There’s just something about a great sunset that’s hard to beat.  I had some cool photography opportunities this week but my favorite picture came from last night out at White Rock Lake in Dallas.

One of my favorite photographers is a guy named Chris Burkard.  His work is legendary for not only beautiful landscapes but he contextualizes the pictures by having someone in them doing something, whether it be surfing, kayaking, or many other things.  I’ve long tried to emulate his style and got a really lucky chance last night.  I was set up for a timelapse of the setting sun when a guy just happened to be SUPing across the lake.  He came right into my frame in the perfect spot for a picture!

So, while I’m not ready to call myself a Chris Burkard in training quite yet, here’s my picture of the week, Paddleboard Sunset.  Oh yeah, the quick timelapse is after the picture too!

Paddleboard Sunset, by Andy Luten

For the photographers: this image was actually a bit overexposed and took a lot more work than I thought to get right.  It’s shot at f11, ISO 100, and was a 1/40 second exposure.  The foreground was almost completely black but that’s why I love my Sony a7, it captured so much detail in the shadows!  Once I got everything balanced tonality-wise I went into Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 4 to add a bit of contrast and finish off the image.  I’m really really happy with it!