La Jolla Cove Twilight Part 2

Twilight at La Jolla Cove

Another image from my night down at La Jolla Cove. This one was taken about 20 minutes after sunset.

I'm nearly running out of things to say about my photographs from this particular night but I think that's a pretty good problem to have, all things considered. If I came back with so many quality images that I can't think of enough to say about them every time I head out, I could safely quit my day job and start living off my photography. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy this little wave of quality images and wait for San Diego's June Gloom to finally clear up so I can get out to some new locations and take some new photos.

If you're a long time follower of my site here, you've seen these rocks before, a while back. You can see these rocks on the right had side, about mid-picture. Back in those days, I wasn't so adventurous with my camera in hand (I was really a good distance from the oncoming wave, just zoomed in a ways). Now, I just throw a plastic bag over the camera and scamper on out there for the shot! If the camera breaks, it's just a sign that it's time to upgrade...

Also available in Black & White, though I may revisit the conversion and make a few tweaks.

Sunset in Black and White

La Jolla Cove Sunset

Here's another photograph from the sunset on June 21st down at La Jolla Cove. I'm really milking this particular sunset for all it was worth. But with good reason.

This particular night was the best sunset I saw during the week and a half I was out trying to fill my memory cards with worthwhile images and when you find the right conditions, you've just got to go for it. Fill those memory cards and really take advantage of the good light when you've got it.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this image called out to me for a black and white treatment. As I experiment more with the black and white medium, I suspect I'll have a better idea of what would and wouldn't look good in monochrome, but at the moment all I can really admit to is that I tried it, and I liked it!

And for the curious folks out there, I'm sorry I really don't know what the ridge that starts in the lower left corner is. I've inspected it a number of times and always left empty handed (minded?). In person, it appears that someone long ago embedded a metal pipe into the sandstone and left it to corrode in the salt water but I can't find an opening at either end that would indicate it truly is a long forgotten pipe. It's definitely of a different composition than the surrounding rock and has attracted a multitude of mollusks to it but beyond that I just don't know. It's probably for the best that I don't know. The continuing mystery will keep me coming back for more and hopefully that will mean some more evenings like this one!

La Jolla Cove Twilight

La Jolla Cove Twilight

Taken just 10 minutes after yesterday's sunset image, the mood of this photograph is dramatically different even though it's just a couple feet to the right. The light quickly changes around sunset and the sky begins to really glow during the half hour of twilight that begins once the sun is actually below the horizon.

The quickly changing light makes the time around sunset and twilight a very exciting (read that as frantic) time to photograph. As the last of the day's light fades away, the exposure times increase, I rush around trying to capture as many quality images as I can before the light is completely gone and often times my last exposure is several minutes long when the color on the horizon isn't even visible to the naked eye.

The majority of my images from this time of day showcase a number of educated guesses, especially at the coast. It takes time and experimentation to really begin to see just how the waves will look as they become flattened out over the long exposure. Even now I get surprised on occasion at just how awesome (or horrible) the waves in an image look after 10, 20 or 30+ seconds of  leaving the shutter open. Without much light on the foreground, it can be difficult to compose an image and I often have to recompose after seeing the preview on my camera's LCD after the first couple frames of a scene.

I've still got a few more to come from this evening at La Jolla Cove before we're back to where I started.

La Jolla Cove Sunset

Sunset at the Cove

As promised, I'll move on from the erosion themed images and get back to the photographs you all expect to see here on my site. Though it's difficult to photograph along the coast (especially with the soft sandstone coast we have here around San Diego) without seeing the effects of erosion, but like I said... moving on!

I captured this photograph as the sunset on the same evening as my previously posted Last Shot of the Day image, down at La Jolla Cove. It was taken about 40 minutes before the Last Shot, just when the sun was high enough to still create some interesting highlights in the foreground, yet low enough to begin lighting up the edges of the clouds.

In the short time the sun was at this perfect angle, I managed to capture several different compositions of this scene, but what set this one apart from the others are the leading lines. The various elements throughout the scene work to draw you into the sunset. The middle ground rocks point almost directly at the sun. The highlights on the rock contours in the foreground don't point right at it near the bottom of the frame, but if you follow them up, they eventually curve and point back towards the setting sun. Even the clouds in the upper corners keep your eye from drifting too far out of the image and direct you back towards the sun.

A common problem with large scenic photographs (and I'm sure a number of my previous works suffered from it) is that in a complex scene such as this, with so many different elements, it can be difficult to determine the subject of the image. Without a clear cut subject, your eye will "bounce" around looking for the subject and a place to settle for a little while. The leading lines and  elements of this image work to eliminate that problem and highlight the subject I intended.

