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.

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.

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.

Today’s sunset. Spent about an hour on the beach. Shot a few decent frames. Decided to include more foreground elements.

I have way too many things on my mind lately, but first thing first … I found out that one of my friends has been battling brain cancer for six years. All of these years that I know her, I never knew. I knew that she was going through some physical pains, but I never asked out of respect for her privacy. Last week, she decided to reveal her story via a rare self-portrait. I sat there for a while staring at her photo and remembering her comments on some of my photos …

We all take photographs and share them for different reasons. Some choose to communicate through their photographs when words are inadequate. Some instantly feel a connection with a photograph that resonates with their life experiences. I remember deleting one of her comments on one of my photos because the comment was so spot on, and I was not comfortable sharing that level of personal info out in the public view. I later renamed the photo and deleted a bunch of other very supportive comments out of respect for another person’s privacy. When I photograph a scene, I always attempt to inject my emotion into the shot. Some of my viewers immediately get what I am saying through my photographs just because we share common life experiences that influence how we perceive the world around us. Although some of my good friends don’t leave comment, I know that they know that I know we know what we are saying to each other without saying anything. David Tyson Gentry’s quote that I use for the title of this shot says it best, “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable”.

Back to the topic of terminal illness, I personally see many around me going through the struggles. Many choose to fight alone because they don’t want to burden their love ones. All I can do is to stand back in the distance and say, “I’m here; I see you and I feel your struggles.” Sometimes, that means more than anything else to them. So to my friend, Laurie (or some of you in the Flickrverse might know her as fouramjava) and to others who are fighting for your survival, this photo is for you. I’m here, and your friends are here for you. You stay strong.

….
My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each days a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned
Leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
If tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past …

– If Today Was Your Last Day lyrics by Nickelback

This is a single horizontal frame shot a few minutes before Bracing for What’s To Come … I posted a few days ago. For a scale reference, the two black dots near the horizon (about an inch from the right edge of the frame) are two surfers walking – hard to tell from a small image size.

To pull back some of the blown the highlights near the left edge, I used Lightroom’s localized tone curve adjustments. This worked out much better than Photoshop’s dodge and burn as I did for the previous image (see the highlight yellow area).

Curious about those sea foams? Those beach foams are formed by marine microorganisms get whipped up by the waves near the shoreline.