When we left the Balcones Canyonlands Natural Wildlife Refuge, I couldn’t help but think: a rare miss. I took only a handful of pictures during the first two hours of hiking through the rather monotonous trails leading to the Sunset Deck, and the harsh mid-afternoon light was either blinding or completely absent through the thicket of trees.
The few pictures I did take during the hike seemed destined for failure as well: as soon as I got the tripod set, the camera set, and the focus set, the light was gone. Literally. The sun had moved and the light was just plain gone. And a 180mm macro needs a LOT of light to function if the target is waving merrily in the breeze. I did get one cooperative Admiral butterfly to pose just long enough to get a pleasant shot.
Admiral Butterfly in Live Oak Leaves
But this isn’t why we went to Balcones Canyonlands today. We went to take sunset pictures from Sunset Deck, a short 1.7 mile hike that apparently can be completely discarded in favor of a car and a loosely paved road. But seriously, what fun is that?
We made our way to the appropriately named Sunset Deck about a half hour before sunset. The sun was heading toward the top of a nearby hilltop, with a winding road and a winding river to the left. Promising. We set up our cameras and took a couple of test shots to get everything just right. Rule #1: Frame the shot well before the sun is in position.
Taking pictures of a sunrise or a sunset is tricky business. You have less than a minute while the sun is in transition from too bright to just plain missing. The best pictures happen when the sun is exactly halfway hidden, and the flare from a good lens makes a gorgeous red star over the rest of the picture. A really good lens will even remove the spot flares and only leave the star. I have good lenses, bordering on great. But mostly good. So I got a little spot flare along with my star. Nothing Photoshop can’t handle. Rule #2: The best flare effects happen when the sun’s disc is halfway obscured by the landscape.
We decided to use 6 and 7 stop HDR exposures to capture the full range of colors in the sky and the nearby water. That meant that, at most, we would get two tries to get everything just right.
The sun started sinking into the hilltop, and our first set of exposures started. Really slowly. Turned out the polarizing filters were still on, and the exposures were plodding along at 2, 4, 8 seconds… We quickly stopped the exposures and pulled off the polarizers. Much better. So, rule #3: Keep the polarizers off for sunsets (keep them on for sunrises!).
We each got one good capture and one not-so-good capture of the setting sun. Here is the keeper.
Sunset Transition
After the sun was below the hilltop, we changed lenses to better reach the curving waters of Lake Travis surrounding Pace Bend Park. The water was glimmering silver and gold, and practically glowing compared to the now-darkened landscape.
Gold and silver highlights appear on water as the sun sets
A few minutes later we packed up the gear and were on our way. After packing up the gear, we started the 1.2 mile hike back to the car. Thankfully a full moon was overhead, lighting the way. There was also a road that led back to the trailhead, which was a much better option than taking the trail back. It still took the better part of 20 minutes to make it back to the car, and that was moving at a pretty good pace. So, last Rule, #4: Make sure you can get back to your car in the dark. Flashlights are a necessity, or a full moon. Having both is even better.
So, to summarize:
- Rule #1: Frame the shot well before the sun is in position.
- Rule #2: The best flare effects happen when the sun’s disc is halfway obscured by the landscape.
- Rule #3: Keep the polarizers off for sunsets (keep them on for sunrises!).
- Rule #4: Make sure you can get back to your car in the dark. Flashlights are a necessity, or a full moon.
I will be posting more pictures from this trip to my website, Spicewood Photography.
