Coastal Bluffs of California

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"Come Out Upon My Seas"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, San Mateo County, California.

The northern end of the Pescadero State Beach is dominated by these coastal bluffs. They rise up abruptly from the sand and tell a geological story that has shaped this landscape for thousands of years. It's a story of how the land here wass transformed by colossal forces within the earth. These forces first lifted certain parts of the landscape several hundred feet in the air and then gradually eroded them by the wind and the water. It's timeless and for me it is a place to find solitude. The day I shot this image an unusual storm was passing over Bay Area. It is always great to witness a passing storm which brings with it interesting cloud formations and filtered light that I so much strive to capture in an image.

The combination of breaking storm, sunset light, texture on the face of the eroding bluff and receding wave finally gave me all the elements I needed to tell this geological story. This land is never the same. It changes with every tide and gets eroded evermore during every winter storm. As they always say, beauty is transient and this landscape certainly highlights that point.

Tech Info:
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L @ 17mm
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Exposure: 1/2sec at f/13 and ISO 50
Filters: LEE ND Grads 0.6 and 0.9

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"Pelicans"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, San Mateo County, California.

Pelicans are such beautiful and graceful birds. I watched them as they glided past me and gave me this image.

Tech Info and Tip:
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS @ 200mm
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Exposure: 1/1000 sec at f/8 and ISO 200

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Pelicans

Location: Pescadero State Beach, San Mateo County, California, Map

Pelicans are such beautiful and graceful birds. I watched them as they glided past me and gave me this image.

Tech Info and Tip:
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS @ 200mm
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Exposure: 1/1000 sec at f/8 and ISO 200

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"Badlands of Pescadero"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, California. [GPS/Map]

This image has been many years in the making. Believe it or not, I have been to this particular spot a countless times but never witnessed a sunset like this one.

The eroding patterns on the coastline are unique here. The ground below feels just like compacted sand to me and every rainstorm take a little bit away slowly creating these watershed pattern.

The erosion here can be quite fast and the landscape looks different to me every year I visit. So visit soon if you can... it's incredible as is to watch the sunset on Pacific coast but it can be even more amazing to watch it from the coastline of Pescadero state beach.

Tech Info:
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L @ 25mm
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Exposure: 0.6sec at f/13 and ISO 50
Filters: LEE 0.9 (3-stop) ND Grad + SinghRay 3-stop Reverse ND Grad
Processng: All processing wass done in Lightroom 4. The sky gets bit more warm color temperature. The foreground gets bit more exposure... that's pretty much it other than dust removal, sharpening and noise reduction. Enjoy!

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"Supercell Over Pescadero"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, California. [GPS/Map]

Raingods decided to show their awesome power and pour over little coastal dwelling of Pescadero. As I was busy shooting sunset looking the other way, I almost missed the color and drama taking place behind me. I ran over to find a good spot and captured the action just in time.

Tech Info:
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L @ 22mm
Camera: Canon 5D Mk II
Exposure: 1.6sec at f/13 and ISO 50
Filters: LEE 0.9 (3-stop) soft edge ND grad + SinghRay 3-stop reverse ND grad hard edge stacked together
Processing: Minimal processing in Adobe Lightroom 4. This image, like almost all images on this wesbite was made as single exposure w/o any multiple image composite techniques such as HDR. It's more difficult and therefore rewarding to obtain all elements of an image perfect in one single shot!

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"Rocks of Pescadero"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, California.

What I love about coastal photography is that every beach has something unique about it. On Pescadero the highlight ought to be these rocks that constantly get pulled in by the waves and pushed back ashore with every tide cycle.

Tech Info and Tip:
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L @24mm
Camera: Canon 5D Mk II
Exposure: 10sec at f/9 and ISO 50
Filters: SinghRay 2 stop and 3 stop ND grad stacked together

The dramatic perspective of the rocks was created using the wide angle lens positioned close to the ground and directly behind the largest rocks. Use of wide angles is interesting and often tricky due to perspective distortion but can help to create dramatic landscapes.

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"Pescadero Sunset"
Location: Pescadero State Beach, Pescadero, San Mateo County, California.

The sunbeams peeking out of breaking storm clouds are always fun to photograph. Especially during a fast moving storm you can actually see the beams scanning the horizon... a truly awesome sight to see during winter months in California.

Tech Info and Tip:
Lens: Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L at 50mm
Camera: Canon 5D Mk II
Exposure: 1/3sec at f/9 and ISO 50
Filters: SinghRay ND Grads 3 stops hard edge

The clouds that are not too dense and not too sparse make the best lighting in my limited experience shooting thse incredible sunbeams.g

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