The Bali Sun
Ever try to take a picture of the sun before? Before you try, you better have some type of filter on your camera or lower your exposure.
Doesn’t matter if its film or digital, Sony or Nikon—you need to have a plan in place before you begin. If you try to shoot it, it will look blown out or not exposed the way you are seeing it.
No matter what you’re doing in life, it’s always a good idea to have a plan for optimal results. It doesn’t mean that we always follow it, but it does help to have an idea of where we want to go.
While planning the trip to Bali we had a pretty good idea of everything that we needed. Flights. Check. Hotels. Check. Gear. Check. Clothes. Check. Money. Check. … need I say more?
Before Bali, the last major trip I took was to Europe. Being prepared to shoot abroad has always been super important to me. I packed way too much "outdated" camera gear (which I thought was cool at the time). Old film cameras and such. Once I was there, traveling and shooting—I realized my mistake. I was lugging around regret in my heart—I had taken too much gear.
Bali was going to be different; I would only take what I needed. The essentials, the cool new crop of digital stuff I had invested in before leaving. I gravitated to Canon at this stage. I framed up my first shot: the spiritual pillars that you see almost everywhere in Bali. Then there was an extra element I hadn’t anticipated—the sun.
The sun seemed to have a new meaning for me once I landed in Indonesia. It was so hot and in your face, and I was like, “Wow,” and how was I to capture it? I was going to have to figure it out and experiment a little. I did lower the exposure and use my filters.
I shot other things as well. There was incredible scenery and animals. The beach and the people. These things all were great to shoot. What I enjoyed shooting when possible were the sky and the sun. I shot straight at it and dared to look at it dead on and straight in the shutter.
