Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I'm writing an app for apple and Android devices about photographing the California coast! I'll be done in a couple of months.
I have many new photos of Kauai to share. For this, I had to bail out several times when bigger waves would strike. This place could be extremely dangerous during the winter and I DO NOT suggest you try this during big surf!!!
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 22
(wide to capture more of the sky and the top of the falls)
0.3-second exposure @ F13
ISO 160
2-0.9 (3-stop) Lee soft edge neutral density graduated filters
Lee foundation kit filter holder (3-slots)
Lee adapter ring to fit my 77mm lens to the holder
No polarizer
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
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The Story:
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From a trail near the Princeville hotel, you gain access to some incredible coastal scenery including a large lava swimming pool called "Queen's Bath" but on this evening I wanted to capture these falls as they enter the ocean as they are lit by the last rays of the sun. The falls do not show up well in photographs unless the golden sun is striking them during the summer. I had to get into a small area under a lava ledge and stand on extramely slippery rounded rock at low tide to get this view. The best time to shoot this (because of the angle of the sun hittin gthe water) is probably the summer.
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Resources:
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Google Earth
earth.google.com/
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Tags: landscape seascape waterfall queens bath kauai hawaii pacific ocean lava black rock cloud sky
© All Rights Reserved
Compare this to the last upload. Which do you like better? I got up in the dark to get there early in order to show how the trade winds sweep the clouds past the rainiest mountains in the world. No HDR.
See the super-big 1920 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/601333646...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 35
45-second exposure @ F11
ISO 160
Lee Big Stopper 10-stop square very dark glass filter for long exposures
(It is hard to get due to limited production so order and wait!)
2-0.9 (3-stop) Lee soft edge neutral density graduated filters
(grads oriented vertically to get light onto the falls)
Lee foundation kit filter holder (3-slots) All full!
Lee adapter ring to fit my 77mm lens to the holder
No polarizer
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Collapse this post
First light at Hanalei is one of the most spaecacular events to witness anywhere. I feel it rivals Yosemite or practically anywhere I've seen personally or in photographs. It is a warm Yosemite with an ocean! These mountains are as high as El-Capitan and almost as steep. The trade winds more the clouds quickly creating changing light conditions on the 4,000 ft. (1300+m) rain sculpted mountains which are the rainiest on the planet. You must see this place for yourself. I used a very dark Lee Big Stopper filter to allow a 45-second exposure to show the dynamic nature of the light here.
Sometimes the clouds open up a bit and during this time of year, the sculpted cliffs are etched perfectly in relief by the low sun angle. The long exposure also reduces distractions so that the pier and mountains stand out better.
Another nice thing the long exposure does is to eliminate people from the scene. There were paddleboarders, surfers and some boats moving through this scene but as long as they keep moving, all is well! And it was.
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Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------
Google Earth
earth.google.com/
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Tags: landscape seascape hanalei kauai hawaii pier mountain rain ocean pacific coconut palm sand wind usa
© All Rights Reserved
A fine mist envelops a quiet lane in Point Reyes, near San Francisco. Sometimes, fog really enhances a scene. No HDR.
Visit me on Google Plus!
profiles.google.com/patricksmith1
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/591649592...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 58
3.2-second exposure @ F16 (For big DOF with low light)
No filters
No polarizer
ISO 50
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
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Story:
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Last week, I went out for a sunset shot at the beach here in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. This is the dry season, but there were some rare clouds and (even more rare) rain in the area and as sunset approached, it began to clear up. I was all ready for what I had planned when a bank of fog moved in and that was that. I had to go to my backup plan. (Always have a backup plan since nature does not often cooperate despite how carefully you study her!) I knew about this row of trees on the way to the Point Reyes Lighthouse so I headed over there. I have been waiting for about 3 years for a misty foggy sort of day where I could capture this scene with some extra depth and light that you don't see without fog. So here it is! ... If you try this, walk the entire length of the path looking for the best composition. It took about 15 minutes of fiddling around to settle on this composition. This was halfway down.
Here is some history on this radio installation:
www.qsl.net/w2vtm/rca_history_kph.html
The map shows exactly where this is.
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Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------
Google Earth
earth.google.com/
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Tags: landscape mist fog cypress road lane myst mystery grass brances halloween spooky red california marin county usa nature art PhotoContest-TNC11
© All Rights Reserved
It was a misty and foggy morning on San Francisco Bay. Since I have no good photos of this view with my 5D mkII, I decided to go for it. Only as the sun nears the summer solstace is the city lit by the morning sun from this angle. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/576604722...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @70
1-minute exposure @ F10
1 Lee Big Stopper 10-stop glass filter (slides into filter holder)
2 0.9 (3-stop) Lee neutral density soft grad filters
(Lee is having production problems (can't keep up with demand) so Singh Ray makes good ones too.)
