A 100 seconds twilight exposure of a Southern California beach shot with a BW ND110 filter.

I haven’t been out on the local beaches as often as I did in the past years. I really missed shooting these shoreline twilight scenes.

Last Friday, I left work early and went straight to the beach. During my rush, I left my remote cable release and Lee filter holder at home. I ended up hand-holding a Lee GND filter with one hand and pressing down on the shutter release button for 100 seconds with the other hand. I wanted to make a longer exposure, but had to cut my exposure time short because I knew that I couldn’t make a sharp enough exposure without my remote cable release. I underexposed this shot by about 1 stop. Thanks to RAW and post processing works, I am able to salvage this shot.

Trying to find time to post … this was shot last December. I haven’t been able to do much sea-side photography lately. This was a two minutes exposure.

A 110 second winter twilight exposure on a Southern California beach.

This long exposure shows the cloud movements and the small pebbles rolling around the sand with the tides.

I shot this over a month ago during my experiment with ND110 filter. I also used a 2 stop hard-edge GND filter on this shot. The BW ND110 added too much saturation to my long exposures. The sky was colorful, but not that intense. The actual scene was much darker. I thought about toning down the colors, but decided to leave it. When I get a chance, I’ll post another version shot without the ND110 filter.

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[Edited 3/1/2010]

After the above long exposure was recorded, I removed the ND110 filter and took a 1/6 second exposure of the same scene at the same aperture (F16) and ISO (200). These two images were shot about 3 minutes apart (counting the 2 minutes exposure time for the first shot). Both raw exposures were converted to JPGs using identical steps.

First Light over Mt. Laurel, Convict Lake – Eastern Sierra, California

This is a color version of a similar shot converted to black and white I posted last week. I guess this is a “normal” view of the scene as opposed to the surrealism feel from the previous high contrast b&w version. The two were shot about an hour apart.

Winter sunrise light over Mt Laurel, Convict Lake – Eastern Sierra, California

I meant to post this winter wonderland image of a nearly frozen Convict Lake sooner, but couldn’t find the time …

Last week, I went up the mountains after the recent snow storms. After a day on the slopes with my snowboard, I caught this beautiful sunrise with my camera the next morning. It was a cold morning, -5 F. With snow deep to my thighs, I couldn’t get around the lake perimeter as much as I would have liked. I dug myself a semi igloo, curled up in a ball and enjoyed the prissiness and the quietness of the mountains … deep blue skies of the high sierra, cold mountain air that left me breathless, pristine white powder, soft morning light on the snowy peaks… life is too darn busy, and these beautiful moments are too far and few in between … at times, I felt like I was sitting on the edge of darkness waiting for dawn light …

PS: For a different perspective, here is a nearly identical view that I shot a few years back.

This image is another sunrise exposure of the lava rock tidal pool on Poipu shoreline. This is a different composition of the same location as the photo in my previous post, Bathed In Poipu Sunrise. Both images were shot at 180 seconds.

I am still experimenting with my ND110 filter. Although I like the results that this filter produces, it is a time consuming process to setup and to execute a shot. During fifteen minutes worth of quality light, I can only pull off two or three shots at best. Perhaps when I have more time, I will write a little more about my experience with this filter. For now, it is a very cumbersome process: take meter reading, compose with Lee GND filter attached, remove GND filter holder, screw in the ND110, re-mount GND filter holder, switch to manual focus, then wait about five minutes in between shots (3 minutes exposure + 2-3 minutes in camera processing time).

Back to my latest Kauai pictures, I don’t have too many images to post, but will try to post one or two more.

This image is a three minutes sunrise exposure of the lava rock tidal pools on Kauai’s shoreline. Two filters were used: a BW ND110 to lengthen the exposure time and a 0.6 Lee GND hard-edge filter to balance out the extreme contrast between the sky and the foreground lava rocks.

I spent a few days in Kauai during the last week of 2009. This image is the last sunrise of 2009 that I photographed. I didn’t take too many photos during the trip. Unlike my usual travel routine, photography wasn’t a priority. I came home with a few images instead of hundreds. For two consecutive mornings, I did nothing but sat on Kauai’s Poipu shoreline and soaked in the warm sunrise light.

I will post more next week.

Last Sunday, I decided to take my camera out to experiment with my new B+W ND110 filter (1000x). This image is a 90 seconds exposure shot during day light as the sun was setting. For those who have not used an ND110 filter, it’s a 10 stops loss of light neutral density filter. One can’t see anything through the view finder with this filter on.

It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been too busy. Last Thanksgiving, I attended yet another funeral. In the last twelve months, we’ve lost three family members due to cancer.

Needing a break from editing funeral photos, I took my camera out to a local beach. I spent two hours on the sand and did nothing but watched the perpetual tides and thought about my own mortality. At sunset, I put on this pitch-black ND110 filter on my lens as if I wanted to see with my eyes closed. At the end of the day, I came home with a few beautiful exposures. I realized that it doesn’t matter what type of equipment I use or what the circumstances are, I tend to photograph what my heart tells me: I like to stay in the light. Light does penetrate the darkest places if given enough time. For those who are in the dark, remember that you always have a choice. We might be living on borrowed time, but we do have choices.

PS: I probably will not be able to post again until next year. To all my viewers and followers, I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season.

Men’s curiosity searches past and future
And clings to that dimension …
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight …

The Dry Salvages — T.S. Eliot

Unusual title for this rather dramatic black and white landscape? As I mentioned in my previous post, I slept for a while on the edge of this lake waiting for the light to come through. Although I wrote that the light never came, I did catch a faint brush of light for a few seconds before darkness returned. After the light disappeared, I left my camera alone for the rest of the morning. I watched the clouds moved across the mountain range and contemplated about my relationship with time and my surroundings. Time is the binding force that keeps me from finding myself as I often get lost in my surroundings… past, future, the moment in and out of time, lost in a shaft of sunlight …

Sometimes, my camera allows me to see what my naked eyes cannot see …

This image was shot a few minutes before these two: Ocean in Motion: Ebbs and Flows and Stillness Amid Ebbs and Flows. Obviously, the light intensity in this image was not as strong as the other two. To leave a softer feel for the image, I also didn’t apply my usual level and curve adjustments.