August 2025

27 Angle, sunset, motion, timing! All to Achieve A powerful shot If you know my work, you will realize that I love using sunset to create powerful photos. This concept was a week or two in the making as there are technical details to achieve this shot. The model and I arrived at City Park, Denver, an hour before sunset to allow enough time to reach the pre-determined location and discuss any last-minute details. While keeping an eye on the sun’s positioning, we took a few shots to get comfortable with one another. Fifteen minutes before the sun would be in position, we arrived at the location. The area was near the large pond and had the Denver skyline behind it. I discussed with the model once more my vision and the actions needed to achieve it. Once the sun was in position, we went for it! While lying on the ground, I had the model swing his jacket directly under my lens as I shot upward towards him. Once or twice, he hit my lens or me, which was fine as I always do whatever it takes to get the shot—bruising included! I took many photos utilizing this interesting angle, making sure to get the sun flare, pond, and partial city view in the shot while the jacket swung beneath my lens. My focal point was on the model’s face, and I used a wide aperture to create a shallow depth of field. Let’s talk about the second angle. If you look at the bottom left of the photo, you will see part of the skyline on a slope. That is because I did not level my camera. Along with the unique portrait angle, I wanted to twist the horizon as well. I did this by rotating my camera slightly to the right. This action placed the skyline on a pitch and tucked my model’s head to the top left corner of the photo, keeping the rule of thirds in place. In fact, I created a double rule of thirds with his head and jacket. A simple move that created an impactful vision. Understand, we did not get this in one or two shots. It took about 25 takes to get the perfect image. I often released the shutter too late, and the coat blocked the sun, or I released too soon and had toomuch sun blowout. Timing is everything. Note: The sun flare was the essential part of this shot, and I wasn’t going to sacrifice it. As the sun started to set, I became a little nervous as I felt I did not get the winning shot. We were losing sunlight quickly. Thankfully, with persistence and keeping calm, at the final moments before the sun set behind the buildings, I got the shot! “It’s not the camera. It’s the artist behind it.” - Rich Taylor www.richtaylorphotography.com FB: richtaylorphotography | IG: richtaylorphoto Sunset just above the skyline. Swinging the jacket under the lens Tilting the camera slightly Photographing upward City Scape Pond