PatrickSmithPhotography's photostream

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I'm writing an app for apple and Android devices about photographing the California coast! I'll be done in a couple of months.

I have many new photos of Kauai to share. For this, I had to bail out several times when bigger waves would strike. This place could be extremely dangerous during the winter and I DO NOT suggest you try this during big surf!!!

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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 22
(wide to capture more of the sky and the top of the falls)
0.3-second exposure @ F13
ISO 160
2-0.9 (3-stop) Lee soft edge neutral density graduated filters
Lee foundation kit filter holder (3-slots)
Lee adapter ring to fit my 77mm lens to the holder
No polarizer
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop

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The Story:
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From a trail near the Princeville hotel, you gain access to some incredible coastal scenery including a large lava swimming pool called "Queen's Bath" but on this evening I wanted to capture these falls as they enter the ocean as they are lit by the last rays of the sun. The falls do not show up well in photographs unless the golden sun is striking them during the summer. I had to get into a small area under a lava ledge and stand on extramely slippery rounded rock at low tide to get this view. The best time to shoot this (because of the angle of the sun hittin gthe water) is probably the summer.

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Resources:
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Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

Compare this to the last upload. Which do you like better? I got up in the dark to get there early in order to show how the trade winds sweep the clouds past the rainiest mountains in the world. No HDR.

See the super-big 1920 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/601333646...

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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 35
45-second exposure @ F11
ISO 160
Lee Big Stopper 10-stop square very dark glass filter for long exposures
(It is hard to get due to limited production so order and wait!)
2-0.9 (3-stop) Lee soft edge neutral density graduated filters
(grads oriented vertically to get light onto the falls)
Lee foundation kit filter holder (3-slots) All full!
Lee adapter ring to fit my 77mm lens to the holder
No polarizer
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Collapse this post

First light at Hanalei is one of the most spaecacular events to witness anywhere. I feel it rivals Yosemite or practically anywhere I've seen personally or in photographs. It is a warm Yosemite with an ocean! These mountains are as high as El-Capitan and almost as steep. The trade winds more the clouds quickly creating changing light conditions on the 4,000 ft. (1300+m) rain sculpted mountains which are the rainiest on the planet. You must see this place for yourself. I used a very dark Lee Big Stopper filter to allow a 45-second exposure to show the dynamic nature of the light here.

Sometimes the clouds open up a bit and during this time of year, the sculpted cliffs are etched perfectly in relief by the low sun angle. The long exposure also reduces distractions so that the pier and mountains stand out better.

Another nice thing the long exposure does is to eliminate people from the scene. There were paddleboarders, surfers and some boats moving through this scene but as long as they keep moving, all is well! And it was.

---------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------

Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

I'm back from Kauai with as many good photos as I've made in all of my previous trips to Hawaii combined, but with no huge winter waves of course. I really lucked out with the light I think. So here is a good place to start. The start of the day in Hanalai.

The clouds were heavy before sunrise but they cleared out just enough to allow the sun to light up the 4,000 ft. mountain range behind the beach. Without that light, the scene did not have the punch and depth that is does in this photo. Summer is when the light strikes across the mountains at the best angle.

See the super-big 1920 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/599979019...

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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 28
1/4-second exposure @ F13
2-0.9 (3-stop) Lee soft edge neutral density graduated filters
Lee foundation kit filter holder (3-slots)
Lee adapter ring to fit my 77mm lens to the holder
No polarizer
ISO 160
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop

---------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------

Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

A cool evening on the Santa Monica Pier. A perfect way to beat the 104 degree (40c) heat just a few miles inland. No HDR

Visit me on Google Plus!
profiles.google.com/patricksmith1

See the super-big 1500 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/593549409...

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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 58 (Same as the last photo, but the results are different for sure!)
8-second exposure @ F16 (to get that 8-sec. exp.)
No filters
No polarizer
ISO 50
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
I put the tripod, legs in, on the wooden railing
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop

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Story:
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The Santa Monica Pier is a great place to escape the summer heat and enjoy an ice cream and watch all the people walking by. I used an 8-second exposure to show the movement without the people disappearing entirely. The timing on the wheel was important. The wheel would stop to pick up passengers and then move a little, eventually filling up and then spining several times. Here, a little movement was combined with a medium amount of light to fill the circle with light, yet not overpower the rest of the scene. The spokes show too stongly when there is no movement in the wheel and though it looks great to the eye as the complex patterns flash by, a single image simply shows the spokes. If the wheel is too bright, it overpowers the rest of the photo and blows out the highlights.

It was not easy to do this and despite 30 minutes of trying really hard to capture it, this is the only shot I like a lot! It realyl captures the festive atmosphere here.

The map shows exactly where this is.

---------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------

Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

A fine mist envelops a quiet lane in Point Reyes, near San Francisco. Sometimes, fog really enhances a scene. No HDR.

Visit me on Google Plus!
profiles.google.com/patricksmith1

See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/591649592...

---------------------------------------------------------
Settings etc.:
---------------------------------------------------------

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 58
3.2-second exposure @ F16 (For big DOF with low light)
No filters
No polarizer
ISO 50
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod with Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol grip ball head
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop

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Story:
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Last week, I went out for a sunset shot at the beach here in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. This is the dry season, but there were some rare clouds and (even more rare) rain in the area and as sunset approached, it began to clear up. I was all ready for what I had planned when a bank of fog moved in and that was that. I had to go to my backup plan. (Always have a backup plan since nature does not often cooperate despite how carefully you study her!) I knew about this row of trees on the way to the Point Reyes Lighthouse so I headed over there. I have been waiting for about 3 years for a misty foggy sort of day where I could capture this scene with some extra depth and light that you don't see without fog. So here it is! ... If you try this, walk the entire length of the path looking for the best composition. It took about 15 minutes of fiddling around to settle on this composition. This was halfway down.

Here is some history on this radio installation:
www.qsl.net/w2vtm/rca_history_kph.html

The map shows exactly where this is.

---------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
---------------------------------------------------------

Google Earth
earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235