August 8, 2013

Seeking out the epic sunset …

Last Friday night was perhaps the most epic sunset I’ve ever seen.  Middle Dude and I watched it, completely mesmerized, from our front yard.  I might have kicked myself a few hundred times for NOT being at the beach at that moment.  Regret aside, I determined to be at the beach Saturday night, just in case it happened again (which it didn’t. boohiss. marine layer. boohiss)  Anywhooo, these yahoos below did not choose to come along with me.  They stayed back at Chez-Papa-Nana.IMG_5956IMG_5952IMG_5961 IMG_5965So I set off with my tripod (something I rarely use) and my 50mm lens (notoriously NOT my favorite lens) and a determination to catch the sunset and play around with some long exposures. (on my bucket purchase list is a multi-stop neutral density filter & a graduated ND filter)  I also changed things up and put my camera in [medium] RAW mode, because I knew I also wanted to experiment with some new editing tricks.  (I’ve been watching Jinky’s editing videos – which are amazing, btw – and I wanted to bling-up some sky detail)IMG_5978IMG_6005 IMG_5994IMG_6009The pelican parade … IMG_6010Tons of surfers … IMG_6017 And all those clouds at the horizon are about to close in on each other before the sun dips below them… [sniff sniff]IMG_6026 IMG_6027 Below is my first attempt with longer exposure.  It was still quite a bit too light to attempt this without a filter, but I closed my aperture down to f/22 to get a 1/25 second exposure.IMG_6038 IMG_6060IMG_6062 IMG_6096 IMG_6099 It wasn’t the epic sunset that I was hoping would put on an encore presentation, but it was still a pretty nice place to hang out for awhile …

4 comments:

Anita Johnson said...

I think I can hear the sea through your exquisite photos....

Tracy P. said...

I love your long exposures, and also the tree shadows. There is a guy who posts photos of Lake Superior almost every day, and I drool over his long exposures. I need to work on that.

Laura said...

These are exquisite!! I especially love the sun flare from behind that building and the soft water. So pretty. :)

Unknown said...

When I see this, I am so thankful for our great Creator. Wow. Just Wow.

I am so thankful you get to live in such a magnificent place with so much beauty.