Morro Bay

[Dahlia]

Hi Everyone, I'm fairly new to the forum and I wanted to try my hand at posting some photos. These were taken in Morro Bay, CA in February. I used my Canon PowerShot A610 Digital Camera. I think most of the quality of the photographs must be attributed to the nice weather and the camera itself, since these were shot on the Auto setting (I'm still working with the manual settings). Comments and criticisms more than welcome!

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4.

 

[Big Mike]

Looks like a nice place...not too crowded.

One thing to watch for...try to keep the horizon level...especially when there is water (lake, ocean etc). A tilted horizon tends to take away from an otherwise great shot. (It's quite easy to correct them with Photoshop etc.)

 

[Dahlia]

Thank you, Big Mike, for the suggestion.

Anyone else? I know they're beginner level, but I'm open to hear anything.

 

[abraxas]

Yeah, I'll 'Dive in'

Morro Bay is my favorite beach. I've been to that spot many times- to fly a kite.

1 & 4 out of square.

3 would have more story-wise it if the half-people were cropped out along with the mother and child (?) on the left.

In 2, the leg of the gull is in line with a scratch on the rock. To me this bisects the photo.

4 looks interesting and would probably be a better picture with the framing rocks and the surfers in the distance cropped out. Make it more about the kayakist.

I hope you get to go back. Aside from being beautiful and quiet, photo ops abound. The jetty at the other end of the rock from where you are standing is a good place to get shots of the waves breaking (just don't go out on the jetty, it's not worth getting hurt). Behind where you are/were, on the bay side, otters swim with their pups in their arms. The sand bar protecting the bay is also a wildlife refuge. You can rent a canoe to get out there at the parking lot at the west/south end of the embarcadero. The docks are also cram-packed with photo ops as the bay is primarily a fishing bay rather than recreation. A hike up Black Mountain (drive through the golf course) produces beautiful pictures of the south wetlands and bay as well as the rock from high up.

Places up the (north) coast a few miles are the little town of Harmony (pop. 50) and the Sea Lion Reserve on the beach right before Hearst Castle (San Simeon).

Even if you can't make it back, keep trying. Being someplace with a camera and working the variables is the first step.

AND- a final note. Remember the 'golden' hours, at dawn and sunset. For my tastes, a serious outdoor/landscape/wildlife photographer should be out there. This is when nature happens.

Best-


PS. If I could have your permission I'd like to repost your photos edited?

 

[Dahlia]

Hi abraxas, thank you very much for your input! You mention several points that would not have occurred to me otherwise, which is why I appreciate other's POV. You have my permission to do whatever you would like to these photos.

Morro Bay is a very lovely place. My boyfriend's grandparents live in Santa Maria, and we've gone to visit a few times in the past few years, the last being in February. Each time we're there we make a trip to Morro Bay, but this was the first time I had a digital camera with me (I've taken a few shots with my polaroid before). Since it was a family outing, and since I hadn't delved too much into the workings of my camera, I didn't get to plan out the photos very much. I think Morro Bay's natural beauty, and the wonderful weather that we had that day, are what make these photos. My boyfriend has also gotten more into photography since then, so hopefully we can go back again and experiment more with our cameras and the setting.

After posting these I've noticed a few things that bother me, in particular the shadow in the bottom left corner of the last photo (most likely from someone standing nearby) as well as the shadow of the gull, caused by the high sun. More and more things I can look out for next time.

I look forward to your editing with these photos!

 

[abraxas]

Two loners and 5 gulls- the series.

1)

Rotated clockwise and the gulls on the left cut out. The foam still falls in line with the bird's beaks and looks a little strange. Put a little more sharpening on the picture than I probably should have.


2)

Rotating the gull counterclockwise, he now has a somewhat comical appearance.

3)

I think now there's a little story here instead of so much a random shot.

4)

After I pulled this into photoshop, the surfers in the background didn't look so bad. The rocks had to go though.

 

[Chiller]

Cool shooting Dahlia. Welcome to the forum btw.
Nice edits abraxas.

 

[postedpixels]

number 1 does it! Nice work

-Aaron
www.postedpixels.com

 

[Dahlia]

Thank you very much for taking the time to edit those photos, abraxas! I especially like the kayaker photo, just the absence of the rocks in the foreground makes a huge difference. I appreciate all of your help and suggestions.

Chiller and posted pixels, thank you for the comments and the welcome.