Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Manhattan Beach Pier fireworks




Christmas is over and it’s getting real. The countdown begins until New Year. Here’s one from the annual Manhattan Beach show a few weeks ago. They put on all day festivities and end it with an amazing free firework show. We took Cole to eat some Grimaldi’s pizza during that epic sunset, and then headed to the beach to watch the show. It was his first time seeing this show, but not his last. Hope to make it an annual thing and include Mia as well next year.


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Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Manhattan beach pier golden hour reflections




This is a golden hour shot from my MB sesh last week. Clouds were lookin good and low tide synced up with sunset so I headed out to the pier to catch some reflections. I set this shot up for complete symmetry, with a dead center horizon and the pier placed exactly in the middle of the frame. I was originally going to process a version of just the pier but my eye kept coming back to this version with the kid. I don’t know if it is his placement, or the fact that he breaks up the symmetry, but I ended up liking this one. Kept the details darker to emphasize the golden hour burn along with the bits of light hitting the pier. 

www.bay-photography.com


Friday, December 8, 2017

Fall aspen and pine tree lookup, Eastern Sierras



Here is a new one from my fall trip a few months ago. I got a bunch of standard lookup shots but this one was a bit different. We stumbled upon a grove of very tall aspens that were prime in color. The difference with this grove was that it was standing next to a grove of pines. I lined the lookup so where I’d get about half green pine and half yellow aspen. I also tried lining up aspen trunks on both sides for symmetry. I must have looked crazy walking around with my head up but I’m glad I spotted this as it is different than all my other lookup shots with aspens only. I always enjoy finding those elements that help differentiate a photo. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO-400

www.bay-photography.com


Monday, December 4, 2017

Dec 3rd Supermoon rising from Los Angeles



Here’s a shot of last night’s first and only supermoon for this year. I found a residential street to line it up correctly. Air was super hazy/smoggy and visibility was bad compared to last year’s around this time. Because of this I took a separate foreground exposure and used a bit of dehaze to bring back more detail in the skyline. I then used the lighten blend mode to mask on the moon. The clouds added a nice touch.

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Thursday, November 30, 2017

Crepuscular rays, Alabama Hills



Here’s another from Alabama hills as the crepuscular rays morphed into stunning uniform lines. I ran around looking for a different foreground and ended up finding a nice set of plants that almost mimicked the patterns in the rays. What an awesome display of light it was.

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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

June Lake Milky Way reflections, Eastern Sierras




Here’s a fun one from June Lake. We were scouting fall colors in the loop to line something up for a MW shot but were unsuccessful before it got dark so we ended up here shooting our first MW shots of the trip. I was planning on stacking the foreground to kill some noise but in one of my frames I caught what looks to be car headlights shining back out at me so I ended up using this single foreground frame, stacked with shots of the MW to reduce noise in the sky and water reflections. The lake was pretty calm, but the wind ended up picking up later in the night so we definitely got there at the right time to catch the reflections.


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Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Convict Lake fall aspen colors



In an earlier post, I discussed using CPL filters while shooting fall colors. In this instance I strengthened the amount to cut through the reflections on the water surface to show the submerged rocks and use them as my foreground element. I was careful to not over-polarize with my wide angle to cause uneven hues in the sky. I snapped this just as the sunrise light hit the tip of Laurel Mountain from behind. The air was a bit hazy and the light was a lot softer than I normally see here. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/18, 2 sec, ISO-50

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Monday, November 27, 2017

Foggy Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park




The low clouds formed the perfect framing around Bridalveil Fall, partially obscuring the tips of the Cathedrals. The mood of this shot was incredible. Not too long after this, we were engulfed in the fog, and then the sun rose up over the mountains and broke free from the clouds adding some surprisingly nice sunrise light over the scene. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/14, ½ sec, ISO-50 

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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

June Lake road fall aspens



June Loop was probably the best I’ve seen in all my years coming here…just look at this guy’s face. The sun was in the perfect position, giving the scene some back/sidelight to give the trees a nice glow. There were some nice yellows and greens mixed together. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO-320.

