Sunset at Bakers beach, San Francisco, CA
Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, CA
Sunset at Pescadero Point, Highway 1
f/8, 300 seconds at ISO 100.
Panther Beach Sunset, Santa Cruz, CA
Panther Beach is a hidden beach nestled between the towns of Davenport and Santa Cruz in Northern California. This location has been on my list of places to revisit for many years now, but I had been putting it off due to the steep climb required to access the beach. However I mustered up courage to visit this location just before New Year's Eve 2017. The climb down to the beach was steep as I had anticipated, lined with poison-ivy on either sides, however it was quite manageable even with carrying my tripod on one hand (Note to self: order one of those tripod straps which affix them to the backpacks next time around). After walking up and down the beach, none of the compositions seem appealing. Then I chanced upon this little gully which was exposed due to low tide, so I considered going down into the gully to examine the photographic opportunities. My first attempt to climb down the rocks proved treacherous due to the slippery moss-covered rocks, so I hastily abandoned that. I instead climbed down and walked into the gully when the waves were away. It was at this point, I realized why Panther Beach is named such. The rock out cropping on the left does indeed look like a crouching panther or cougar ready to spring! With the composition established, I needed something to enhance the foreground a bit to further lead the eyes into the scene. A long exposure of an incoming way completed the picture and wrapped up the trip for me.
Dusk, Pacifica Pier, San Francisco, CA
Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70mm f4
A pier on Crissy Fields, San Francisco, CA. Alcatraz Island is seen on the background.
On the Edge of Glory Canon 7D, 17-55mm, 2-stop GND, BW CPL Standing on the edge of the cliff, holding on to the wire railing and my tripod balanced precariously, suddenly it hit me…. "Was this the moment of truth? Could this be the most beautiful place on earth?" Words couldn't do justice to the natural beauty surrounding me…. As the pink hues from the setting sun lit up the clouds from below, everything seemed to fall in place. Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero, CA I used a 2-stop GND filter to balance the light in the sky with the foreground, and the CPL filter slowed the sutter speed to a leisurely 10sec to caputre the beauty of the waves crashing into the rocks below.