For the fun of it

I wanted to post something here, for the fun of it! I noticed that I spent very little time in August 'blogging" and it is my husband that HIGHLY recommends I keep up a schedule with blogging. He suggest that if I do not post something "regularly" then I have a chance of people not wanting to check me out! I really do think that this blog is my next step to moving forward with my photography, so no neglecting! And because I like to "teach" something, I am posting something with a new technique I have learned!

The photo above, I used LightRoom3 for the post processing. A gift from my husband, I had been using LR2 for a while now and realize how much I LOVE LR3 vs 2! Its a big difference! Any way, the one new feature that I really do like, which is available in LR2 and LR3, is the graduate filter! All of you have seen, if you visit my flickr account, what I can do with a hard grad filter, which I use all the time with my sunset images. The in LR filter does the same thing, but with an image that is already taken! Now, don't worry, I still believe in getting things "right" in camera! I am not much for post processing. But there are times when I can "save" an image due to the abilities of post processing.

For the image above, I did use, on the lens, a hard grad filter, made by Cokin. Its a nice filter and what I love about it is that it sure can add some colors to a nice, sometimes colorless, sunset. The sunset above, was not colorless! But I guess this phase was. Usually color is not a part of a sunset until after the sun has set! So before the sunsets, I still like to capture images, knowing they may or may not be usable! And once in a while, I actually take an image OF the sun! And this is one such as that. As you can see! SO after I put the image on the computer, I realized, I can use the LR3 grad filter on it! So, for this image, I set up the grad filter, from right to left, instead of top to bottom! At the end of the day, I was able to make the sun a little less bright, and lower the exposure ONLY on the side of the sun! I have another image that I did the same thing to, and it turned out good, but I want to re do the image, I KNOW I can do better! But for now, I hope you enjoy this image. In camera, I used the B+W ND106 as well as the Cokin hard grad filter.

Please, enjoy!

A Beautiful La Jolla Sunset!

I am not really sure I have any information to share right now. I just want to share this photo! I know there is no use having a blog if you don't blog often. And so I knew I had to add something SOON! I did go on vacation last week, and that was all quite nice! But it put me into a place in life where I found myself too busy to do anything dealing with photography! I took photos, but I did not spend any time on the computer with post processing or any extra time on Flickr. Only enough time to post and run! Which I hate to do!

Any way, on this particular evening at La Jolla, I managed to capture a sunset that was one of the top 5 sunsets I have ever seen! It was amazing and stunning! Full of color and details! The water and the rocks at La Jolla Cove only added to the beauty that God had put before me. Its funny, because I was going to go to La Jolla the day before to catch the sunset. But I could not leave my house until 7:00, and my son and I still had to get dinner! That put us at heading down the hill exactly at sunset! And, after looking west, I realized that there was not that much color in the sky any way.

And then, the next day. There were clouds all around, from the intense heat. I knew that meant a special sunset! So, I took my son down the hill and we enjoyed the sunset, just a day late! As I was shooting, a surfer came up to me and said, "Is that the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen?" It was close, but not the most beautiful, But as you can see above, I was quite lucky to be where I was and at the end of the day, I am glad my son and I wend down the hill to catch this very beautiful sunset! And now, I hope you enjoy my sunset!

For this image, I did use the B+W ND106 filter, 6 stops. And I also used the Cokin hard grad filter. Please enjoy! And tell me what you think! Or if you have any comments! Or become a fan! Anything! :)

Our recent sunsets!

For those of you who live in San Diego, you know that our sunsets of late have been beautiful! Simply beautiful. And no matter if you are up in the hills or down at the water, every where you go there has been color and amazingly beautiful details. Last night, I had the joy and honor of capturing such a sunset at La Jolla Cove.

Now, I have to say, this has been a gripe of mine, head off to the beach and get NO clouds or overcast with too many clouds. Now, I don't mean to sound like I am complaining! But the truth is, the most beautiful sunset, sense going out and taking photos of them, was January 1st, of 2010. That sunset, well, it set the bar! And, over the past eight months, I have seen some beautiful sunsets, but none worthy of a standing O! Until last night. Now, I am sure there have been some outstanding sunsets over the past 8 months, I just have not seen them due to my rugged outdoors, up the hill, location. When I say capturing the sunset, I mean at my favorite location, the beach!

Now, a sunset like last night reminds me why I do what I do. Drive to the beach, an hour one way, and get there just in time to be disappointed. For weeks, upon weeks, I make it to the beach, and especially during the summer, I have no color at all when the sky is as grey as it has been. I keep thinking to myself, why! Why do I do this? And last night gave me the answer. It was a reminder, that I do what I do for the off chance that the sunset is a killer one like last night. The color was outstanding and the movement in the water was just enough to make it work. I say just enough because the surf as of late has been rather small. No biggie, as long as its moving, I can make something of it! And hey, if the water is not moving, the I get some other opportunities, like shooting the clouds reflections in the water. It really is rare to have that chance. Having low tide AND a very colorful sunset like last night. Any way, moving on.

I hope you enjoy this image, it was from last night and it was full of color and fire. And for this image, I used the B+W ND106, 6 stop filter, along with the Cokin hard grad filter. Which did add a bit of pink to the image, but there was already so much color in the sky, it really did not alter the image so much. I did need it though because the sky was bright enough to where with out it, the sky would have been very much over exposed.