Taking advantage of the weather in CA

MrRamonG · Jan 24, 2010

The week of rain we just experienced cleared the skies and made for some beautiful photographic opportunities. My wife and I got up at 5am yesterday, Saturday, and drove out to the coast to see what we could capture. Spent the evening up in the mountains photoprospecting. Below are some of our captures.

C. C. Welcomed and appreciated.

1. Started in Dana Point. This is just before 6am and you can barely see the sun lighting the sky.

2. This is Laguna Beach. As you can see, the sea was pretty tumultuous.

3. Laguna Beach litter.

4. Spent the evening in the mountains. This is some kind of storage in the San Gabriel Mountains above L.A.

5. This a view from the mountain out over L. A. sprawl.

MrRamonG · Jan 25, 2010

Unfortunately, our skies are already getting hazy again. Didn't take long. However, we are due for some more rain, so I might be able to get out and do some more exploring.

MrRamonG · Jan 29, 2010

Sheesh 85 views no comments... should I have posted a blurry cat and said I got lucky because holy crap magically appeared in the pattern of its fur and the leaves on the ground, but I meant to do it at the same time.

mrmacedonian · Jan 29, 2010

MrRamonG said:
Sheesh 85 views no comments... should I have posted a blurry cat and said I got lucky because holy crap magically appeared in the pattern of its fur and the leaves on the ground, but I meant to do it at the same time.

As a newbie i try not to comment to much as i don't have to much technical experience to give constructive criticism. Since no one else has said anything I personally really enjoy #2 and #3, to my untrained eye they're the most interesting and stimulating to look at; i love great shots of the sky.

Being new to this what kind of equipment did you use? I'm trying to slowly build up my gear while on a very strict budget and its always great to hear about peoples' favorite glass along with gorgeous examples such as these

andrej

chip · Jan 29, 2010

nice pics, neighbor!

MisplacedAngler · Jan 30, 2010

1 and 2 I like.

I like 3 but think it might be better if the beach litter wasn't dead center in the frame. Maybe a rule of three type thing.

Don't really care for the subject in 4.

5 is cool.

MrRamonG · Jan 30, 2010

mrmacedonian said:
. . . Being new to this what kind of equipment did you use? I'm trying to slowly build up my gear while on a very strict budget and its always great to hear about peoples' favorite glass along with gorgeous examples such as these

Thanks Macedonian. I used a Nikon D80 with a 18-135 mm lens, tripod and all natural light. I bracketed the shots, +1 or 2 and - 1 or 2. Each of these images is a composite of the three exposures. I was originally going to try my hand at HDR, but I only have Photoshop 7.0 and it all seemed a little time intensive so I just feathered the images together.

MrRamonG · Jan 30, 2010

chip said:
nice pics, neighbor!

Thanks Chip. Have you had a chance to use these clear skies?

MrRamonG · Jan 30, 2010

MisplacedAngler said:
. . . I like 3 but think it might be better if the beach litter wasn't dead center in the frame. Maybe a rule of three type thing.

Don't really care for the subject in 4.

I'd have to agree with you MIsplaced, in fact, that is exactly what I though when i looked at the pics on my computer. It was cold and windy and now I wish i had had a little more patience while at the beach..... didn't help that i was starving. This was more of an experiment to get out there and see what I could get without a plan.

I would also agree with you about 4. But it was getting late and I didn't want to come home empty handed.

In all honesty, the only ones I like are 1 and 2. But all this is helping me to become better at what I like to do.