The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

I try to get out of the house around sunset if the sky looks interesting. Living in Seattle provides endless opportunities to explore new vistas. The city nestled between the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and surrounded by water conveniently has hundreds of municipal parks that stay open after dark. The view from each park has its own striking combination of water, mountains, buildings, roads, structures, trees and sky. Couple those elements with Seattle’s interesting weather and finding a good photo is not that hard.

Last Sunday Jon Caldwell and I ventured out to make some pictures. Jon had spent the weekend touring Dana (his girlfriend from Chicago) around all the picturesque places in Seattle and had plenty of ideas for places to shoot. For sunset we decided to hit Golden Gardens Park in Ballard. We set up on the beach and pointed our cameras west at Shilshoe Bay and the Olympic Mountains.

For sunsets and sunrises I use a technique I heard about from my dad. First, I point the camera straight up and get a meter reading. Usually I set the camera to Program Exposure mode and just take a picture. I pull up the EXIF data on the LCD, read the shutter speed and aperture setting the camera came up with, and then plug those values into the camera using the Manual Exposure mode. Chances are these settings will not be perfect, but it’s a good starting point. Once I’ve got the manual settings loaded, I start taking pictures of the horizon. Constantly checking the LCD in between shots helps me adjust shutter speed and aperture to get just the right balance. When I use a tripod I typically leave the ISO at 200. If I’m shooting handheld and there is not much light I’ll crank ISO to get a shorter exposure time.

For the shots at Golden Gardens I used my Nikon D300 with the 18-200mm VR lens on a Manfrotto tripod and head. I could have easily shot hand held, but I also used a Cokin ND Graduated 120 filter. I think it’s easier to adjust the Cokin system when everything is stabilized on a tripod. I have not had too many opportunities to experiment with the ND graduated filter, but I like what it does for situations with a wide range of light like sunsets.

Shortly after sunset we packed up and drove a few hundred yards down the road to Ray’s Boathouse. I wasn’t originally planning to stop there, but they have a great neon sign and I couldn’t resist pulling over. I set the camera to Program Exposure with auto ISO, jumped out of the Explorer, grabbed a few shots, and took off.

By the time we arrived at Gas Works Park the sky was dark. Jon and I setup tripods and experimented with long shutter speeds. Gas Works is great for night photography. Point the camera at an old, rusty piece of machinery and leave the shutter open for 20 or 30 seconds. Review image on LCD. Tinker with camera adjustments. Repeat.

Below is a view of The George Washington Bridge from a hill in Gas Works Park. This shot is a 20 second exposure. I tried a few different white balance settings and did not like what I was getting. I finally got decent result after custom white balancing the D3oo using an ExpoDisc.