California Dreaming
Image taken in the hills in Northern California, facing the Pacific Ocean near sunset.
Image taken in the hills in Northern California, facing the Pacific Ocean near sunset.
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Jun, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in Landscape Painting Photo Contest
Peer Award
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Northern California foothills, east of Santa Clara (I think), looking toward the Pacific Ocean.Time
Late afternoon.Lighting
The sun was beginning to set behind a series of cloud banks in the valleys between each foothill ridge top. The yellow-orange color is from the sun.Equipment
Contax 137 (film) 35mm camera, lens may have been a 70-300 mm Zeiss lens. Probably a 1A filter (to just protect the lens). Tripod was used.Inspiration
As I was driving, I turned a corner on a road sloping downward, this image popped up in my wind shield and I immediately knew I had to stop and capture it. I scrambled to find a place to park and take the image before the sun set further.Editing
I scanned in a 35mm slide taken about 20 years ago. Then I added a bit a "clarity" and saturation using Lightroom software. Also digitally spot cleaned "dust bunnies" introduced from the 33mm slide. No graduated filters were used.In my camera bag
Nikon D-300, Nikon D-750 (2) Camera harnesses Think Tank© camera bags 4 camera batteries, Two Nikon battery chargers (10) 32GB Compact Flash cards, (4) 32GB SD cards, Nikon GP-1A GPS transmitter Tripod: • Gitzo Traveler Carbon Tripod GT1541T with Markins Q3 Ball Head • (2) Arca-Swiss type, vertical/horizontal mount camera plates for tripod • Arca-Swiss type macro rail system. Lenses/filters: • Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 • Micro Nikkor 105mm f2.8 • Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 • Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 • Nikkor TC 20E 2x Converter • B&H filters on all lens Nikon Speedlight SB-800, flash extender cable, rechargeable batteries for Speedlight, Cleaning tools and fluids for sensor and lensesFeedback
Whenever possible, always use a tripod. It will force you to slow down and compose the image better. Shoot early in the morning and in the evening if outdoors. Don’t be afraid to shoot from unusual angles, like low to the ground. Other advice: Edit your images! Edit your images! Edit your images. Don’t keep “so-so” images unless you want them purely for documenting an event. Don’t imprint your copyright onto each image, it destroys the viewing. Copyright your images digitally in Lightroom, Photoshop, or other software. Clean your sensor and lens after each outing- it will save time in post-processing.
