Galena Staroselsky (@photogalena_) is a landscape and adventure photographer based in Gunnison, Colorado. She works full-time as a Lead OSP Design Engineer and outside of work, she likes to be outside with her camera. “I spend most of my free time hiking, camping and exploring the great outdoors with my four-year-old dog, Archer. My interest in photography was born out of a passion for the environment and sustainability. I strive to capture the beauty of our natural world in hopes of encouraging others to fall in love with nature.” We came across this image on her Instagram and loved everything from the composition to the vibrant colors. Keep reading as she explains how she captured it using her classic Sony Alpha and a unique Sony lens.

Product Preview – In This Article You’ll Find:
–Sony Alpha 7R II
–Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ

Photo by Galena Staroselsky. Sony Alpha 7R II. Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ. 10-sec, f/3.5, ISO 80

Coming Across A Surreal Sunrise Scene

Another photographer, Kevin Frith, and myself decided to make a pitstop on the way back from a week long trip in Sedona, AZ. The Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness area is a remote region in the southern part of Arizona. We gathered our gear in the dark and made the short trek over to where we had previously found several compositions. We started to set up our tripods and noticed the clouds that had rolled in were starting to change color. The stars were still out and the sun had not technically risen yet, and I knew we were witnessing one of the most surreal sunrises in a very long time, if ever.

Photo by Galena Staroselsky. Sony Alpha 7R II. Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ. 1/8-sec, f/9.5, ISO 60

Capturing A Vision Coming To Life

While shooting on my Sony Alpha 7R II camera body, I used the Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ. Personally, I love the 16-50mm focal length. It’s perfect for a lot of what I encounter and the lens is lightning fast in good lighting which was perfect this morning. It’s wonderfully compact too which makes it a great companion to bring with you on your adventures. My camera’s overall ability to capture detail and contrast in any lighting helped me produce such a great image.

My camera settings were 10-second exposure at a f/3.5 and ISO of 80. I was shooting at 16mm and I remember this moment so vividly as Kevin was just walking around and ended up being perfectly aligned under a stretch of pink clouds above him. I yelled, “don’t move!” and hoped he heard me as I saw this vision quickly coming to life.

Editing Vivid Colors

I used Photoshop to edit this particular photo. Honestly, I didn’t need to do much. I made minor corrections such as removing visible specs of dust and straightening out the image. Next, I used the Dodge and Burn tool to darken the lower left area and lighten the puffy-looking rock formations in the foreground to draw the eye to the subject and background. Lastly, I enhanced saturation a bit since the sunrise lighting already did the work for me. Overall, the image only needed minor adjustments to create what I consider a quite dreamy result.

Photo by Galena Staroselsky. Sony Alpha 7R II. Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ. 10-sec, f/3.5, ISO 80

See more of Galena Staroselsky's work on Instagram @photogalena_. Learn more about another vibrant landscape she captured in Behind The Shot: A Vibrant Landscape Captured With An Unexpected Lens.