Paso Valley View
May, 2014Views
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Lucky 3 Award
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was a happy accident as regards timing, lighting and simply stumbling onto the scene. Driving to a convention in Sacramento from my home located at the central coast of California, my route headed inland near Atascadero (Hwy 41, anyone?). From the valley on which the 101 travels north/south, this inland direction change put me on a narrow two lane road heading up the steep side of a mesa with this terrific view and absolutely no-where to stop at. The evening sun was heading over the horizon and I was afraid the light was changing very quickly, so I turned into a private driveway hoping I wouldn't get in trouble with the owner... and hopped out and took a set of shots.Time
I'd left home immediately after work to make a speaking commitment early the following morning. Coincidentally, that put me exactly at this location just as the sun was tipping the top the range to the west, and the shadows were stretching rapidly longer. The evening marine layer was also just beginning to make it's appearance, which added a spectacular haze into the distance.Lighting
Only moments after snapping a set of photos, the sun did drop past the western mountain tops, and the scene went completely flat. As there were no clouds, I didn't expect any fabulous orange sunset reflections when the sun dipped past the ocean's horizon...Equipment
I was not expecting to get any photography in on this trip; my schedule was pretty much filled and accounted for from the moment I'd left home to when I was scheduled to return. I always have my P&S camera with me, which is what I used to take this particular shot - a Pentax Optio Z-10. I've been very pleased with this camera considering it is a point and shoot; I've had it for years and have taken plenty of impressive pictures with it.Inspiration
This was all about luck - being in the right place at the right time happened quite by accident!Editing
As this camera only produces jpegs, there were limited post-processing options; I did adjust contrast/saturation, sharpness as well as performing a little local color correction.In my camera bag
As stated, I always have this little P&S with me, as well as the camera on my phone (Galaxy 4S/Android). My main kit is a Canon T3i, with an assortment of lenses - two kit (18-55mm;70-300mm), a 50mm/1.8 prime, and a 10-22mm wide. All are Canon lenses. Most, if not all, of my "planned" photography is taken using this rig...Feedback
Obviously finding a scene like this one in your location/area is something that can be done on your normal day-to-day travels, or by looking on the internet for tips from other local photographers. Also, many local businesses that reach out to tourists (wineries come to mind in my area) will have pictures on their literature or their web sites that might inspire you to find the location portrayed. Then making it a point to be there at dawn-break or sunset (depending on direction of view, etc.), hopefully having checked in advance what the weather forecast looks like, might get you some very pleasing results.
