Interesting Photo of the Day: Tower Through the Sun

Interesting Photos

Planning is one of the greatest key elements of successful photography. When you want to get a particular shot, you must plan for it well ahead of time and have the perseverance as well. An image that lacks planning after all is a mere snapshot. Photographer Tyler McKay for instance, had to go back to the same place for twenty-five times within one and a half months to capture the sun perfectly aligned with the CN tower in Toronto, Canada:

“Sun Aligned with the CN Tower” by Tyler McKay (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

McKay took the image with his Sony A7RIII and 100-400mm lens at 340mm, f/9, 1/250s, and ISO 100.

It’s a good thing McKay didn’t give up, and instead kept on trying until the 29th attempt. Although he used different applications and online resources to determine the perfect alignment between the sun and the CN tower, they’d be off by some bit every time. He finally got lucky on the 29th attempt. The fact that the alignment lasts only about 1-2 seconds makes this shoot even more challenging. Just imagine how prepared you’ve got to be in order to take such an image.

Besides the perfect alignment, there are other factors that make the image praiseworthy. The silhouette of the cityscape that surround the tower is equally fascinating. The unique cloud pattern in the background adds another point of interest to the image. And how can anyone miss the flock of birds near the water body. The birds flying so close to the water surface perfectly complete the image. They make the image so much more aesthetically pleasing.

“1000’s of birds starting flying across the water making the weirdest/coolest sounds I’ve ever heard. It was such an incredible thing to witness. It was a beautiful warm summers morning when I finally captured this image how I imagined and planned it. Practice patience and enjoy the moment.”

This is a great proof that photography isn’t just luck, it’s discipline as well.