The Pier

Pier, Port Douglas – Steve Rutherford Landscape Photography Art Gallery.

This is an unframed, limited edition collection landscape photography print of only 25 units. It is printed on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl papers, structured to refract the highest values in colour and detail. It’s high-quality ink absorbing layer enables exceptional image quality with enormously detailed sharpness, and a very broad colour range, providing archival permanency of your artwork for over 100 years.

On tripod, Sony A6000, 16mm, F11, 1/60th sec, ISO 100, no filter, processed in Lightroom.

Port Douglas lies around an hour north of Cairns. Considered the gateway to the Daintree Rainforest, Port Douglas has several gems about it, and the locals consider the Pier an iconic location, surrounded by incredible restaurants. I’d photographed the Pier at Port Douglas many times previously, but this sunset was just incredible. I waited until the light peaked and found a view not always used to showcase the area. A returning catamaran from a day at the reef, completed the picture with perfect timing.

Pier, Port Douglas – Steve Rutherford Landscape Photography Art Gallery.

Sunsets can be so beautiful to photograph, but can also unknowingly cause some frustration. Firstly looking directly into a pre-set sun can be harmful to your eyes, so be careful, even through the viewfinder.  Whilst taking care, avoid using sunglasses though to frame your shot as you could get confused with your exposure and what you are seeing. Sound silly, but believe me Ive done it myself.

Use your rule of thirds to frame your shot (imagine lines like tic tac toe over your image) and place the setting sun at one of the four intersecting crosspoints. Use the light of the sun to lead the viewing to your subject which should be in the diagonally or horizontally opposing crosspoint (or vertically if composing in portrait mode). Your cameras meter will measure the light as too bright and try to darken the whole shot. Don’t fall for this, push your exposure another full stop higher (force the camera settings onto a slightly brighter setting). As you get better at sunsets, try combining them with movement, such as a shoreline or wind in the trees.