mwdiaz's photostream  

This was my fourth visit to Rodeo Beach, and the first time I was treated with some good light. I was with some former HP coworkers again, and we almost didn't come back here. We stopped briefly up on the Marin Headlands while contemplating where to go for sunset. At that point, it seemed there was only a faint glimmer of hope that anything worthwhile would materialize, but there was no way I would be caught up at some random turnout overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge in the off chance the sky blew up.

Turns out, it was a great decision to give Rodeo Beach yet another shot. We were graced with the best conditions I've had there, and this ended up being one of the better sunsets I've shot in quite some time.

And, just like in Game of Thrones, winter is (finally) coming. So, here's to some good light!

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5DmkII
24-105 at 35mm
1.6s, f/11

In what's becoming something of a tradition, I headed out to Treasure Island / YBI for some nighttime photography with the San Francisco skyline lit up for the holidays. This time, we found a spot I've been wanting to shoot for some time, this vantage point directly above the Bay Bridge. This was our second stop during the trip, the first being another bust at Rodeo Beach. I only had my 17-40mm and 100mm macro with me, and this is a three image stitch with the macro. Sometimes I forget how sharp that lens is...I definitely need to break it out more often. Happy holidays everyone!

A couple days back, I made the yearly pilgrimage down to Pfeiffer Beach to shoot the sun setting through the portal in the rocks. This time, I made sure I aligned my visit with lower tide so more of the rocks would be exposed and I would hopefully get some more spray. While certainly not breaking any new ground, it is a different take from what I came away with last year, so I'm pretty happy. Alan recently posted a shot from this beach that is different from most shots taken here, and I originally intended to try something similar, but it's hard not to be drawn to the light show!

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Canon 5DmkII
24-105mm @ 50mm
1.0s, f/16
ISO 100

This is quickly becoming a spot for me much like Natural Bridges or Rodeo Beach -- a place I've gone numerous times and never come away with an image I was overly pleased with. Well, this past week I've been playing with the Canon's 24mm tilt/shift lens I rented from Borrowlenses. I'd heard so much about how great this lens was, so I decided to use the credit I had from an Aperture Academy contest to rent it. Since last Wednesday, anytime I've gone out to shoot, it's been with this lens exclusively. I haven't had a chance to play with the tilt at all, but I feel like it would be a travesty if I return the lens tomorrow without having shot one of those fake miniatures, at least. At any rate, Shark's Fin Cove was my first outing with the lens, and my third trip overall to that location.

The previous trips had been pretty much devoid of any good light, so this time I decided to shoot from up on the cliffs to change my fortunes. I also focused on creating panoramas using the lens' shift capabilities, because this was something that really intrigued me. The first thing I had to get used to was the fact that getting shots takes a bit longer because there's no autofocus. I found myself finally using Live View to really dial in the focus, and boy is this lens sharp! It ended up being a pretty decent sunset, so I wish I had ventured down to the beach, but I did come away with some shots I'm pleased with. As time went on, I became more comfortable in dealing with the light fall off that's really present on this lens when fully shifted on my full frame 5DmkII. I found myself getting quicker at composing, focusing, and capturing an image.

This is a three shot vertorama, with a full 12mm shift in each direction.

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Canon 5DmkII
24mm TS-E II
3 @ 2.5s, f/16
ISO 100
3-stop GND for top image

No, I didn't get back to Zion this year (though I would have loved to). I figured since images are going to start popping up from there, I'd post a shot from my Narrows hike last year.

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Canon 5DmkII
17-40mm @ 26mm
0.8s, f/11
ISO 50
B+W Polarizer