Another long exposure (120 seconds) made with a ND110 filter and a 2 stops hard-edge ND filter. I don’t have too much time to write a longer post, but I did update the previous post to show a comparison between an image shot with ND110 and one without.

I am heading up the mountains for a few days. Hope to bring back a good photo or two.

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.

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.

This is a candid shot of a girl walking her dog on a Southern California beach during a beautiful summer sunset. This photo was taken on the same day as Broken Kelp. This image is a square crop from a single exposure.

Dusk light over Devereux Creek – Santa Barbara, California

Last Sunday, I went back to the beach for the first time in over two months. I took a few typical “photofool” seascape exposures, but decided to post this creek side image first.

This image is a blend exposure from a single raw file (10 seconds exposure). The details on the lower right corners are not too visible in this small JPG. I wished I had enough time to put on my GND filter and tried a few exposures.

It’s amazing how this ordinary swamp can be so beautiful during the last few minutes of day light.

Wanting to get some cardio works done, I took my mountain bike out on my favorite trail. At the end of my ride, I caught this spectacular sunset on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific ocean.

Getting the final image required a little works. The setting sun was still too bright and the right side of the frame was in dark shadows. To balance out the extreme contrasts, I ended up stacking two GND filters (3 stops + 2 stops). During post processing, a digital blend and a little dodging were done to bring out some colors on the bluffs and to lighten the upper sky. This is a vertorama composite from two horizontal shots.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. — Ernest Hemingway

As I mentioned in my previous post about a twilight surfer, I lined up my tripod to make a vertorama, and this image was what I had in mind. I rushed the last shot out because I did not have time to finish processing this image.

I’ve been waiting for beautiful skies to return to our local beach. Tonight, I was lucky enough to capture this classic Southern California summer lifestyle. At the end of the day, there is nothing better than breathing the fresh salty air, feeling the cool water, and watching those magical clouds getting lit up by the setting sun. Life is pretty darn beautiful if one chooses to experience it … as the locals say, it’s chillaxing.

This image was not what I had in mind when I started shooting. I lined up my camera to shoot a few long exposures to create a vertorama, but when I saw this surfer in my frame, I flipped all my settings to shoot a single frame with a faster exposure time, hoping to catch him before he disappeared into the waves. I wished I had time to frame the surfer a little further into the scene, but for a candid shot, I’m quite contented with how it turned out.

Today’s sunset – first time that I saw a nice sky in months! It felt good to be out in the warm summer water and to breathe the fresh ocean air again. It’s been one stressful summer, and I can’t wait for the fall.

I don’t have time to write much since I’m packing for a short trip to San Diego for a friend’s wedding. Have a great weekend.

PS: This is a vertorama composite of two horizontal images shot a few seconds apart using the same exposure settings and focal length.

Another older shot from my 2007 archive … perhaps you’ve seen dreamscape? This was shot about a minute after dreamscape.