Layers

Layers

This is probably the last of the erosion inspired images for a little bit. I know, I know, you're all thankful and want to see the sunset images I created while using the Chris Skopec Homemade Custom Camera Water Proof Housing (patent pending) and those are coming, I promise!

Near the bottom of this image, you can see the Swirlstone from the previous post. I was drawn to both the form of the swirl and the surrounding layers. Those above don't show the same twisting deformation and those below show only a slight curve. Also noticeable is the effect of erosion on the texture of the stone. The Swirlstone marks the top of an outcropping of sandstone, if you look closely you should see the edge all the way across the image. Judging by the textures alone, it's a relatively safe assumption that the smooth stone of the outcropping gets some regular attention from the waves while the water rarely reaches the much rougher rock above.

As in the previous image, the late evening, low angle sunlight set this stone a glow and I actually had to desaturate the colors a touch to keep the image realistic looking.

Swirlstone

The Swirlstone variant of Sandstone

As a follow up to last week's Grains of Sand image post, I offer another image showing the finer details brought to light by the forces of erosion. On the surface, this image speaks more of the process of sedimentation and how the sandstone was created and subsequently twisted. However, without the effects of erosion to remove the rock above and around this twisted knot of stone, we would probably never see it.

Here, the sandstone's regular, warm tone has been enhanced by the late evening light as the sun was beginning to set. The light in the late evening "Magic Hour" adds a warm glow and enhances the stone's texture. Scenes like this abound along the California Coastline as the ocean has cut into the bordering rock surface exposing the details of the relatively soft rock. Up until this particular evening, most of my attention while at the coast has been focused out over the ocean waiting for the sun to dip to just the right angle but this image is a healthy reminder that I shouldn't ignore the good light and scenery behind me.

Grains of Sand

Grains of Sand on a sandstone ledge.

Here's something a little different for me, a macro (almost) image. My eye, at the moment, seems trained to see the grand sweeping expanse of the landscape and I often miss these smaller scene that can be found by getting up close to the details. And in fact I really just chanced upon this view down at La Jolla Cove a few nights ago.

The La Jolla area coastline is composed almost entirely of sandstone in various stages of erosion. Steep vertical cliffs drop into the ocean or give way to small, course-grained sand beaches while other areas, as seen in my previously image,  feature an expanse of wave polished rocks extending some distance out into the ocean.

While waiting for sunset, leaning against one of the areas sandstone cliffs with my feet firmly planted in the warm sand, I looked to my right to find these small grains of sand perched on a small ledge and lighting up in the late afternoon sun. The majority of my lenses are better suited for the wide vistas my eye favors, but my 50mm prime lens allows for super close focusing so I was able to get almost right on top of these grains of sand and still have them in sharp focus. Such a close focus creates a razor thin depth of field (the area of the image in focus) allowing the textures of the sandstone to melt away into a pleasing, golden blur.

I've yet to find a better illustration of Elegant Erosion than these grains of sand resting on a ledge they were most probably a part of not too long ago.

Last shot of the Day

Last Light at La Jolla Cove

After nearly 2 months of not taking any new photos because of various other projects, I've been down at the coast three times in the last week. Now that some other projects are done (or at least done for now) I can get back to having some fun.

The first two nights, last Thursday and last Saturday nights, were both something of a bust. I haven't looked through the complete catalog of images from those two nights and may very well find some compelling images, but neither night had a true sunset. On Thursday, the sun dipped behind some low lying clouds our over the ocean just before sunset and on Saturday it never even had a chance with near total cloud cover at the coast from late afternoon on. When photographing the landscape, you're really counting on Mother Nature to do the lighting for you and when she decides to end the show early, there's not much you can do about it except go home and try again another night.

And try again I did! Last night more than made up for the previous two nights. I headed down to La Jolla Cove where a high tide about twenty minutes after sunset meant the full power of the ocean was coming straight at me for much of the night. And though there was a sizable cloud bank out over the ocean, it was still small enough to let the post-sunset glow show through.

High tide here at La Jolla Cove is a dangerous time, both for camera and person. The splash of the waves can wreak havoc with a digital camera if proper precautions aren't taken (I fashioned a "dry suit" for my camera and lens out of a one gallon Ziploc bag. Worked like a charm!) and this rock under foot, even though it's sandstone, has very little texture to it after countless years of abuse by the sea. I opted to go barefoot while out there as my feet offered better traction on the rocks than my sandals.

This particular shot is out of order. It's the last photograph of the night from last night. It's a thirty second exposure taken about twenty minutes after sunset and just a split second before a large wave crashed down on my location almost knocking my tripod over. I saw the wave coming in and had appropriately braced myself for the wave, but going from mostly dry to knee deep in a split second was enough to tell me that it was time to get out of the way before the waves got any more intense. Thus I present to you this last photograph of the night as a Badge of Honor that my camera and I made it out safely!