- I wanted a bit of room to the left of the trunk, just for space.
- I would have liked a bit of room to the right of this trunk, but it was too bright so I carefully composed around the bright spots. I did that by moving forward to preserve the central focal point. in the middle.
- I moved up to show this opening, but too close and it gets too bright.
- I tried to show how the branches fade away in the mist with increasing distance.
- I wanted to show the light coming through here, for a second light source. Too far back and this disappears.
- A torch lilly that I didn't even notice at first, then I made sure it was in the frame in front of the darker trunk.
- There are patches of red lichen in some areas.
- It was not raining, but the heavy fog dripped of the trees. Wet asphalt looks better than dry!
- The RCA radio building. See more here: www.qsl.net/w2vtm/rca_history_kph.html
- Superb lighting ! - SHAZRAL
Myst - Point Reyes National Seashore, California
A fine mist envelops a quiet lane in Point Reyes, near San Francisco. Sometimes, fog really enhances a scene. No HDR.
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See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/591649592...
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Settings etc.:
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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.
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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
Comments and faves
Nino H, Silent G Photography, Steph & the ocean, teflonjedi, and 2816 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Silent G Photography (23 months ago | reply)
Fantastic!!
Nino H (23 months ago | reply)
WOW !
Amazing perspective !!
Steph & the ocean (23 months ago | reply)
beautiful composition, really love this one Patrick :)
andrew katic (23 months ago | reply)
great scene.nice shot
Dmitri007 (23 months ago | reply)
Really sweet shot Patrick. I like the mood here and the focal point is superb.
shabgarde paezi ... [deleted] (23 months ago | reply)
WOW
great
love it
darth_bayne (23 months ago | reply)
Excellent work! It's a perfect shot!
PeteHuu (23 months ago | reply)
excellent depth
Ring of Fire Hot Sauce 1 (23 months ago | reply)
WOW! So stunning, especially with no HDR. Really, really well done!
Alexander Steinhof (23 months ago | reply)
wow...wonderful way...nice!
Vab2009 (23 months ago | reply)
Oh this is wonderful!
Paul SKG (23 months ago | reply)
Fantastic!!
A Sutanto (23 months ago | reply)
Surreal!
"Little Star Photography" (23 months ago | reply)
Beautiful! Those cypress are such unusual trees and the mist added makes the photo!
Raf.f (23 months ago | reply)
fantastic !!!! great ;)
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Seen on your photo stream. ( ?² )
. Jianwei . (23 months ago | reply)
Love your work, especially the story and the detail settings. Very inspiring!
druc14 (Drew M) (23 months ago | reply)
insane
photobenedict (23 months ago | reply)
Fantastic!
André Pipa (23 months ago | reply)
Well done Patrick
jpeder55 (23 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous image! Love the processing in this too.
Shawn S. Park (23 months ago | reply)
Absolutely great photo!
Happy Friday!
drshrinker (catching up) (23 months ago | reply)
Unbelievable. No HDR? Are you jerkin' my chain?
What do you do for sharpening?
jolee-mer (23 months ago | reply)
Love this, thank you!
Gary Ngo | Photography (23 months ago | reply)
I love this Patrick! And something different than your usual seascape. =)
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Seen on my Flickr home page. (?)
Abhinav Singhai (23 months ago | reply)
magical
dovetaildw (23 months ago | reply)
Amazing image, great work!
TexasEagle (23 months ago | reply)
Beautiful scene with the rows of majestic trees and mist! Wonderful composition!
*Sefora* (23 months ago | reply)
Bravo!!! Un vero capolavoro.
Foto Guy (23 months ago | reply)
Outstanding work! Just gorgeous!
SC|Photography (23 months ago | reply)
this would make a really awesome wallpaper & print
SoCal Mark (23 months ago | reply)
Incredible shot and one of my favorite places.
stephenprobert (23 months ago | reply)
Very nice. I admire your diligence and planning.
arcreyes [-ratamahatta-] (23 months ago | reply)
if you change it to b&w i think it would look like sleepy hollow.. hehe
Marc Briggs (23 months ago | reply)
Awesome image...great you had a back up plan!
I love that spot, right smack dab in the middle with the this branches softened by the fog.
Point Reyes is one of those magical photographic locations with great comps in every direction. Thanks for sharing the beauty.
dixie_law (23 months ago | reply)
Absolutely gorgeous. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was right out of the lord of the rings! Has a dreamy, fairy tale quality to it. I love the touches of light - almost "under" lighting on the branches to the upper right and then the few highlights on the canopy. Thanks for the technical info too. Now I know what to do if I'm ever in a spot like that :)
Dave Allen Photography (23 months ago | reply)
wow! I have always enjoyed your work, and this one is sensational! The light in this is spectacular, and the composition is balanced perfectly! Great stuff!
Sealis (23 months ago | reply)
Incredible light, leading lines, and color in this shot! Very well done!
andreaskoeberl (23 months ago | reply)
fantastic shot, patrick!
i love the light in this image!
Madiator (23 months ago | reply)
3 years? mindisblown
Neil Kremer (23 months ago | reply)
Nice one.
okanaganboy (23 months ago | reply)
yup...........well done
PatrickSmithPhotography (23 months ago | reply)
Thanks for your comments!
drShrinker, No need for HDR, the fog did the job for me. I do a final sharpen for flickr at 0.2 pixel radius at about a 300 strength.
Patrick
RyaninVa (23 months ago | reply)
beautiful shot - nicely composed. very nice.
Jesper Bülow (23 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot!
simon james_f (23 months ago | reply)
Amazingly beautiful image Patrick!
stammberger13 (23 months ago | reply)
very nice shot I know this location in point reyes but never took a picture-unfortunately
PHOTOROTA (23 months ago | reply)
Stunning shot, Great performance.
Fionn Luk (23 months ago | reply)
I love the perspective! What a perfect scene! The fog creates such a great mood and atmosphere :)
ǝuo*ʞɔǝʇʞɔ@ɾ (23 months ago | reply)
beautifull!!
www.abstraktvisionz.com (23 months ago | reply)
great shot!!