Posts in Category: ocean
10/3/2009
Fog over South Point and Cypress Grove
Like I said…no such thing as a bad day at Point Lobos. Even the fog is epic! This is a shot from the Sea Lion Point trail looking back at South Point and Cypress Grove. One of the classic views at Point Lobos. The blowing fog, moving in across the point, adds some mystery and drama, without detracting significantly from the view.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the fog effects. Recovery, as I have mentioned before, reduces the highlights in the image. In the case of fog, a lot of what you are looking at is scattered light. Recovery removes a layer of that so that you see deeper into the fog, and increases the contrast between light and dark areas within the fog so that it looks altogether more transparent….as it does in real life. Added Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Blackpoint just right. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Monterey Bay 09.
10/1/2009
Off North Point
Perhaps the only drawback to Point Lobos is that, because it is so popular, it has to be closely managed. You walk on the paths, and the paths, where there is any question, are set off by cable guides. It makes for a “stand here, shoot this” kind of experience at the really good vistas…but then…they are really good vistas! and they have done a good job of putting you where you need to stand to see them to best effect.
However that means that if you shoot wide or try for an alternative composition, you are likely to get a cable guide in the frame. No way around it.
For this shot I backed away to the far side of the path to catch the frame of the lichen covered tree skeleton branches. I am tempted to go into Photoshop and clone out the cable…but then…it is part of the scene too…part of the experience of Point Lobos today. So it says in this time. Maybe later I will change my mind.
And now that I have called your attention too that obtruding cable, I am really hoping that the overall strength of the image will keep folks from noticing it until it is too late to spoil the image for them…if it spoils the image at all.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/800 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom to bring out the light in the fog. Some Fill Light for the foreground branches. Added Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Sharpen Landscape preset.
From Monterey Bay 09.
9/30/2009
Point Lobos Fog
There is no such thing as a bad day at Point Lobos…not even a bad day for photography. When I got there on this year’s visit, the fog was already blowing over the point, and was actually quite heavy at Cypress Grove. Still the scene had its charm.
Compositionally this is a challenging shot. Normally I would not have put the upright tree trunk so near center, but it was necessary to put the fog bound tree on the offshore rock where I wanted it…at the power point (rule of thirds). The result is that the eye is drawn past the upright trunk out into the fog to the tree on the rock…which is what I was after. Only then, after exploring the details in the fog, does the eye come back to the strong shapes in the foreground. Works for me. How about you?
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/500 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Cropped slightly from the right in Lightroom for composition. Recovery for the fog (brings out the inner light), added Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel, Sharpen landscape preset.
From Monterey Bay 09.
9/28/2009
China Beach in China Cove: Point Lobos
Okay…so yesterday I spent 4 hours back at Point Lobos. I stopped on the way down for some wildlife shots with the new PhotoScope, so it was 10:30 by the time I got there and the fog was already rolling across the point. Still, there is no such thing as a bad day at Point Lobos. It is just too scenic…too photogenic. The fog offshore and showing at any distance, certainly closing the horizons, was off set by the bright sun where it got through, lighting the foreground of shots and creating a somewhat more intimate feeling.
And, as a bonus, they have repaired the stairway down into China Cove to China Beach. This area was closed last year when I visited, so, of course, I climbed down. I have several keepers from beach level. This one, with the variety of shades and colors in the water, the fog visible against the blue sky, the stark cliffs, and the red and green vegetation, captures at least one essence, new to me, of China Cove.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/400 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom to bring up detail in the fog blanket and darken the sky. A bit of Fill Light for the cliff shadows. Added Clarity and Vibrance brought up the texture, and especially the colors in the water. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Monterey Bay 09.
9/26/2009
China Cove
China Cove at Point Lobos, CA. That water is so green. The white cliffs. The blue sky. A classic scene. This is still from my morning there a year ago. It is on my list of possibles to revisit this Sunday, weather permitting.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.0 @ 1/250 @ ISO 100. Programmed auto.
This shot required significant Recovery in Lightroom for the sky and the highlights on the white rocks. I applied some Fill Light to open the shadows, but then slid the blackpoint to the right to maintain saturation. Added Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Point Lobos Morning.
