It's been almost 2 months since I've shot the coast. I have been running around various places here in the southwest for the last 6 weeks, so being able to photograph the coast again was a treat. I decided to get up early along with everyone else and try to take advantage of the Black Friday specials, although the special I was searching for was along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. I made it down to the shore line and I just stopped and took a deep breath. Ahhhhhhh........the smell of sea water. I missed the coast, I was back........ time for some action. I was greeted with high pounding surf and a brief moment of glowing light. The glow of the sun rising behind the sea cliffs is something special. It's a sight that I truly adore and was very pleased to be able to capture such a scene. Hope everyone has a great week.
Thanks to my buddy Thorsten for help with the title of this image. Thanks!
Tags: Newport Beach - Laguna Beach California United States Sunrise Canon Canon 5D MarkII 5D Mark II 17-40mm L Cali Orange County OC Crystal Cove Crystal Cove State Park Pacific Ocean ocean clouds beach rocks seascape travel waves wide angle PCH Pacific Coast Highway USA long exposure
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View this LARGE
It's funny how things come together at times. It was the last morning of my vacation. I get my 4 a.m. wake up call from the roosters. I get up look out the window and it's pouring rain. I'm thinking to myself what a way to enjoy my last day on vacation. I get back into bed, and lie there for the next hour listening to the roosters just hoping and wishing for the rain to stop. 5 a.m. comes around and it's still raining. What should I do? Should I get up and go? Should I just stay in bed and go back to sleep? All these thoughts are going through my head. I'm making myself mental!
I decide to get up and go. I make my 15min drive to the location. It's still raining with no signs of any breaks. I get to the parking lot, look to the east. Rain......a lot of rain. I get back into the truck and sit for the next half an hour watching the rain contemplating if I should stay or leave. Wait.......I see a break on the horizon. The sky has a real faint glow, but it's at least a 15 min hike down to the beach. The trail down to the beach here is very steep. If it has been raining, forget about it. The trail is slick and muddy. There wouldn't be enough time to get down to the beach, so I decide to go with my plan B; shoot from the cliffs. I make my way slowly down the trail. I'm slipping and sliding all over the place. I get to the spot where I want to be at, I set up, and start shooting. The scene at this point is dark and moody with subtle light on the horizon. After a few frames the rain starts really coming down. I tried to stick it out in the rain for as long as I could but it was just too much. I pack my gear up in defeat. The conditions weren't in my favor this time around, but it's ok.......I've got great light at this location 4 days in row! ;-)
I make my way back up the trail, I take one last look at this killer view and all of a sudden I see this glow on the sea cliffs. The glow starts to get more intense, I can't say the curses that came out of my mouth, but I was swearing up a storm as I ran back down the trail slipping and sliding all over the place. The heart pounding heavy breathing intensity that was going through my body was crazy. The light started illuminating the shore line as if someone had slowly open the blinds in a room that was dark. When I was focusing in live view at x10 I could see the sunlight piercing through the rain! It was one of the most incredible scenes that I have seen. I would say this was a great way to start the morning.
Tags: Hawaii Big Island Pololu Valley sunrise sea cliffs rain mist vacation travel Canon 5D MarkII 24-105mm tripod waterfall fog storm day regionwide
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I was sitting around the house the whole weekend and for some reason I had sand dunes on my mind. And here you go! Hope everyone has a great week, and thanks for the visit. Peace and Love!
Tags: Stovepipe Wells California United States Canon Canon 5D MarkII 5D Mark II 70-200mm f/4 L 70-200mm Mesquite Sand Dunes Mesquite Flat sand dunes Mesquite Flat Death Valley Death Valley National Park DVNP sand dunes sand dunes desert waves ripples textures curves abstract sunrise landscape lines travel Mojave Desert light shadows North America wind
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Large is better.
I wanted to capture a scene that showed how impressive these sand dunes are. But I wanted to include as many curves, lines and shadows as possible. With wind gusts up to 25 mph, the wind kick up so much sand, that the sand formed a layer/cloud in the sky, which in this case worked out nice. The sand in the atmosphere diffused the light making for optimal conditions to shoot these dunes. By far one of my favorite dune images that I have taken.
Tags: Stovepipe Wells California United States Canon Canon 5D MarkII 5D Mark II 70-200mm f/4 L 70-200mm Mesquite Sand Dunes Mesquite Flat sand dunes Mesquite Flat Death Valley Death Valley National Park DVNP sand dunes sand dunes desert waves ripples textures curves abstract sunrise landscape lines travel Mojave Desert light shadows
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I'm fresh back from another wild and fun trip the coast. I met up with Didenze. She suggested a spot that she thought I would like............and she was so right. This location was sweet. Rock patterns everywhere, and lots of big waves made this location perfect. When we first got to the beach I wasn't too sure on what the light was going to do, there was a lot of texture in sky, but wasn't sure if any decent light would develop. All of a sudden the sky is starting to turn pink towards the south. At first I was saying to myself this is pretty sweet.......nice light, cool clouds, I'm soaking wet in the first 5 minuets of shooting, I'm starting the morning off pretty good. Oh yeah.......don't forget to turn around just in case the light is going off behind me, and sure enough, the ligt was "getting stupid" behind me. The light wasn't epic, but with all the texture in the sky and the light passing through the storm clouds made for a killer scene! It was crazy! At one point there was a small piece of a rainbow that popped out! This was the best light that I've seen at sunrise on the coast besides the EPIC light I saw back in December. I was screaming and fist pumping with excitement! The other thing that was crazy was the light was going off in both directions! I was in photographers dreamland.
Hope everyone has a great week, the count down for my Pacific Northwest trip officially begins today. I'm fired up!!! Can't wait.
Tags: Canon 5D Mark II 17-40mm L Singh Ray filter 3 stop hard edge gnd San Clemente Orange County California beach clouds light waves
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