• He was concentrating a lot. Hardly any movement for 2 minutes! Who is this?
  • This is the 'hole' in the wall. A sea arch that lets you get to the rest of the beach on the right. But high tide can cut you off so be careful.
  • I moved around to get the photographer silhouetted against the reflected moonlight. The sun lit him from behind.
  • The only way back to the beach is by climbing down the rock away from my camera and dodging the waves. There is no escape route to towards me and to the left!
  • This is an excellent beach that you must see if you are ever in the area. This is the way in and out.
  • There are some nice rock formations to the right of here. No exit this way.
  • There is no way out over here!
  • Beachgoers?
    Yes Jim, they were partying for hours. The high tide was almost reaching them. - Jim Patterson Photography
  • This is a good way to exit... from this life that is! hehe...
  • No exit up here either unless you have rope and petons!
  • No easy exit up here either.
  • Nope, not me! - Joshua Cripps

Night Shooter - Hole in the Wall Beach, Santa Cruz, California

Last Saturday evening a lone photographer at Hole in the Wall Beach, near Santa Cruz, California braved high tide on this ledge of rock waiting for the moonrise as the sun set behind and to the right of the frame. He was also patient enough to stay put for this 2-minute exposure! It is probably someone on flickr. Any ideas? No HDR.

Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!

Late update:
MYSTERY SOLVED! This is David Shield.
See his shot here. I hear that he likes moonlight swims in the sea!

www.flickr.com/photos/davidshield/

See the photographer battling the elements in this 1800 pixel version!!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/564441705...

---------------------------------------------------------
Details:
---------------------------------------------------------

Canon 5D mark II
Canon 24-105L @ 45 with some cropped of the edges
Live preview
2-minute exposure @F11
ISO 100
1 Lee soft grad filter (4x6 inch, 100x150mm, 0.9, 3-stop)
No polarizer.
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop cs4
Small Slik Sprint mini II tripod
Manfrotto 322RC2 pistol-grip ball head

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------
The Story
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------

So, there I was doing a small group workshop on the top of a cliff. The sunset was red, but I kept watching the moonlight on the ocean as the almost full-moon rose opposite to the sun. As it got darker, the moonlight got relatively brighter. Eventually the light between the moon and the sun became even. These short moments near the full-moon can produce unusual lighting effects. I have another one from near Carmel that I'll show later with huge waves lit by a rising sun while the setting moon lit up the foreground water. You should try this sometime!

Sometimes people get upset when photographers get in 'their shot.' But I say, "okay, hold still now!"

The map shows the exact location.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff
---------------------------------------------------------------------

My pictures are featured on the front page of the
state Government. of California website and the new Governor, Jerry Brown's website too. Have a look! It is Flash with my pics cut into layers for a 3-d slideshow. If you are into building apps, the State has opened up lots of data to the public, so check it out!

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

A great weather mashup map of the world with local temperatures, weather and nice popups. See where it is hot and not!
www.wunderground.com/wundermap/

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

Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_int.html
Or Here:
www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif

Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.

www.californiacoastline.org/
ad.

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    JGo9, 冰牛奶, Olly Plumstead, prmelat, and 408 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. Caetano Salerno Martins Costa (25 months ago | reply)

    awesome...what is that black thing in the center a little bit to the left?

  3. prmelat (25 months ago | reply)

    Very nice

  4. PatrickSmithPhotography (25 months ago | reply)

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Caetano, that is the photographer. See the big version in the link above.

    Patrick

  5. AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora (25 months ago | reply)

    wow!
    this is so dramatic!
    amazing warm colors, beautiful silky water too!

    and that's one brave photographer right there!

  6. antoninodias13 (25 months ago | reply)

    Wonderful work!!!!!!

  7. David Snuckel Photography (25 months ago | reply)

    Wow! Stunning Shot!

  8. Tim Poulton (25 months ago | reply)

    Simply stunning!

  9. fx974 (25 months ago | reply)

    Great mood and exposure here!

  10. D Breezy - davidthompsonphotography.com (25 months ago | reply)

    Man this is some great light! Perfect exposure. Sweet shot.

  11. Blue Hour (25 months ago | reply)

    This is absolutely stunning and amazing.

  12. Thomas J. Sebourn (25 months ago | reply)

    Jim Patterson, perhaps???

  13. *Jonina* (25 months ago | reply)

    Awesome!

  14. JeremyRambles (25 months ago | reply)

    Startling stuff!

  15. aimeeern (25 months ago | reply)

    gorgeous!

  16. PatrickSmithPhotography (25 months ago | reply)

    Thanks for having a look!

    Thomas, I don't think it is Jim. I zoomed in and it did not look like him!

    Patrick

  17. Fionn Luk (25 months ago | reply)

    Awesome exposure! Beautiful landscape Patrick
    Happy Easter

  18. BUCKS WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY [deleted] (25 months ago | reply)

    What a beautiful soothing feel to this image my friend .... and the color adds to it ... love your work Patrick
    "BUCK"

  19. LifeLover4 (25 months ago | reply)

    Amazing work Patrick!

