An adrift half-shell on the wave-streaked sand rippling with ribbons of light under a tempestuous sky …

My first post for 2012: this image was shot a few hours ago. I still have some more photos to post from my last Canadian Rockies trip, but since we’ve been getting dramatic sunset skies, I went back to my local beach with my camera. Will resume posting when I find free time.

Happy New Year!

]]> http://www.photofool.com/2012/01/03/adrift-on-ribbons-of-light/feed/ 63 http://www.photofool.com/2011/09/22/ebbs-and-flows-in-slow-motion/ http://www.photofool.com/2011/09/22/ebbs-and-flows-in-slow-motion/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:39:04 +0000 photofool http://www.photofool.com/?p=3962

Surf motion during a spectacular summer evening afterglow – Santa Barbara, California

Last week, I took my camera gears to the mountains, hoping to shoot new photos, but for three days, I saw 50 inches of fresh snow and no sun. A day later, I was back on my local beach watching this beautiful scene unfolded right in front of me. What a difference a day makes: from a whiteout blizzard at 8000 feet to a colorful sunset at sea level.

As for the tittle of this shot, I could write a long post about it, but I am leaving possible interpretations to my viewers.

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.

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.

–
[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.