More Coast Pictures

Went back out to the coast to get some shots of the stormy waves and sunset. Well, the sunset didn't happen. There were way too many clouds in the way to get anything substantial.

It was a good opportunity to practice low light outdoor stuff. I learned the limits of my lenses and camera.

I did some with the wide angle, some with my telephoto, and most with my kit lens. I just needed something inbetween wide angle and zoom. The kit lens did the trick as far as focal length, but I would've liked something a little better to get rid of the noise I had. And my camera is a limiting factor there too. And I was trying to get fast shutter speed to get the cool wave movements, but it was too dark to get anything decent.

I started out in the rain, so I covered my camera with a trash bag and stuck the lens out of a hole. It worked well. Except that I had to keep cleaning my lens. That added a different challenge for me. I've never had to deal with water droplets on my lens before.

At any rate - here are some of my better shots from the outing.

The ending of the storm

big waves crashing on the rocks

Was trying to get the large waves and the people standing on the rock.  Disappointing with grain and lack of sharpness.

A few "God Rays" poking through

I thought the contrast of the gull in the serene tide pool with the raging waters behind it was funny.  

Hazy and misty view

Love the silhouette of the people on the beach with the waves in the background with the calming clouds.  The storm has passed and the sky was clearing up as the sun was going down and it was getting dark.

Wide Angle Lens

I have two lenses for my DSLR.  I have the kit 18-55mm lens, and a cheapish 70-300 telephoto lens.  Neither one is super fancy.  It's really alright since I'm not out to make a living with my photography, just take some fun and pretty pictures and get better.  But every time I come up to the coast I wish I had a wider angle lens.  The kit lens is pretty good for my basic needs, but photographing the ocean and the redwoods really calls for something better.  So I rented a moderate (ok ... one of the cheapest) wide angle lenses for my vacation on the coast.  I don't know how I discovered borrowlenses.com, but I love them.  In addition to the great tips and photos on their blog, they have a great selection of lenses.  This really isn't a review of them or their service, just a quick unsolicited plug.

I rented a Sigma 10-20mm.

I'm not too experienced with wide angle lenses or landscape photography.  But the best way to learn is just to go do.  So I'm doing.

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 - 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 - 3

More vacation photos.

The first two were an experiment.  I wanted to get Audrey's footprints, but she wasn't heavy enough to make imprints in the sand.  While they are very similar photos, the second one is my favorite.  I liked that I had the focus on the water, so the out of focus footprints lead to the in focus water ... as opposed to the in focus feet leading to out of focus water.  It believe the little adjustment makes a much stronger photo.

footprints; beach; water
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 45.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/2500s; f/5.3; ISO 200

footprints; water; sand
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/2500s; f/5.6; ISO 200

landscape; beach; ocean; water
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 34.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/125s; f/22; ISO 200

This one was super cool.  I was trying to not drop my camera bag in the water, not let Audrey run away, prevent my shoes from washing away in the waves, and get the angle that I wanted on this rock.  I shot 3 or 4 (all without really looking because I didn't want to lay down in the wet sand) and this was my best shot.  I was quite impressed with how it turned out, since I didn't have time to fully compose the photo or  really even look at what I was shooting.  If I were to get this shot again I think I'd go for focusing in on the water drops in the background.  I like how the water leads up to the rock, but I wonder what would happen if the water led to the drops.

water; leading lines; beach
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 50.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/320s; f/8.0; ISO 100

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