No polarizer
ISO 100
Small Slik tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
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Story:
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I never tire of this view and even at sunrise, there are lots of walkers, runners and bike riders passing by. If you ever have a chance to see this place at sunrise, I highly recommend it! But fog can happen so check the forecast first. The Golden Gate Bridge is just to the right of the frame and the fog flows right through it to this spot and across to the islands and the Bay Bridge in the distance.
Usually, April is the start of the dry season, but this year there have been a lot of clouds and much cooler than average temperatures while the arctic and sub-arctic areas are enjoying warm temps. For the next week for example, it will be warmer in much of central Alaska than along the California coast. Of course bad weather can make the best light so I'll take the clouds while I can get them! But the north Pacific has been churned up for 6 months and it looks like it does in the middle of the stormy winter. It is very odd to see. For example look at this sat movie. (Let it download and loop a few times.)
www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/nepac/loop-vis.html
The map shows exactly where this is.
---------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------
Google Earth
earth.google.com/
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_int.html
Or Here:
www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif
Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.
www.californiacoastline.org/
I get my cameras, filters, etc. here:
www.bhphotovideo.com/
or
www.adorama.com/
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Tags: landscape seascape pier sausalito marin county san francisco bay water clouds long exposure treasure island yerba buena island alkatraz coit tower bay bridge oakland united states usa
© All Rights Reserved
The sun sets over the Pacific Ocean just north of San Francisco, illuminating ridges formed by the San Andreas fault, which slipped 16 feet at the surface in 1906. The japan quake moved the surface by 15-20ft in the tsunami area and 9 inches in Tokyo, with bigger slippage far offshore. This fault slipped right through the city in 1906! No HDR, though this high contrast situation is perfect for HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
I left the saturation slider on zero despite the vivid colors! I was tempted to desaturate but the greens did not look blown out so I left it alone.
See the 1400 pixel version!!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/567293434...
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Details:
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Canon 5D mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 58 with some cropped of the edges
Live preview
1/6-second exposure @F8
ISO 200
1 Lee soft grad filter (4x6 inch, 100x150mm, 0.9, 3-stop)
1 Singh-Ray 3-stop reverse ND grad filter (4x6 inch)
(Lee filters is having trouble with production,
so I also just got a regular 3-stop ND grad and it looks just like the Lee!)
No polarizer.
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop cs4
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod
Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol-grip ball head
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The Story
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Mt. Tamalpais is the ultimate place to watch the sun set over the Pacific. It is over 2,000 feet (700m) almost straight down to the shoreline and there is commonly low fog drifting though. The San Andreas fault (and erosion) have created lots of undulations and photo opps! It runs left to right just in front of the darker (forested) Bolinas Ridge in the distance and has rippled the surface on either side.
In the summer, there is fog that drifts under this location creating surreal scenes of impressive beauty. In about a month (by the end of May) the green grass dries up and turns a golden brown making this place look completely different. It will be brown until December. It can be very dangerous to shoot here in the summer because the dry grass becomes slippery and as you can see in the foreground, the slope is about 45 degrees with nothing to stop you from sliding 1000 feet into a gully or a tree at the bottom.
I will do this exact composition in the summer to shot how different it is.
The contrast was extreme on this evening so I had to be careful to get the grads into the right place to keep it looking natural. The sky turned an unusual color which I would not believe if I had not seen it myself. When shooting, look closely at the sky and then at your viewfinder to see how accurate the photo is to reality. Remember it so that you can accurately process it later.
In this case, the grass in the viewfinder after the shot had a bluish tint to it that I did not see with my eye, so I desaturated the blue channel in the grassy areas to get it back to a natural green color.
The map shows the exact location.
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Other stuff
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My pictures are featured on the front page of the
state Government. of California website and the new Governor, Jerry Brown's website too. Have a look! It is Flash with my pics cut into layers for a 3-d slideshow. If you are into building apps, the State has opened up lots of data to the public, so check it out!
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Resources:
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A great weather mashup map of the world with local temperatures, weather and nice popups. See where it is hot and not!
www.wunderground.com/wundermap/
Google Earth
earth.google.com/
Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.
Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr
Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235
Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_int.html
Or Here:
www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif
Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.
www.californiacoastline.org/
ad.
Tags: landscape sunset grass pacific ocean fault earthquake ridge bolinas stinson beach tamalpais mill valley marin california san francisco redwood laurel bay douglas fir sky cloud BRAVO PhotoContest-TNC11 united states usa
© All Rights Reserved