www.bay-photography.com 

Monday, November 20, 2017

Convict Lake Milky Way fall aspens



Here’s a different take at Convict lake at 24mm. This is a composite as I didn’t come here at night to shoot the MW so I combined my MW shot from the night prior, with the foreground shot before the sun came up on the day I headed home. I chose to only frame the fall color and reflections giving the rest of the frame to the sky. Maybe one of these fall seasons I’ll come back and get the milk with reflections in the still water.

www.bay-photography.com

Friday, November 17, 2017

June Lake road golden aspens



I shot this comp years ago and have been wanting to re-shoot it under better conditions. This season I got my chance as the aspens along the loop were amazing. I found a nice spot on the road with interesting foreground patterns both due to the shadows and the road cracks.  Hardest part of this shot is playing cat and mouse with the cars zooming down the road. 

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Thursday, November 16, 2017

Moonlit McWay, Big Sur CA



I don’t shoot many moonlit night shots but we were here for keyhole arch so we decided to stop by McWay and shoot this shot as the moon was positioned to the right of this frame giving the scene some nice contrasting shadows. I love the spot where you can frame McWay between the trees. Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO-2000

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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

El Matador golden hour seascape, Malibu CA




Man oh man we have been having some good sunsets this past week. Unfortunately I was only able to get out for one of them. This was shot this past Friday when my buddy was visiting California on his road trip. We headed out to El Matador which I usually avoid like the plague due to how crowded it is. But the clouds were nice and the color from golden hour through sunset was amazing. While I love the afterburn colors, I am a huge fan of capturing golden hour shots as you get way more dynamic light from the sun still above the horizon. Took my boots off to get up in the tide for this one to ensue I got some nice water movement around the foreground rock. By sunset, the puffy clouds disappeared and the thick cloud you see near the horizon morphed into an amazing formation that burned nice and pink. I’ll show that image down the road. This is a blend of multiple exposures to properly exposure the scene throughout. 

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, November 13, 2017

Alabama hills - Movie road milky way pano



Here is a vertical panorama I made from Alamaba Hills. I wanted to stand at the bottom of the road and compress the whole scene with my 50mm so I shot the foreground road at the latter stages of twilight when it was dark enough for my lantern light to be prominent. I then combined it with a 50mm pano of the Milky Way I shot later that night and composited the two. 

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Wednesday, November 8, 2017

McGee Creek - Aspen swirl



I’m always searching for something different. I go to McGee creek every season looking for something that can provide that unique edge. We ended up stumbling upon a small rapid that was causing the fallen leaves to funnel into a pocket and move in a slow continuous circle. I immediately knew I wanted to capture this movement with a long exposure. I had to cross a log jam across the creek and the comp ended up being perfect with some golden aspens and the sun in frame. I stacked my 10 stop ND and CPL in order to capture this long exposure. The bushes also have motion but it gives them a dreamier feel and goes with the motion of the foreground leaves so I ended up liking the effect. Definitely a shot unlike any other I have captured here so I’m glad I spent the time to make sure I got this one.

www.bay-photography.com

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Malibu Milky Way, Selfie from Leo Carrillo beach



As we move into November, it means the end of my MW season until next Mar - April. But looking back, I’ve been able to capture some great shots this year; both shots I’ve wanted to redo and shots I’ve been wanting to grab for some time now. I’d call that a successful season for sure, so here’s a victory pose from a cave I finally conquered early this season :) Still have plenty of MW shots to edit/show so you’ll still be seeing plenty before we kick off the 2018 season.

www.bay-photography.com

Friday, November 3, 2017

Silver Lake fall aspens




This place is hard to beat when the colors look like this and the water is this calm. Usually the wind usually seems to pick up once the sun comes up but this day it actually got calmer so we took advantage and shot this scene fully lit. There were tons of fallen leaves on the shore which made for a nice foreground. Focus stacked this to ensure the scene was sharp throughout.


