Daily photo - sunrise over my back garden

I woke up this morning and as I got out of bed, caught a glimse of a fantastic sunrise . Knowing how quick and fleeting these can be, I rushed downstairs for my camera, straight back up and then opened the window (I can still feel the blast of cold air rushing into the centrally heated bedroom, and me in my jammmies) leaned out and took a set of photos. Did not stop to compose or set anything - just trusted to the auto settings and clicked again and again.

Later, at my PC, I downloaded the results and was pleasantly surprised. So todays photo is a sunrise over my back garden.

Later on in the day, the weather was brilliant. The sky turned into a wonderful clear blue ceiling with the sun, yes the sun heating up the air and a very slight breeze just about shook the tops of the tallest and spindly branches of the eucalyptus tree.

Amazing after all the rain and storms we have been experiencing lately. It is definitely a "lull before the storm". The forecast is for more of the wet and windy stuff for tomorrow and the rest of the week. But for today, I intend to make the most of the weather and will be going out with my camera this afternoon, so my fingers are crossed that the light stays with us and allows me to get a few decent shots of my excursion.

A TIP: I know many people will know this but I hope that I can pass on a few of the obvious tips which beginners often need to learn.

When taking a photo of this sort, decide what you are  after in the shot and make sure the settings are relevant to this. Here for instance, the sky is the obvious focus. I said above that I used the automatic settings, but my camera will focus and adjust itself with a half click on the shutter button. Making this focusing action on the sky allows the camera to set for that area. I.e. it is the lightest part of the image and the exposure/contrast of the sky will be allowed for when the shutter is fully actioned.

If you wanted to bring out more detail in the dark area at the horizon, then you would need to make that first half-click with the cross-hairs on that area. So even though it is in automatic mode, I make sure the camera is doing what I want it to do. Of course if you prefer and have the camera for it you can make all the settings yourself. But I know that I and many others rely for many of their photographs on their camera. This is fine, as long as you realise that you still hold the key to a good photo.

And of course that then opens up the idea of composing the shot - maybe some future post ...