  20. Terry -Pueblo Paradiso (25 months ago | reply)

    WOW!, What a Breathtaking piece of work...Amazingly Beautiful!

  21. sharpeshooterphotography (25 months ago | reply)

    i wanna be patrick smith when i grow up...

  22. Gary Ngo | Photography (25 months ago | reply)

    Hmmm..... I'm wondering who that is too??

  23. Terry -Pueblo Paradiso (25 months ago | reply)

    WHOA!...Awesome work.

  24. Dmitri007 (25 months ago | reply)

    Interesting, I was in the area shooting on the other side of the arch. I did see this guy and considered going down there two, but changed my mind. If I did not, you would have 2 guys in the shot :P . I also did notice how the moon was very bright that night. I asked myself "how could I get the moonlight in the shot?" This is a good example of "how". Too bad next couple of days were cloudy and the moon was not visible. I had high hopes for San Francisco and full moon rising as the sun just set. Next time...

  25. Dmitri007 (25 months ago | reply)

    It was not Jim. It was a younger guy, tall, short haircut. It did look like he knew what he was doing, he was all set up there way before sunset. May be Joshua Cripps?

  26. tobey308 (25 months ago | reply)

    awesome....l love it!!

  27. PatrickSmithPhotography (25 months ago | reply)

    Thanks for your comments.

    Thanks Dmitri, the plot thickens! Who is this mystery photographer?

    Patrick

  28. Jim Patterson Photography (25 months ago | reply)

    Could be Cripps. See my note, too. Patrick, this is quite the interesting mix of sunset and moonlight. Really unique.

  29. Adam Randell (25 months ago | reply)

    Excellent shot Patrick!! The light on the water leads your eye straight to the photographer!!
    Beautiful place to shoot by the look of this mate!!

  30. Claire Chao (25 months ago | reply)

    beautiful capture!

  31. elginz (25 months ago | reply)

    Great light.

    All I know is that it is not me in the image LOL.

  32. PatrickSmithPhotography (25 months ago | reply)

    Thanks for your comments!

    It could be Jim. I am looking around Flickr for shots taken around here last Sat. evening. I found one so far. It could be him but I'll see if he replies.

    Different beach, same time.
    www.flickr.com/photos/static808/5628695932/

    Patrick

  33. RyaninVa (25 months ago | reply)

    cool shot! great light! can't wait to get back

  34. wjphotography (25 months ago | reply)

    great work Patrick!

  35. Jeff_M. (25 months ago | reply)

    Gorgeous!

  36. wrtrekker (Jerry T Patterson) (25 months ago | reply)

    One heck of a sweet shot Patrick !

  37. kth_friend (25 months ago | reply)

    great light and colours... terrific shot indeed

    --
    Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)

  38. ken.hubbell (25 months ago | reply)

    Cool comp!

  39. Photocre8 (25 months ago | reply)

    Beautiful work!

  40. michaeledunn2457 (25 months ago | reply)

    Unreal!

  41. SewerDoc (200 Explores) (25 months ago | reply)

    As always - a fascinating, beautiful composition.

  42. dbillian (25 months ago | reply)

    Great shot. You pick up colors very well in all of your photos.

  43. Aaron M Photo (25 months ago | reply)

    Another beautiful photo Patrick. I wish I had seen this photo a couple weeks ago before I went down there for some photos.

    I was at Hole-in-the-wall about 3 weeks ago for sunset (which turned out really boring) and had a bad run in with the ocean. It was high tide by the time we finished shooting and waves were crashing into the hole. We attempted to make a run for it between waves but I actually ran passed the hole and while trying to get back I got swallowed up by a wave. Although I survived getting swept into the ocean, tossed into the rocks, my iPhone, work blackberry, D80, Sigma 105mm macro, and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 did not survive (although to note my LowerPro bag stayed almost completely dry, which included my D300s in the top of the bag). So note to all photographers: check the tides and be careful when there!

  44. monilague (25 months ago | reply)

    Love the motion of the water with the long exposure. Beautiful light.

    [ via monilague's contacts on flickriver  --monilague ]

  45. MDiCola Photography (25 months ago | reply)

    amazing shot!! love the exposure and the lighting really works with the color really nicely! great work!!!

  46. Toni Mauri (25 months ago | reply)

    Another beautiful shot my friend. Have a nice weekend.

  47. aaronpryor photography (25 months ago | reply)

    what great light, perfect.

  48. Johnwctsang (25 months ago | reply)

    Brilliant long exposure shot !!!

  49. aribix (25 months ago | reply)

    beautiful

  50. Art-Ql(Art-Cool) [deleted] (25 months ago | reply)

    just beautiful!

  51. Steven Lamar (25 months ago | reply)

    Absolutely amazing capture. Great job.

← prev 1 2 3 4
(181 comments)
keyboard shortcuts: ← previous photo → next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts