Posts in Category: seaweed
Ed Munro Seahurst Park, Greater Seattle
I am Seattle for a few days, doing a Point and Shoot for Wildlife workshop for Seattle Audubon. I got to Seattle, after already a long day of travel, in the afternoon, and checked into a hotel near the SeaTac airport. If you have been, you know SeaTac is not exactly centrally located for Seattle proper, so I looked for somewhere more local to get out for a few hours. Ed Munro Seahurst Park is a sizeable chunk of green on the edge of Puget Sound, and only about 20 minutes from the hotel. I am sure there is much more to it than I saw in my limited visit, and I am also sure that on a clear day the view across the Sound to the islands with the Olympics behind must be spectacular. The view was hazed in yesterday, but I still enjoyed the afternoon sun, the rocky beach, the blue water, and the driftwood.
Canon SX50HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation. 24mm equivalent field of view. f4 @ 1/800th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
1/4/2012: Frosted Seaweed, Kennebunk ME
According to my internet weather app it is 5º outside in southern Maine this morning. Frosty. This is from New Year’s Day dawn on the beach a few miles from our home, with the frost on the seaweed lighted by the rising sun. It makes a nice abstract study, with the mix of textures and colors, unified by the frosty coating. The contrast in the color temperature from the right where the low sun is striking to the left which is still in shadow is pretty dramatic too.
Canon SX40HS at 212mm equivalent field of view. f4.5 @ 1/100th @ ISO 800. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.
Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.
3/16/2010
Seaweed and Stone
After a stormy morning, the rocky fringe at the base of the cliffs at the Tide Pools (Cabrillo National Monument) was littered wit interesting seaweed. Add the interesting texture of some of the conglomerate stones, and the range of tones and colors in the stone, and it kept me busy for close on a half hour. The rain helped…as these stones would not have been nearly as interesting dry.
Canon SX10IS at about 115mm equivalent. F4.5 @ 1/80th @ ISO 125. Programmed auto.
In Lightroom, just a bit of Recovery for highlights. Blackpoint right slightly. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Sharpen landscapes preset.
Two others from the same session. I am really liking the way the Canon captures texture. The stones here are, to my eye, just as I remember them.
About 60mm @ F3.5 @ 1/8th and ISO 80, and about 100mm @ F4 @ 1/80th and ISO 80.
From San Diego 2010.
2/24/2010
Seaweed Black
These black seaweed bladders are all over the rocky beaches of southern Maine. I am not certain whether they are black in life or if they turn black as they dry…but they are fascinating anyway. This is an extreme closeup using the Super Macro mode on the Canon SX20IS. The lens hood is practically touching the rock.
Canon SX20IS at 28mm equivalent and Super Macro. F4 @ 1/640th @ ISO 100. Programmed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sunny rock and the reflected highlights on the seaweed. A touch of Fill Light. Blackpoint just right. Added Clarity and just a tiny amount of Vibrance. Sharpen landscapes preset. Cropped slightly at the bottom to remove the worst of the out of focus weed.
From Around Home 2010.
8/6/2009
Strange Shapes from the Sea
After a storm Parson’s Beach is a rich trove of amazing things from the sea. I always like the shapes the seaweed takes and makes. This very low angle shot, taken from beach level below the seaweed itself, emphasizes the bizarre forms. I really like the flip out LCD on the H50, but I am forever dragging my lens cap and strap in the sand. I have learned to check it before I stuff it back into my camera bag with the camera.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F4.0 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Cropped slightly from both bottom and top in Lightroom. Added Vibrance and Clarity, blackpoint to the right. Graduated filter effect from the top to reduce the brightness of the background.
And here is the more conventional view.
Strange Shapes from the Sea Too
8/2/2009
Compound Curves
Happy Sunday. A sunny day picture to celebrate (and, believe me we are celebrating every sunny day in Maine this summer). I was out early to the beach for this shot. By the time I left there was no parking to be had within a mile of here, but it was the light, of course, that brought me out early. Not a perfectly clear day…still lots of mist in the air and a foggy density out over the ocean, but the light was strong enough to penetrate well, and bring the scene to life.
I like the way the curves in this image echo each other…though I can’t say I was conscious of it while framing. The dark, dominant curve of the seaweed intersects the corner of the frame, leading the eye into the image. Sometimes I am very aware of where elements in the image meet the frame, and sometimes my practiced eye for the image just takes care of it without conscious intervention. The practiced eye is a photographer’s most valuable asset.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky. Recovery also has the effect of making mist and fog look more luminous, as it did here, emphasizing the inner light. Blackpoint to the right. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Landscape sharpen.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
6/3/2009
Big Sky over Sea Rocks (with house leaning in)
Seaweed covered rocks and tiny tide-pools on the point at the south end of Parson’s Beach, with just a bit of house leaning in (due to the wide angle lens, should I fix it??) under that same huge sky from yesterday.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom, Recovery for the sky, Fill light for the foreground. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and sharpen. I was still not happy with the seaweed. It was too dull. I pulled a Graduated filter up from the bottom and added Brightness, Clarity, and Contrast to make it a bit more interesting and balance the image.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
5/23/2009
Pearls in a Nest
A seaweed shot from a more conventional angle, still emphasizing the effects of the low morning light. This is really a composition study. I continue to like the rule of thirds grid in the Sony H50 viewfinder/lcd. I simply do not see it most of the time, but in a case like this it provides a guide to placing the interesting bits. I cropped in camera by using the long end of the zoom, but I still had to crop slightly in Lightroom to get the full effect.
The intense yellow of the pods against the dark background was a problem. I had to use selective luminance control in Lightroom to tone it down a bit. (Lightroom has a mouse control that allows you to click on the color region you want to affect, then just move the mouse up or down to increase or decrease luminance, or saturation or hue for that matter.)
Sony DSC H50 at about 380mm equivalent. F4.5 @ 1/125th @ ISO 200. Programed auto.
Besides cropping in Lightroom, I added my usual Clarity and Vibrance and sharpened. I pulled the blackpoint slightly to the right.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
5/22/2009
Sculpture of Seaweed and Light
I took a run to the beach after capturing the dandelion yesterday, and continued the theme of low angle shots involving mostly the light. The tide was coming in fast (this is the Gulf of Maine and tides run 10 to 12 feet on a mild day), and the tide-was littered with all kinds of seaweed. As the surf folded and molded it with each pass, and as the low light caught it, translucent, against the sea, it made for some fascinating shapes. I got my toes wet quite a few times but managed to keep the camera out of the drink.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F5.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
A touch of Recovery in Lightroom for the highlights. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Sharpen.
From Around Home: Kennebunk ME.
And the video version.
5/2/2009
Shell Brook
South of St. Augustine, the white Florida sand is mixed with crushed shells. The Atlantic is a much more vigorous shell crusher than the Gulf of Mexico. Where rock outcroppings occur, as here, the shells heap up and form interesting patterns. Streams. Brooks. Little oceans of shell.
Taken from beach level using the fold out LCD panel on the H50.
Sony DSC H50 at about 36mm equivalent. F8.0 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Because of the range of light and dark here, I used a considerable amount of Fill Light in Lr. Standard Clarity and Vibrance for the H50, Landscape sharpen preset.
From St. Augustine FL.