Sunset in Spring Lake

St. Catharine Church
(smartphone)

The weather has been so bad lately - very hot and so humid it was tough to breathe - and I had gone a while without doing much "real" shooting. Last Thursday I caught a break - still not a great day but the best we had experienced in a while - and I decided to go out to catch a sunset. I thought about going to Maclearie Park but then remembered a friend telling me about St. Catharine Church in Spring Lake. I had driven by there a few times in the past but never thought about it as a sunset location but if Dave said it was good, I was going to check it out.

St. Catharine Church with Reflection

The decision to shoot that night was a last-minute one and it gave me only about 10 minutes to find a composition and set up before sunset. If I were going somewhere familiar, like Maclearie Park, this wouldn't have been too bothersome but I had no idea what I was going to find when I got to this site. Under normal circumstances I would like to have arrived 45 minutes to an hour before sunset so that I can explore the area and find the perfect spot. Heck, even in a familiar spot I get there early because you never know.... Anyway, I got to the lake and parked on the east side of the lake, almost directly across from the church. I knew I wanted the church in the image but struggled to find a composition that I liked. I like to find some foreground interest - typically a tree - when I shoot a sunset but there was just nothing there for me to put in the frame. The trees were either massive, therefore blocking the sunset, or not in a good place. I quickly gave up and decided to get close to the edge of the lake and use reflections as my foreground.

What cloud cover there was turned out to be quite fleeting but it stuck around long enough to get a few good images. Once the sun set I got in a little tighter on the church and it's reflection in the lake. I also started working with some longer exposures to try smoothing out the water. Overall I am happy with the way the church appears, although I wish it had been lighted a little earlier; it is a little darker in the first image than I would have liked.

Fountain & Footbridge

Once I was done with the church I turned my attention to the north and the fountain in the lake. It was getting dark and I knew I could get some rather lengthy exposures. I liked the addition of the footbridge but wasn't sure how well it was going to stand out - it is a dark color and in an area with a lot of big trees. The image shown here is one of several compositions that I tried - some tighter, some wider. I like this because I was able to get the shoreline to work as a leading line to the bridge and then around to the fountain. I was hoping there would be some traffic on the bridge - bicycles with lights or pedestrians with flashlights, anything to give a little brightness. I am going to try getting back one night with some helpers and have them shine some lights or maybe pop a flash or two to illuminate the bridge.

So, that's it for today and my Spring Lake sunset experience. Have you shot here? If so, how did you like it? If not, I hope I have inspired you to check it out one night. Who knows, maybe we will run into each other.

---

All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com

---