Vertical Castle-ca.jpeg
Victoria Beach in Southern California has been on my bucket list to photography. I finally can check this one off the list... wooT...
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Victoria Beach in Southern California has been on my bucket list to photography. I finally can check this one off the list... wooT
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Oct, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Victoria Beach in Laguna, California. I have wanted to photograph Victoria Beach forever. Victoria Beach has been on my bucket list to shoot, and I finally got a chance to photograph this wonderful placeTime
During the day, I did some scoping around to see what kind of composition I would like. But I already knew that I would photograph this tiny little castle after the sun went down. I knew the light was going to be beautiful and dreamy. I wanted the work to feel as if Rapunzel was going to let down her hair :-)Lighting
I knew I had to photograph this as an HDR because there were a lot of shadows going on, plus I wanted a slow shutter speed to give it the dreamy feel I was going for. Once the sun went down into the Horizon, I went to work.Equipment
This was shot on my Canon 5DIII with a 70 to 200 mm f 2.8 Canon lens. I used my shutter release to program my exposure shots for the HDR and had to use a tripod, for sure.Inspiration
My photographer friend, Lisa, had shared with me her photos of this location years ago. As a result, this has been on my bucket list areas to photograph, especially since I actually live in Southern California. I've seen so many photos of this location, but I want something different. I felt like I was in a dream being there for the first time... in a place that I've always wanted to photograph. I kept thinking about Repunsel, lol!Editing
Because this was a landscape shot during the sunset or basically right after sunset, I had to do an HDR (exposure from highlight to darks being correct) and merge several images together in Photoshop. I also love On1, so I pushed it into this program to give it a soft feel and glow. But, unfortunately, I also had to remove this ugly-looking electrical box that was to the right of the castle. It was worth the time and effort, though.In my camera bag
I always have my tripod, polarizer, and a variety of Canon lenses and Canon cameras. My favorite lenses are my 100mm macro with an extension to my 70 - 200mm, which I used on this image. Actually, one of my favorite tools is my shutter release because I can program it to do what I want it to do ;-)Feedback
This location is tough to get to. Many houses are right next to the beach, and it's definitely on a pretty good-sized hill. Now, suppose you want to photograph the beach. What I recommend is definitely using a polarizer and slowing down your shutter speed, so you have that gorgeous dreamy waves that crash on the rocks. I always like to photograph right after the sun goes down, especially in Southern California. It's absolutely, I feel, one of the most beautiful light conditions there is in this location. Another suggestion that I always tell my students is to research the area before you shoot it. Then, have fun and photograph, and then try something totally different.