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Thursday, November 2, 2017

Yosemite Falls framed by fog




The fog created the perfect frame around Upper Yosemite Falls. I was lucky to have my longer lens on at this moment because this scene would have been gone if I had to switch lenses. Glad I was able to snap some pics as I caught myself just staring up mesmerized at how the fog was morphing around the granite walls. Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, f/14, 1/50 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Fall Milk from Conway Summit



Was after some Fall Milk this past trip and Conway Summit didn’t disappoint. I usually come later in the month of October and this area is mostly dead by then. This year there were still some dead spots, but the majority of the area still had a nice palette of color. I’ve been wanting to redo these astro shots from here for several years now and since the colors were good I finally got my chance. The foreground was taken at twilight and the sky was taken once the stars came out to play. This is the 24mm view, I also have one at 50mm and will probably work out some selected composite images down the road. 

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Monday, October 30, 2017

June Lake aspens



A tall grove of aspens in the June Lake loop with stunning fall colors.

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Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Mt. Whitney sunset rays



Here’s a telephoto view of some of those amazing rays shining down on Mt. Whitney and the Sierra range. I framed in one of the rock formations from Alabama hills for some added depth but kept the scene darker to let the rays shine through :) While not a colorful burn, it’s still up there with some of the best light I’ve seen from the area.

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Monday, October 23, 2017

Convict Lake reflections




Convict Lake is by far my favorite for abstract shots. When the lake is perfectly calm as it was the morning we headed home, you can catch some interesting patterns. This full 2:3 shot has a pine on the left side kind of acting as the end of the arrow. After the sun hit Laurel Mountain I snapped on my telephoto and grabbed a ton of abstracts before the wind picked up. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/22, 3 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Keyhole Arch, Big Sur CA



Closing in on the end of the year reminds me of this other local phenomenon that happens around Winter Solstice every year as long as the horizon is clear. This was a hell of a gamble as we headed up during a storm clearing forecast. Skies were super thick all day and the road down to the beach was closed due to flooding. But we made the walk down and were rewarded with some nice clouds to go along with the sun shining through the keyhole. It didn’t hang around long, but just long enough for me to capture this wide angle version. And the pouring rain made its way back on the day we left for home. Talk about perfect timing. With all the slides and closures up there, I’m not sure how accessible it will be this year.

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

El Capitan after a storm, Yosemite National Park



Here’s El Capitan peeking out from the fog saying hello with a nice dusting of snow from a prior storm. The light was hitting the peak a tad so I framed it for this shot. I love how the fog adds that extra element when the light isn’t the most ideal. There are no bad conditions when shooting here. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/14, 1/50 sec, ISO-50


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Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Aspendell aspens and cactus, Eastern Sierras




The good thing about re-visiting the Sierras every fall is that it forces me to look for different things every trip so I don’t keep taking the same shots over and over. I did a lot of shadow work this trip, looking for where the sun was shining on foreground objects or creating patterns for me to capture. The light coming thru the aspens hitting this cactus was amazing and the fallen leaves made for some nice color contrast. This was taken in Aspendell on the first day of scouting, and the first scene that I broke out my tripod for. There was a lot of color this trip, so lots more to come. Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/16, ¼ sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Horsetail Falls, Firefall Yosemite



One of the most amazing natural phenomenon’s I have witnessed. Here is a close-up view near the finale as the mist from Horesetail Falls was putting on a show as it kept changing and creating different patterns. The setting sun was hitting the tips of the ridges below which added a nice touch to the shot. Not sure if I’ll be back next year, but don’t count me out just yet. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/11, 1/10 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, October 9, 2017

road sunsets - Mammoth Lakes



Itching to get on the road and up to this area to explore the fall colors this weekend. The mountains are definitely calling and it’s time for me to go. Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, f/11, 1/80 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Fall Color reflections and Symmetry



Take some time to scan scenes with your telephoto lens and you will be amazed at the patterns you can find and capture. Taken from Aspendell CA in the Eastern Sierras on a calm morning.

