Vacation Photos - 6

Yep.  I still have vacation photos to post.  I told you I took a lot.  And in an attempt to not overload my blog, I just wanted to post a few at a time.  I think it keeps you, the reader, more interested in each individual blog post.

Also makes me look like I'm taking pictures even when it's been a slow week for me photographically speaking (which usually means super busy in all other ways).  As an aside, I am going to take some fun photos of the Worship Band, Not Just Sunday, this Saturday at their Worship Benefit Concert.

Now ... back to vacation photos.

We went back to the beach to take another stab at sandcastles.  But this time we went to a beach with good sand.  I intentionally didn't take my good camera; I've lost one camera to the sand, not gonna do it again.  So I had my P&S with me and was relegated to the settings it thought was best.

Cannon that Aunt Sarah built for the sand castle

Landscape photo, trying for a "beginning, middle and end" of the photo.

Another landscape story telling photo.  I love the bridge column and the beach almost meeting.

More story-telling.  I feel like this short little "cliff" had so much to say.

My SIL and Josh spent all week playing chess on the homemade chess board.

Vacation Photos - 5

No trip to the Northern California coast is complete without a jaunt through Redwoods.  I LOVE redwoods.  I am fascinated by them.  I am amazed by their enormity.  I am in awe at their stature.  They have character.  The "speak" to me.  I can't get enough of them.  When walking through the forest I forget that I'm supposed to be taking photos and just stare at them.  Take in all their beauty.  Like the ocean, I could stare mindlessly at redwood trees for hours.  

Looking up; low-angle; sun-burst
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/100s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 70.0mm; shutter speed: 1/15s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Went to take a close-up of the flowers and there was an insect on them.  It stayed there long enough to get a couple shots.

Flowers; Close-up; Insect
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 48.0mm; shutter speed: 1/125s; f/5.3; ISO 400

I was captured by the fence construction.  Really simple, but with the moss growing on it, it made for great a photographic subject.

Close-up
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 40.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/13s; f/5.3; ISO: 400

There was this cool tree that had obviously been burned some how.  Not sure what happened, because it's the only tree in the area that is dead due to fire, so it must've been something small.  The sun was behind the tree, so I had to work around the sun, and attempted to get fancy sun burst through the holes in the tree.  This was the best one.  I think if I had more time I could definitely get something better, but for a backlit photo of this nature combined with my inexperience, I'm pleased.  Perhaps a lower ISO setting in dealing with the bright sun, then I can decrease my shutter speed so the tree isn't underexposed.

backlighting; sun burst; tree
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/15s; f/5.6; ISO 400

Another low-angle photo showing the massiveness of the trees.  I love the braided look of the bark on this one.

Tree; low-angle
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/8s; f/5.0; ISO: 400

An attempt to get a landscape view of part of the forest, using the path for a leading line, leading out of the forest.

landscape; trees; forest
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 30.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/4s; f/4.0; ISO: 400

Same idea, but showing the height of the trees.

forest; tree; landscape; leading lines
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/10s; f/9.0; ISO: 400

Vacation Photos - 4

Another set of vacation photos.  

This is a small seashell on the beach.  The foreground and background were the same distance from the lens, so it requires the "Who-Cares Aperture" of f/8.  This allows for maximum sharpness throughout the whole photo.  It's a super easy composition and I just LOVE the result.  I couldn't stop shooting these when I found them on the beach.  I like that this one has some other "stuff" in the shot.  Adds a little character to the tiny shell.

"Who Cares Aperture"; seashell; sand; beach
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 48.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/800s; f/8; ISO 200

Another "who cares" aperture with a stone

"Who Cares Aperture"; stone; sand; beach
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/1000s; f/8; ISO 200

So one of the state parks in the area has an old dock/pier that has nothing left but the support posts.  It created for a really fun compositions. This was one of my favorites.

Landscape; beach; sand; ocean; leading lines
Panasonic DMC-FH20; Focal Length: 9.6 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/320s; f/4.0; ISO 80

The beach isn't nice white sand, but little tiny gravels.  It made for lousy sand castles, but neat photographs.

gravel; macro
Panasonic DMC-FH20; Focal Length: 5.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/250s; f/3.3; ISO 80

Vacation Photos - 2

One thing we enjoyed a lot while we were on vacation was the ocean and beach.  I'm a sucker for a good ocean view, whether it's from the beach or the cliffside or the road.  I love to watch the waves roll in and crash on the rocks/sand.  I love the color of the ocean.  I love the interaction of the still, unanimated land with the moving water of the ocean.  It's all very cool and amazing to me.  (Can you tell I grew up in a landlocked stated?)

Ahhh ... ocean landscape.  I'm in heaven.  I liked this photo for the small beach, the large cliffs, and the tiny people down below. Not the prettiest beach in the area, nor the prettiest ocean, the view just grabs me.  Landscape photo, wanting to capture the whole story.  Trying to achieve a "beginning, middle and end" in the photo.  I don't have a wide angle lens specifically, but my stock lens zoomed all the way out does OK.

Landscape, Ocean, beach.  Mendocino Headlands
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 18.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/50s; f/22.0; ISO 200

I love the small boat in this picture.  It gives the viewer something other than the ocean and hills to look at.  It also shows how massive nature is and how small man (and man-made things) is.

Landscape; Ocean; Beach. Mendocino Headlands
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 18.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/50s; f/22.0; ISO 200

I know ... I tend to do these a lot.  They're fun.  Looking at normal "things" in a different sort of way.  

leading lines
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/1250s; f/4.5; ISO 200

Yep ... another one of these.  I had to manually place the flowers on the log to achieve this look.  I tried without the flowers there, but without something close to focus on, the image just didn't jump.  I was very pleased with the outcome of this.

Leading Lines, flowers
Nikon D3100; Focal Length; 40mm; Shutter Speed: 1/2000s; f/5.3; ISO 200