Ivan Sohrakoff's photostream  

Although I haven't posted much on Flickr lately, my mind has been preoccupied with photography. I've been wrapping my mind around the process of wet plate collodion, thinking in monochrome, and shifting some focus to large format. As my photography interests constantly develop, I like to flip through previous photo shoots and see if anything sparks interest that may not have existed the first time around. This is one such image.

I've seen crepuscular sun rays before, but never quite like this. I stood in the thunderhead's shadow, peering up, and was engulfed with spectacular rays that seemed to defy logic. The darker areas you see around the top and sides of the cloud are actually the cloud's shadow, with the crepuscular rays creating somewhat of a negative effect.

One reason for my passion for photography is the ability of a photograph to create different feelings for each viewer as time goes on. This shot made me look twice…

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @36mm
1/125 exposure @ F11
CP Filter
ISO 50

I've visted this tree an absurd number of times, waiting, watching, and staring at this lone wonder. In a freshly-planted wheat field, I stood watching as the sun set over the coastal range to the west, illuminating "my" tree and making a long shadow that appeared on the rolling hills to the east. It is moments like these that make the effort completely justified.

This is a panorama image from almost a year ago. We've had such a dry winter that I'm curious about what this spring will be like...

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @23mm
8-image panorama
1/5-second exposures @ F16
Lee ND soft grad .9 filter
RSS Pano Bar
ISO 50

I've been meandering through some photos and stumbled on this one... it just seemed to fit my mood perfectly. This is something I really enjoy about photography... the ability of an image to somehow fit into a feeling that already exists. Similar to putting on a very specific song when I'm feeling a particular mood, a photograph can take my mood and sympathize, distort, and transform it.

Hope everyone is doing quite well...

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @99mm
1/6 second exposure @ F16
B+W Polarizer Filter
ISO 50

This shot goes out to my grandmother who turned 91 on the day I took this photograph.

An unbelievably colorful and long-lasting sunset prompted a spontaneous shoot on the way to a birthday bash! The geese were in full-swing, and seemed to be basking in the color of the evening. After pulling off the road in a random spot, my composition choices were meager, so I chose a series of long-focal-length shots at relatively quick exposures to keep some sharpness in the flying geese.

The clouds have been sparse this season, so I was particularly excited to see these remain in the sky for the sunset. The color lasted at least 25 minutes!

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 100-400L @400mm
1/125 second exposure @ F5.6
This is one single image @ ISO 200

I will forever be humbled by the countless sea stacks that stand the test of time on the Pacific Coast. With a constant crashing, pounding, and the relentless ocean dynamic, they remain standing for centuries upon centuries. I visited these stacks two mornings in a row, and had the location to myself for both shoots. I don't get over to the coast that often, so it was a real treat to be able to spend a couple mornings with these two old friends, the sea stacks at Garrapata State Park.

For this photograph, I chose to shoot a single shot for the waves, rocks and sky, but also shot another image focused on the foreground rocks to get more definition. This is always tricky business, as it also slightly changes the focal length, but I felt that this shot would be a relatively easy blend and it would benefit from having sharper rocks in the foreground... as the take up a good 1/3 of the shot.

The glow from the rising sun was brilliant, and I was able to witness a couple of rainbows behind these rocks as well. The power of the surf at this beach demands respect.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @73mm
0.3 second exposure @ F16
Lee ND soft grad .75 + .9 filters
ISO 160
+ one shot focused on foreground