…with Todd Maeda
If you’ve ever tried to capture a photograph of a beautiful sunset you know just how challenging it can be. Time is the enemy. The light and color fade as the shadows deepen with the setting sun, and you only have minutes to shoot that precise moment when all the elements come together. Photographer and lifelong Hawaii resident Todd Maeda captures those magic moments time after time, and shares with us how he did it on this beautiful tropical evening in Oahu.
Q. Tell us about this location.
Todd: This is at Kaka’ako Waterfront Park, in Honolulu, Hawaii, a State park that was reclaimed from the old town dump. It is situated near the entrance of Honolulu Harbor, so there is a stream of boats and ships going in and out. It’s part of the game; ship, barge, wave, sunset… A “go to”spot for solid sunsets while keeping your feet dry; most of my mid-week forays are right after work, so I am usually still in work attire.
This particular spot is on a hill closest to the harbor. At the bottom of the hill, about the center of this image, is a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) memorial. Rather poignant, and a decent sunset subject/foreground. The vantage point is such that I actually get better views of the water, and usually fewer people. Usually. A problem with this spot, and actually any spot on a hill in the park, is the maintenance crews sometimes turn on the sprinklers in the middle of the sunset. Something to watch for.
Q. What time of day?
Todd: This was that magic moment around 15 minutes after the sun sets, when the colors “pop,” then die quickly. During the “winter” months, so a little after 6PM. Yeah, I know; Hawaii don’t have winters. Hey, we have to wear warm shorts, so there!
Q. How difficult was this to capture?
Todd: This was a fairly basic capture; hardest thing is to be sure you have everything you want in the frame. Since I do a fair amount of post-processing, I try to give myself some latitude in the composition for possible creative cropping, which I did here.
Q. How did you expose for this shot?
Todd: I used a 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter to hold back the light at the horizon, as it was still bright enough to darken the foreground without it. Other than that, Aperture Priority on Matrix Metering (Nikon’s equivalent to Canon’s Evaluative mode), because the light is moving so quickly. I usually input -0.7EV, because I prefer that look. This one ended up at ISO200, f/22 for 1/4 second; you can see a bit of the effect in the trees and water.
Q. What camera and lens did you use for this shot?
Todd: The Nikon D700 is my standard landscape body. I had the Nikkor 17-35mm/2.8D mounted for this shot, as it is the widest reasonable lens with filter threads I have; I did know I would be using filters for this particular day, based on the sky. Had that mounted on a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead on a Gitzo GT1531 tripod, with the Rapid-Rise column at the lowest position.
You can see more of Todd’s photographic work here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbah_slippahs/
…and read his blog here:
Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
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