Second Beach, Washington Coast
Faint rays beaming through
From an unknown source afar
Warms the rushing tide
This faint light lasted just a few moments as the sun set below the horizon. I was too busy enjoying the wonder. I almost missed the opportunity!
Palm Grove – Moloka’i
Warm, calm, relaxed
Eyes first close, then slowly open
A new perspective appears
I set up to photograph the sun setting over the horizon. I anxiously waited as the sun descended slowly. Every so often I would shoot a set of exposures for a HDR combination later. I started to relax and just enjoy the scene. Then the idea came to take a long exposure. This resultant image best depicts the peaceful feeling I had watching the sunset.
Sunset Over Face Rock, Bandon, Oregon
Today, December 31, is the sunset of 2017. Looking back over the year, it has been a good one. It was a year of travel: Orlando, Central California Coast, Phoenix, Palm Desert, Hawaii, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Washington Coast, and Oregon Coast. It was a great year to be back close to my family in Central Washington. Many fun times were had with old friends (the Whizzies). Several old friendships were reestablished.
I do miss close friends from our wonderful years in Pennsylvania. Hopefully next year I will make it back for a visit!
As the sunset of 2017 passes, many happy memories of a great year remain!
Neighbor’s Trees
After the excitement of receiving the view of the gold patches shown in my post yesterday, I turned around and saw my neighbor’s trees silhouetted against the clouds. Quickly, I pulled out my I-phone again and received this additional gift. Seconds later the beautiful sunset pastel disappeared.
I am thankful to have my I-phone camera ready at all times. I can never anticipate when a gift will present itself.
“Sunset on Bandon Beach, Oregon”
When an unique opportunity presents itself to me, I try to drop whatever I am focused on and create an image from that special gift. This evening, I was practicing Black and White, long exposure photography. I was struggling with the waning light. As the sun dropped below the horizon, this wonderful gift appeared before my eyes. I immediately pulled off my 15-stop neutral density filter, refocused, reset my exposure and was able to capture and create this special moment. This wonderful light lasted for just a few seconds.
Lesson Learned: Always be ready to immediately step back and take advantage of the wonderful gifts that are presented to me
Bandon Beach
I just got a new B&W conversion SW plug-in (Macphun Tonality). I picked out some photos of the beach near Bandon, Oregon to work on. I played around to explore some of the secondary features. After converting to B&W I added a “misty/dreamy” look. I then added a paper texture and a vignette. Sometimes I just need to play to get my creative juices flowing.
Scootney Reservoir Sunset – Othello, WA
After a chilly late afternoon / early evening Sandhill Crane photography shoot, we were looking for a rest area. The closest one was at Scootney Park. As we drove down to the lake, the sun had just gone down below the western hills. The red, orange, and pink colors covered the sky and reflected over the lake. The rest stop had to be delayed for a while while we captured the beautiful sunset. We sure got lucky!
Canon 5D MkII, EF 24-105 f/4 L @ 58mm, f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO 200
This is what greeted me as I drove up to the Palouse in SE Washington State for a week of exploring and photographing. The brilliant pink and orange lasted for only a few minutes. I rapidly looked for a place to pull off the highway. By the time I got out and pulled out my camera, the magic was just about over In less that a minute the glow was gone. Too bad it is illegal to stop in the middle of a highway to capture a shot.
I was really excited about the clouds and what I expected to see during the next few days. However, the clouds did not come back during my stay. So I focused on the rolling hills, unique lines, and architectural elements. This trip was for scouting anyway.
Canon 7D MkII, EF24-105mm f/4L IS @ 40mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO 1600
Yesterday’s post was of a bright sunrise. Today’s post is of a brilliant sunset over Limekiln Lighthouse on San Juan Island. Several people just hung around the lighthouse until the last rays of the sun receded. The day was another wonderful gift!
Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 35mm, f/22, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
This image of Oregon’s Painted Hills was taken from the main overlook. The overall scene was immense and beautiful. However, the bright mid-day sun made the image look flat. As I was surveying other images of the Painted Hills, I came across several dramatic images of the hills in late afternoon/early evening sun. I took the challenge to see if I could get close as I post-processed the image. Using a variety of adjustment layers and masks, I came up with the following image.
This is what I imagine what the scene would be in the warn early evening light, just before sunset. I can’t wait to go back and capture an actual sunset here.