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First Light on Moro Rock from Montana de Oro Bluff Trail

I've added several images from Montana de Oro, Aliso Beach and a shot of sunset over Point Luis to the front of my California Coast album.  Enjoy!

The second image is of a rainbow created by the first light of the sun striking mist from a blow hole.  Not only did the sun angle have to be just right to where I was shooting, the tide had to be a certain level and the waves had to be the right size to send the spray into the air in a fine mist.

Big thanks to everyone who is proposing locations or photos for the book!  Of course I do a lot of research up front to find the best locations already documented, but there are always more to discover.

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33 thoughts on “First Light on Moro Rock from Montana de Oro Bluff Trail”

  21. Jeff Sullivan
    Reply

    I spend about 5 minutes per photo +Susan Kolbasuk, maybe a bit more when I've been lazy about keeping dust spots off my sensor.  I use Lightroom, so no big Photoshop-style edits.  The main thing to do is open up the shadows a bit, then adjust contrast.  Since cameras don't get more sensitive in the shadows like our eyes do, a "straight out of camera" shot it more unrealistic than an adjusted one.  

    Not that there's anything inherently wrong with Photoshop… Ansel Adams would often spend a dozen or more hours editing a photo.  His skill though was that the post-processing didn't become the point of the picture, and it didn't interfere with the viewer's understanding or enjoyment of the subject.  It was subtle.  

    I view realism in a photo as being like walking on a tightrope… it's dead easy to fall off when you're editing, just move any slider too far.  Reaching the other side, still on that narrow path of realism, strikes me as demonstrating more skill than going for a simple "startle effect" with maximum color or other effects.  Sure, some of my photos are colorful, but I still get surprised at how amazing some sunrises and sunsets can be (or even the Milky Way on some clear Summer nights).  

    Until I can package the sun into a print, my representations will reflect only some small fraction of the grandeur of the original moment.  But there are better ways of conveying that than simply hitting everyone on the head (figuratively speaking) with a big, multi-colored hammer.

  27. Jeff Sullivan
    Reply

    Thanks +Swee Oh!  You saw me at work for several days in a row in the Eastern Sierra at the G+ photowalk last June: luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and there's a lot of forethought which can go into landscape photography to increase the odds.  
    But sometimes just after you tuck the moon to sleep in the notch of a peak to the West at dawn
    https://plus.google.com/photos/107459220492917008623/albums/5750348183474475025/5806100612771051618
    then you turn around, and this is what unfolds on the opposite horizon: https://plus.google.com/photos/107459220492917008623/albums/5750348183474475025/5806100669726150946
    Serendipity certainly plays a role, and you have to be out there to witness those infinite moments which otherwise would have slipped by unnoticed as the human race wraps itself in cocoons of wood, steel and concrete.  It's nice to escape.

  33. Susan Kolbasuk
    Reply

    Hi Jeff these pics r so beautiful ,sorry I haven't been on much,been very sick getting things in order going into hospital ,what a drag ill be checking in ,always u r pics makes me smile 🙂 thx Sue

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