2008

Hi Wing352,

We were staying in Ka'anapali and left at 3:30am to get to the top by about 5:45. The horizon was just starting to show the slightest little bit of lightening and the whole thing took about an hour or so, we lucked out that it was a beautiful morning. I've heard it's hit or miss depending on the weather but if you are ever there and can work it into your plans I highly recommend it. It was like nothing I've ever seen before.