pier

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Another one from my California sunset photo editing spree. I love the way this one turned out and I remember like yesterday how it happened too.

Andrew had made plans to meet up with one of our friends for dinner and asked if I wanted to join them. I distinctly remember saying, “only if we can go shoot sunset first and then meet up with Sean.” He agreed and we ended up bringing our cousin, Vincent, and the cuddle pup, Frankie along. Since they were going to meet up in the Ocean Beach area, we ended up waiting for sunset around the pier.

All of a sudden the sky exploded! I don’t think any of us were expecting all this color and it was amazing. I remember trying to get more water in the foreground by getting close to the sand but since I wasn’t expecting this awesome sunset, I, unfortunately, did not bring my tripod. Some of those shots turned out well but it was this one that really caught my attention. Sometimes the best shots are when you take a step back.

Seriously, everyone on the beach and pier just stopped. It was like someone hit the pause button cuz everyone was just staring at the sky. This guy on the pier was no exception. I do remember there being a lot more people on the pier, but I tried to zoom in and crop the image so there was just that single silhouette.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/100th sec and ISO 1600 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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Guess what? Another drone shot. I’m obsessed with my drone. It is exciting to fly and to capture such different perspectives. Its almost like a whole other world that I’ve never seen before. I just wish there were more places around the Washington DC area where I could fly or else I would do it a lot more often.

This image was captured around 6 am at Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos. It seemed like Andrew and I were the only ones who were up at that time which was awesome because we had the whole beach to ourselves. Can you spot us in this image?

My favorite part about this image is obviously the color of the water but I also think the little details are so interesting too. Like the lines in the sand created by the beach chairs. I also love how the beach chairs look so little in this image. If you saw us at all on our trip, we spent most of the time in that exact location just sunbathing. It was amazing.

I don’t know if you can tell but I’ve definitely been having some beach withdrawals.

And yes, that is an overhead shot of the pier I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/290th sec and ISO 100 with my DJI Mavic Pro

 

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I thought this image was interesting because it could be two different things. Either the light reflections on the ocean water or a whole bunch of fish swimming by. Obviously, it’s fish but I’m hoping it made you look a little deeper into the image to figure that out.

I was standing on top of this pier when I captured this image. I took that pier image in 2015 and to this day, it still looks the same. Either torn apart or never finished but easy to walk along the planks. Andrew and I noticed other people standing on the pier and saying something about a Baraccuda. Obviously, we jumped up from our beach chairs and I grabbed my camera to go check it out. We didn’t see a barracuda but saw all these fish swimming around the pier in what seemed like circles.

I loved how the sun was hitting them just right and made the water look so transparent. It was difficult to see exactly what I was capturing through my camera lens because the sun was so bright but I think it turned out cooler than expected.

Even though we didn’t see the barracuda, I did see a dolphin, a stingray, and possibly 2 nurse sharks just from the beach. So very cool if you ask me!

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/4000th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

 

 

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Out of the 7 days that we’ve been in San Diego, 6 of them have been foggy. It’s not foggy all day and it mostly comes around sunrise or sunset, the best times for taking pictures. I love the fog and everything but I thought I was coming to California for some sunshine.

But I am not letting any of the weather stop me from shooting. If I can’t photograph the skies, then I will try my best to photograph other things. This particular morning was not foggy but it was extremely cloudy. I found myself on the Ocean Beach pier just watching the waves go by. As the sun was rising higher in the sky, I noticed how beautiful it made the water look. I positioned myself on the pier so that I’d be shooting towards the shore and watching the back side of the wave roll by me.

My favorite part of this entire image is that little bit of light of aqua color on top of the wave. That was the color and light I was looking for while I was shooting this image. I don’t know but there’s something so fascinating about watching the waves roll by from up above. I love watching the patterns and repetition. Next time I need to bring the drone!

The surfer in the image was just an added bonus. I didn’t even realize he was there until I looked at these images on the computer. It’s pretty cool to see him in context to the wave. He looks so tiny compared to it.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/50th of a second and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens. I didn’t not shoot this with a tripod but was using the pier ledge to stabilize my camera.