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Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Owens Valley Radio Observatory Milky Way



Here’s my take on the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Initially I was planning to shoot one of the radiotelescopes up close as a prominent element in my shot but exploring the area in the day allowed me to re-think my composition. Since these instruments are used partly to study hydrogen clouds in the MW, I made the MW the prominent feature of this photo. I thought about shooting the foreground at twilight but decided I wanted to shoot the radiotelescope at night as I feel the light helps portray the vision of this shot. I caught it as it was pointing straight up towards the MW and fired off as many shots as I could as I know this thing constantly moves and rotates. I then picked 4 shots where I was able to catch no movement and stacked them. Since I was far away with my 50mm lens, I did not need to focus blend this shot. The radiotelescope may look small in this shot, but that was the plan to scale it to the Milky Way above. If you want a sense of scale, there is a building to the right of the array. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, f/1.8, 8 sec, ISO-6400

www.bay-photography.com

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Alabama hills sunset rays



The craziest rays I have had the chance to witness in person. Now, I’ve seen plenty of crepuscular rays both shining down through breaks in the clouds, as well as up as the sun sets behind say a mountain or something, but they are usually pretty uniform in both patterns and light. These rays morphed a ton as the sun was setting, and the shadow areas were darker than I have ever seen. I ran around trying to catch various comps as they changed. I thought about going to Mobius arch but it would have taken too long. I was able to get a few other shots in which I will share down the road.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/11, ISO-50, multiple exposures manually blended.

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, September 25, 2017

Malibu Canyon Milky Way and fog



The number 1 tip for astrophotography is to find a dark sky away from light pollution. A lot of times in places like Malibu, it’s very faint to the naked eye and sometimes only visible when you take a shot as your sensor picks up more detail than your eye. In dark places you can see the MW band sweep across the sky, and is one of the most amazing things to look up and see. The fog during this session was creating layers in the foreground so I framed the layers in my comp.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/2.8, 20 sec, ISO-3200 – multiple frames stacked for noise reduction.

www.bay-photography.com

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Twin Falls Milky Way, Mammoth Lakes




Here’s the MW shot I worked on from Twin Falls. As a disclaimer I didn’t come down here at night. I shot the foreground before hand and noticed that this shot faces towards the SE. We had other plans to hit Alabama hills and a few other stops so this is a composite of a Milky Way taken that same night. I don’t know the actual alignment here, or if the dark horse would be this visible above the tree line as you are looking pretty high up the falls. Nevertheless, the direction is true. Next time I’ll use my @photopills app down here to see how it lines up. Kept the trees on the darker side to both mimic night as well as to contrast against the bright falls. Blending trees or any type of soft edges is time consuming, but this one came out pretty good. Hope you enjoy it.


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Monday, September 11, 2017

Alabama Hills sunset light rays



Gorgeous light doesn’t always have to come during golden hour or sunset. This was taken a bit before golden hour started as the sun dipped behind a big cloud and created an insane beam of light down on the hills. The light this night just seemed to glow and was magical to see.  The road curve was a perfect line out to frame this shot. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/11, ISO-50, multiple exposures blended.

www.bay-photography.com


Friday, September 8, 2017

San Francisco bay bridge cityscape at twilight



Last time I was above the bridge at this vantage was in 2014 so I wanted to come back and re-shoot this.  Got lucky with a boat passing through the frame in this single 30 sec exposure. You will notice that the majority of my city night shots are during the twilight hour. Why? You still capture the city lights but the dynamic range of the scene is less than when the sky turns completely black. This allows you to get a well balanced single shot without crushing darks or blowing all your highlights. Plus the addition of the blue sky adds a bit of interest compared to when it is black.Always shoot raw and at your lowest ISO to be able to pull shadows from your shot. 


Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, f/11, 30 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Movie Road, Alabama hills milky way



Movie road in Alabama hills has some stunning views. The road leading out towards Lone Pine Peak is one of the more popular ones. You can see why.

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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Joshua Tree National Park startrails




Here’s a startrail shot out in JTNP. The flower caught my eye while we were exploring and it lined up nicely with the rock behind and Polaris. I shot the foreground at twilight and took a timelapse sequence of the stars once it got dark. The rocks are almost monotone looking so I like the selective pop of color from the flower here.

