By Kerry Drager

This sunset reflection photo is a favorite of mine, and it’s led a charmed life 🙂 … First, it was published in one of the books that I co-authored a couple of years ago — The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography. Currently, it’s on display in the gallery of the local Cambria Center for the Arts.

Before moving to California’s Central Coast (Cambria) last year, our country pond was a favorite go-to spot of mine for  sunset photography. I often armed myself with a telephoto zoom lens, which is ideal for zeroing in tight on distant things — in this case, the colors, reeds and grasses.

As always for stationary scenes, I used a tripod for camera steadiness and for careful composing. And to accurately capture the colors, I set the White Balance for Direct Sunlight (my default setting for natural light from dawn to dusk).

Tech Stuff: f/13 @ 1/8th second. ISO 400. 70-300mm zoom lens set at 220mm. Tripod with cable release.