When the alarm goes off at 4:30 AM and you live 40 minutes away from Laguna Beach, it really is a roll of the dice to see if you will come back home with anything resembling a decent sunrise. On this particular morning, I stuck my head out the door and peered at the high clouds above and thought I might get lucky. A quick look at the satellite shot on the NWS website showed that the clouds looked a bit broken to the East, and that was enough to get me in the car headed down to Laguna.

When I arrived at the end of Laguna Canyon road, it looked like a wall of fog sitting just off shore and my heart sank. What a wasted effort. In spite of what looked like a big fat nothing in terms of a sunrise, I headed down to Shaw's cove because....well...you never know what you're going to get. When I got out of the car, I could see that there was a bit of light mist, but really no fog to speak of. I began shooting several different spots of the beach during blue hour anxiously waiting for the sky to light up. And I waited....and waited....and...nothing.

Then suddenly I saw a tiny bit of pink in one corner of the sky. Then a bit more. And suddenly, the entire sky lit up, and I was trying to shoot everywhere at once. Shortly after taking the earlier shot shown below, I raced back across the beach to try to grab as much reflected light off of the beach and waves as possible.

For the past several weeks, this type of a sunrise has been increasingly rare in Laguna. It's either been fog for weeks at a time, or clear skies without the smallest wisp of a cloud. My kids think that I'm nuts for waking up that early on a weekend, but every once in a while, the sun actually comes out from behind the clouds and for 10 to 15 glorious minutes, it is DEFINITELY worth it.


William McIntosh Photography | 500px | Twitter

Tags:   Laguna Beach CA Shaw's Cove Sunrise Nikkor 14-24 2.8 BRAVO

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If you have a moment, please View Larger On Black as it is difficult to get what I was after from the medium sized shot above. Thanks for looking! :)


Here's another look at the stormy coastline that I shot on an early morning trip down to Laguna a couple weeks ago. I have to admit that I am thoroughly hooked on these long exposure shots as I love the misty wave effect that can be created. As the surf was much higher on this particular trip, I was able to catch more spray in the early morning light that managed to break through the clouds. However, I was so pleased to make it out to my spot without getting nailed by a wave that I neglected to keep an eye on the tide, and by the time I had turned around to head back to my car, the waves were crashing all the way up to the face of the cliff behind me. Needless to say, it was a very cold and wet trip back home. : (

I haven't done much in the way of mono shots lately, but as soon as I glanced at this shot in black and white using Nik Silver Efex, I knew I had to post the B & W version. If you get a chance, please look at this shot in the large size on black as it will really give you a better idea of what I was after.

3 shot HDR bracket using the Sigma 10-20.

(Explored at #6 on 11/23/11. Thanks for the views, comments, and faves! :) )

Tags:   Victoria Beach Storm Long Exposure Black And White Laguna Nikon D7000 Sigma 10-20

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Here's another shot from the series taken down on Victoria Beach which is just South of Laguna. I was muttering under my breath as I took this shot as I had just missed some rare lighting as a storm was clearing as I was setting up. I've been down to this spot several times since then, and it has quickly become one of my favorite local spots to shoot. I earned my stripes two weeks ago as the tide came in and I got nailed by a wave. I managed to keep the camera dry, but it was a long, cold drive back home as I was soaked. :) This spot lends itself particularly well to long exposure shots, and I shot quite a few of these that I hope to post over the next couple of weeks.

3 shot HDR using the Sigma 10-20.

(Explored at #3 on 11/22/11)

Tags:   Laguna Beach Victoria Beach Long Exposure HDR Nikon D7000 Sigma 10-20

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When I arrived just before sunset down at the Newport Pier a few weeks ago, I started shooting as soon as I hit the beach. The late afternoon light was fantastic and as I reached the shoreline, I was immediately struck by the incredible reflection coming off of that remarkably flat beach. As the clouds above turned orange, I began to try to frame the pier into my shot along with the incredible reflection which was literally all around me at this point. As I lined up the shot, a little boy, probably around 4 years old or so, bounced into my frame, just as I was about to take a bracket or two. At first, I immediately went into my frustrated photographer mode and began fuming at the parents behind him who neglected to tell him to get the heck out of the way of the nice man who was trying to bracket a set of shots before all the good light was gone. But before I actually had time to get really irritated, I saw his silhouette against the sand and instantly decided to include him in the frame. In this particular shot, it appeared as if he was literally reaching down to touch the clouds reflected all around him on the beach.

The take away for me here was the realization that sometimes you end up liking the shot you thought was ruined more than the shot you had originally composed.

William McIntosh Photography

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Tags:   Newport Beach Sunset Newport Pier

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(Please view larger on black by hitting the "L" key for better viewing. )


I was telling a friend of mine just last week that every time I discover a new beach in Laguna, I feel like Magellan. This particular beach has instantly become one of my favorites, not only for it's rocky coastline and cliff top mansions that surround it, but the fact that the entrance is almost invisible from PCH. When trying to describe it to my kids, I likened it to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter in that you could look right at the spot where the entrance should be and see nothing but some bushes and a lamp post, especially if you are in a car looking for the next access point to the beach after Aliso.

The steps themselves, (only 230 but Lord it feels like 1000 on the way back up) are very old and cracked and a tiny bit treacherous and completely buried by trees. I've only been down there twice, but both of these times I have found the beach to be almost deserted. I'm assuming it fills up with locals on warm afternoons, especially during the Summer, but most of those folks, if they were there earlier, were gone by late afternoon. My explorations in recent weeks have led me to Victoria, Treasure Island, The Montage, Camel Point, Table Rock, Totuava, West and now 1000 Steps, as well as Monarch, Salt Creek, and The Strand down near Dana Point. There are still dozens of spots left to explore, and I'm hoping to make quite a few trips down this Summer. I'm already looking forward to my next trip. :)

(3 Shot Handheld HDR)

Tags:   Laguna 1000 Steps Beach Sunset Nikon D7000 Sigma 10-20 HDR Thousand Steps Beach

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