9/24/2009
Across to Great Head
Another from last year at this time. Point Lobos, CA. Perhaps the most scenic stretch of coast in the world…or at least the most photographed.
Here the misty fog over the water lends an etherial look to the land/seascape. Foreground branches frame a bit.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.0 @ 1/250 @ ISO 100. Programmed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky and mist (Recovery works magic with mist…bringing out the lights within). Added Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Sharpen Landscape preset.
From Point Lobos Morning.
9/23/2009
- Gibson Beach Tide Line: Point Lobos Morning
Since I am just a few miles north of Point Lobos again this year (though I am not sure my schedule will allow me to get there) I thought it might be nice to revisit.
This is Gibson Beach, at the far south end of Point Lobos.
Sony DSC H50 at about 80mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/640 @ ISO 100. Programmed auto.
Recovery in Lighroom for the sky. Pretty heavy Fill Light needed to open the shadows. Added Vibrance and Clarity in the Presence panel. Sharpen Landscape preset.
From Point Lobos Morning.
9/16/2009
Portland Head Light: the other view
Shooting against the light, the problem is always balancing the exposure and using post-processing to bring up the whites of the Lighthouse to some semblance of reality. They eye, of course, has no difficulty seeing the brightness of the foreground and the brilliant white of the white-washed stone, but no photographic medium, be it film or digital sensor, can do that trick. So I exposed for the scene and trusted I could “pull it out” in Lightroom. And of course in this shot, the sky behind the light house is just as much the subject as the light house itself.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/1600 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Heavy Fill Light in Lightroom for the light house, as mentioned above, and some Recovery for the sky. Added Vibrance and Clarity in the Presence panel. Sharpen landscapes preset.
From Portland Head Light.
8/5/2009
Flood Tide!
Tides continue unusually full along our coast. These pools are rarely this brim full, and rarely so still. It was that kind of morning, and, as you can see, evn the mist had not burned or blown off yet, though the sky promised (and delivered) a clear hot day.
The textures of the grass, brought out by a using a graduated filter up from the bottom to increase Clarity (local contrast) and overall contrast, is as much the subject of this image as the pools.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
As above, I used graduated filter effects from the top (darken) and the bottom (lighten and increased Clarity and Contrast). Also my standard added global Clarity and Vibrance, and the Landscape sharpen preset.
Something similar:
The Long and Thin of Reflections
Cropped for effect, with similar treatment in Lightroom, except for some added work with the Local Effects Brush to bring up the trees a bit. Again the texture of the grasses in the foreground are important to the image.
7/25/2009
Storm Surf
Taking a break from out coverage of the Coastal Main Botanical Gardens…
Last night my wife and I and youngest daughter went for a walk on the beach. It was the end of close to 24 hours of petty steady rain from a classic noreaster gale, and the ocean was muddy brown in the late light and the clouds still impressive. And, of course, this being Maine, the surfers were out. To be a surfer in Maine means you haunt the edges of storms and surf in a wet-suit even in July and August.
I did not take my H50. I have a new little HD camcorder with a 10mp CMOS sensor that also takes stills. It has a 16×9 wide screen mode at 7.5mp, and I am still experimenting with it as a pocket, all purpose, always on me, camera.
I have taken a few shots with it in better light than the evening offered which have showed promise…so…
If you blow the image above up to full size so you can peek at the pixels it begins to break down. It is, in fact, more like a painting of the scene than it is a photo. That is undoubtedly the result of over-agressive noise reduction which kicked in to compensate for the light levels. Even though the exif data says ISO 50, the sensor was clearly starved for light, and the camera did its best to overcome its limits.
Still, at normal screen resolution, and even in a 5×7 or possibly 8×10 print, it is a dramatic image. I could have gotten better with my H50, but the only camera that counts is the one you have with you.
Sanyo VPC CG10 at about 190mm equivalent. F4.2 @ 1/400th @ ISO 50. Auto.
Recovery for the clouds in Lightroom. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Blackpoint to the right, and added Contrast. Landscape sharpen preset.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
And just for fun…the video: