One of the key ingredients for an outdoor sunset/sunrise photograph to be successful is that it needs to be interesting.  Put yourself in the buyers position, they want a cool photograph to illustrate something or to make something more interesting.  A photograph like this one is kinda boring.

However if you take some time to look around at your surroundings, similar to what we talked about in Get off the Trail, you may see some opportunities that will make your pictures stand out and give them something unique.  Take for example this photo, it was taken about twenty feet from the first photograph and about 30 minutes later.  I think we both agree this is the better of the two photographs, and it will sell better.  By changing the perspective and bringing some objects into the foreground I made the image more interesting, and more likely to sell.  I also used a longer then normal lens to eliminate some of the grass at the edge or where I was to clean up the image.  By using the 24-70 lens I was able to get pass the grass and other debris near me without getting wet wadding out to a better vantage point.  While this is not something I normally do, it was cold and I really wanted to stay dry.

Using the same location would have made a great setting for a portrait session as well as an interesting landscape photo, but that is another post.  The thing to remember is do not get stuck in the mindset that a certain focal length can only be used for certain uses.  Sometimes a medium zoom like the 24-70 will be appropriate, and sometimes a 14-24 will be more appropriate.  It is all about learning your gear and knowing its limitations and strengths.  That is all for today, please feel free to leave any comments below.

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