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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Yosemite Falls sunlight and fog




I love shooting when the light is poking in and out of clouds. In this case, the thick storm clouds were clearing and for a moment a sick beam of light struck upper Yosemite Falls. We were all waiting for a rainbow that never came but this scene was still magical to see without one. This place never ceases to amaze me. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, f/14, 1/60 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com 

Monday, August 28, 2017

Twin Falls, Mammoth Lakes



I don’t shoot mid-day often but the clouds we had made it impossible not to. They were the thick cumulous clouds and weren’t moving very fast so I knew I needed a super long exposure to get some streaking. I stacked my 10 stop ND and CPL to give me about 13 stops to allow me to leave the shutter open for 100 seconds. The mist made this shot hard, but a trick you can use is you can get away with quickly cleaning your lens with a cloth during your exposure since your exposure is so long. Be careful tho as sometimes darker spots can show up if you take too long, or you can easily bump/move your camera if you aren’t careful. This one worked out well tho as it was just a quick swipe of the cloth. The cloud streaks made some really cool patterns in this one. Looking down twin falls is one of my favorite views in Mammoth, looking up is equally as impressive.  

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/18, 103 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Manzanar memorial under the stars



The Kanji on the Manzanar monument translates to “soul consoling tower” and honors those who died there in the 1940’s. Definitely a weird experience being on those grounds (especially at night) as it plays a big part in Japanese history. The monument is tall and points towards the sky so snapping a shot under the heavens seemed like a fitting tribute. This was taken on the way back to Mammoth from Alabama Hills. We stopped at a few spots to snap some MW pics through the night. This is a single composed frame taken 4 times back to back and stacked for noise reduction. Normally I would shoot some longer exposures for the foreground but we just snapped these and moved onto the next spot. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO-6400

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Alabama hills golden sunset rays




Some incredible light witnessed at Alabama Hills this weekend. There were cumulus clouds hanging around all day which added some great drama to this shot. The layers out here are amazing. I left the cars in the shot to show the scale of the scene. Those cars are parked at the Mobius loop trailhead to give you a sense of where this shot was taken from. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/11, 1/125 and 1/200 sec blended, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Palos Verdes sunset seascape



Been trying to get this comp down at one of my favorite PV coves for some time. The tide/waves need to be just right to get the spillover effect here. Usually when I come it’s barely trickling down but during this session the sets were big enough to get some nice waves coming over the rock. I snapped this set as the sun was about to set behind the rock giving me the sunburst. This is the burst with the 14-24 and I must say that the 20mm 1.8 burst is much cleaner but I needed a wider lens to get this all in. Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/14, ISO-64, multiple exposures blended manually.

www.bay-photography.com

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Malibu foggy sunset



Here’s some epic fog out in Malibu with one of my friends. Forecast looked good so we headed up to Piuma to catch the fog flow. There was some awesome pre-sunset burn magic in the air so I went vertical to catch it with the fog. Haven’t had too many sessions with both good low fog and a high burn so this one stands out as one of the better ones I have shot from here. I kept the fog bright to focus attention on it and to contrast against the dark mountains. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120, f/11, ISO-50, multiple exposures manually blended.

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, August 7, 2017

Yosemite Valley sunset shadows



Look like tunnel view? It’s actually the mirror image with Horsetail and El Cap on the right and the Cathedrals and Bridalveil on the left. This was my original comp for Firefall but most of the clouds blew away so I stuck to tele comps only. The sun was splashing across the valley floor though and it made for some epic light and shadow play. I snapped this series just as the sun was about to set behind the Cathedrals. What’s cool about Firefall is you can see that beam of light on Horsetail get smaller and smaller until it turns into the epic condensed beam of lava light. I’m glad I took this series while we were waiting before the clouds blew away. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/14, ISO-50, multiple exposures blended. 

