ZOOMING OUT, BETTER STORYTELLING


Elbe River, Dresden, Saxony, Germany, May 26, 2024

We had met with a dear friend in one of the lovely beer gardens along the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony and enjoyed a great time together. On the way back to the apartment we watched mighty thunderheads developing around us and with them the low sitting sun created some spectacular light in the sky and on the river.

I took a few pictures of the scene, zooming in on the clouds, with the sun beams as my subject, but wasn’t really happy with the results. I realized that it was more about where to place the different elements in the frame, the river with reflections, the steam boat, the silhouette of the building, and of course the position of the sun in the cloud. Zooming slightly further out made finally for better storytelling about location and time.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 43mm, 1/500 s, f/8, ISO 100