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, July 31, 2017

Hot Creek Milky Way Pano - Mammoth Lakes



The files used for this shot are from my October fall trip last year to the Eastern Sierras. I used a 50mm foreground shot taken in the am twilight hours from Hot Creek combined with a 50mm MW shot from June Lake Loop the next night during twilight for the sky. Both shots are to the SW and true to the alignment of the MW straight down Hot Creek during this time of the year. I hope to grab more 50mm shots this fall season. The Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens works quite well given the price point. This is a 4:5 crop of the full vertical pano.


Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, foreground: f/14, 2 sec, ISO-50, sky: f/2.5, 6 sec, ISO-6400

www.bay-photography.com

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Malibu Milky Way with fog



I came out to Malibu to shoot Malibu Canyon Road head on with my 50mm. Given the focal length, this image had to be a panorama in order to work. For those that have shot here, the view down this line looks out almost directly south. I wanted the shot to be strong vertically so I shot the foreground around midnight as the fog crept in and the Milky Way around 1am once it was more vertical as it rotated further west. This image consists of 4 shots, 1 for the foreground and 3 for the Milky Way. The road looks tiny compared to the Milky Way but there is a car down at the bottom of the road showing just how large the entire scene is.


Nikon D750, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, foreground: f/4, 20 sec, ISO-1000, sky: f/2, 8 sec, ISO-4000

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, July 24, 2017

Yosemite Falls reflected



Some of the best conditions I’ve seen. Low fog, high clouds mixed with after storm blue skies, raging Yosemite Falls and a perfect reflection. Don’t think I could have asked for anything else. The mood here was incredible, almost dreamlike. Definitely one of my favorite sets from my recent trip. This is a portrait version of a shot I posted back. I always recommend shooting both landscape and portrait versions whenever possible if your composition allows for it. Sometimes a client may love a shot but only have room for a specific orientation which can help seal the deal on a sale. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/14, 1/50 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, July 17, 2017

Foggy Trees, Yosemite National Park



When you describe a shot of trees and fog it doesn’t sound special at all, but being there seeing it changes everything. The way the fog creeps in and out, rises up and down, and flows like waves is just mesmerizing. A hint to singling out strong abstract scenes is to scan the landscape through your telephoto lens. This can help your eye focus on sections of the scene when the entire scene from a place like tunnel view can be overwhelming. In this comp, I framed the dead trees up front with an S like pattern of fog winding through the trees, and a fog white out in the back. Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/14, 0.6 sec, ISO-50

www.bay-photography.com

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Los Angeles fireworks for 4th of July



Alright, here’s my first edit from the 4th of July party overlooking the city residents who put on a firework show for us. I snapped this series during the twilight hours to easily retain a bit of foreground details and keep from blowing out the skyline lights. If you saw my stories, you can see I blended several shots using the “lighten” blend mode in photoshop to get all the fireworks as well as some solid car trails. There weren’t many going off over the city closest to us but the few that did helped add to the composition. I shot this one straight on to get a direct line of sight down the freeway. The lights on the new Wilshire Grand were a nice touch. I have other comps as the city shows went off….maybe I’ll use them to do a timelapse…who knows :) Shot with the Nikon D750 and Nikkor 70-200.

www.bay-photography.com

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Manhattan beach moody sunset skies




Man, what I wouldn’t give for some clouds like these right about now. Not even sure what type of clouds these were but it looked like a bunch of small tornadoes in the sky. I walked further away from the pier to make it more insignificant in this frame to really focus the shot on the sky. I got low to the sand and snapped this as the tide came up into my frame to use it as a leading line into the scene. Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO-250

www.bay-photography.com

Monday, July 10, 2017

Yosemite Firefalls at sunset




What’s the coolest natural phenomenon you have witnessed or photographed? This is probably my favorite as it takes a lot of conditions to make it happen and better yet it’s in my home state. Got to witness it for the first time this year, and it probably won’t be my last time. I took a re-edit to this to bring out shadows in the foreground and warm up the treeline as the white balance was too cold for my liking. The cool part about this vantage was being above the treeline so I wanted to highlight that more

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