Lakeside, Oregon & California Coast
At the end of August, my sister and I took a road trip to spend a week in Lakeside, Oregon with a family friend. We decided to drive home along the PCH, camping along the Navarro River in Northern California for one night and camping south of Big Sur, California for the next. I absolutely loved the scenery along the way as we traversed down the Pacific Coast.
At the end of August, my sister and I took a road trip to spend a week in Lakeside, Oregon with a family friend. We decided to drive home along the PCH, camping along the Navarro River in Northern California for one night and camping south of Big Sur, California for the next. I absolutely loved the scenery along the way, as we traversed down the Pacific Coast.
I quickly started editing the photos and finally finished compiling some of my favorites. The images were all created with a Canon 5D Mark IV and were predominantly edited with Adobe Lightroom.
The pictures are presented chronologically, which I rarely do, but it felt right for this group of images. I hope they provide you with even a small taste of the experience of exploring the Pacific Coast.
San Simeon, California
Last Sunday I drove up to San Simeon, California for sunset and stopped at a pullout along the PCH a little south of Hearst Castle. I was excited to get a colorful sunset since the last four or five times I’d gone out to photograph had been incredibly overcast.
Last Sunday I drove up to San Simeon, California for sunset and stopped at a pullout along the PCH a little south of Hearst Castle. I was excited to get a colorful sunset since the last four or five times I’d gone out to photograph had been incredibly overcast.
Anyway, here’s a few of my favorite images from the evening. They were all made using a Canon 5D Mark IV and a 16-35mm lens. I used Adobe Lightroom and either Nik Color Efex Pro or OnOne Photo Raw to edit them.
Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California
On Tuesday evening, I met a friend at Morro Rock in Morro Bay, California and we photographed the sunset. It was a bit cloudy, but we still got some nice color as well as some unique clouds.
All the images were created using a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. They were edited in Adobe Lightroom and then processed with either Nik Color Efex Pro or OnOne Photo Raw.
On Tuesday evening, I met a friend at Morro Rock in Morro Bay, California and we photographed the sunset. It was a bit cloudy, but we still got some nice color as well as some unique clouds.
All the images were created using a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. They were edited in Adobe Lightroom and then processed with either Nik Color Efex Pro or OnOne Photo Raw.
Here’s some of my favorite pictures from the excursion.
San Francisco, California
During the course of the three-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I went to San Francisco, California with two friends. We photographed the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown San Francisco, and the East side of San Francisco. It was an awesome experience!
During the course of the three-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I went to San Francisco, California with two friends. We photographed the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown San Francisco, and the East side of San Francisco. It was an awesome experience!
All the photographs were created using a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. The wide-angle provided some challenges for the street photography, but it forced me to get creative and make use of what I had available.
Port Hueneme Pier, Port Hueneme, California
A few days after Christmas, my friend and I drove to Port Hueneme, California to photograph the sunset. There weren’t a lot of clouds in the sky, but we still got some incredible color.
All the photographs were created with a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. The pictures were edited using Adobe Lightroom, Nik Color Efex Pro, OnOne Photo Raw 2017, and Adobe Photoshop.
A few days after Christmas, my friend and I drove to Port Hueneme, California to photograph the sunset. There weren’t a lot of clouds in the sky, but we still got some incredible color.
All the photographs were created with a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. The pictures were edited using Adobe Lightroom, Nik Color Efex Pro, OnOne Photo Raw 2017, and Adobe Photoshop.
Point Dume, Malibu, California
On Tuesday morning, a friend and I drove to Point Dume in Malibu, California to photograph the sunrise. We ended up getting some beautiful clouds which filled up nicely as the sun rose above the horizon.
The photos were captured using a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens or a 70-200mm lens.
On Tuesday morning, a friend and I drove to Point Dume in Malibu, California to photograph the sunrise. We ended up getting some beautiful clouds which filled up nicely as the sun rose above the horizon.
The photos were captured using a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens or a 70-200mm lens.
Montaña de Oro State Park, Los Osos, California
I finally got a chance to photograph my first sunset in the San Luis Obispo area. This was one of the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen. Minutes before, it was a relatively cloudy evening with mediocre color. Quickly, the sky lit up with beautiful blues, pinks, and oranges. It’s a sunset I won’t forget.
I finally got a chance to photograph my first sunset in the San Luis Obispo area. This was one of the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen. Minutes before, it was a relatively cloudy evening with mediocre color. Quickly, the sky lit up with beautiful blues, pinks, and oranges. It’s a sunset I won’t forget.
The images are captured with a Canon 5D Mark IV along with a 16-35mm lens. The photographs were edited using a combination of Adobe Lightroom, Nik Color Efex Pro, and OnOne Photo Raw 2017.
Understanding ISO
The final piece of the photographic triangle is ISO. ISO refers to how sensitive the camera’s sensor is to entering light. Creative, interesting photographs are a result of the careful combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Understanding ISO
The final piece of the photographic triangle is ISO. ISO refers to how sensitive the camera’s sensor is to entering light. Creative, interesting photographs are a result of the careful combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Generally, the ISO settings will range from ISO 100 to ISO 6400. As digital cameras have continued to advance, higher level models may offer ISOs as low as ISO 50 and upwards of ISO 12800. A lower ISO means that the camera’s sensor is less sensitive to light, while higher ISOs results in a sensor that is more sensitive to the light.
Increasing the ISO causes a faster shutter speed, while decreasing the ISO will lengthen the shutter speed. For example, if you photographed a flower at f/4.0, ISO 100, at 1/250 sec. and then increased the ISO to ISO 200 without altering any other settings, the shutter speed would decrease to 1/500 sec.
How to Use ISO
For the most part, try to use the lowest ISO whenever possible. Increasing the ISO results in more noise in the image which can be distracting and unflattering. Unless you’re attempting to create a specific look, you will generally want to keep the ISO as low as possible. With that said, don’t be afraid to crank up the ISO if you are in a low light situation where you need the faster shutter speed. You would much rather have noisy photos than blurry photos. Likewise, underexposing a photo to get a faster shutter speed as opposed to properly exposing the photo and increasing the ISO actually makes the noise in the image worse, since noise is most abundant in a photo’s shadow areas.
In this particular image, I was forced to increase the ISO to a relatively high ISO 3200. This enabled me to capture the player during his warmup at a shutter speed of 1/250 sec (aperture f/2.8). Here, the noise actually adds a bit of mood to the photo and isn’t all that noticeable unless you fixate on it.
Low ISOs and Long Exposure Photography
Low ISOs can be used to your advantage when capturing a long exposure photo. Since lower ISOs will result in a longer shutter speed, they are a great tool for long exposure photography. They will help increase the shutter speed allowing the desired level of blur, while also ensuring very little noise in the picture. Noise is more prominent at longer shutter speeds so this helps to further combat that.
In this photograph, an aperture of f/16 along with the minimum ISO 100 led to a relatively long shutter speed of 10.0 seconds which resulted in an adequate level of blur in the middle ground of the picture and the passing clouds.
Closing Thoughts
As a general rule, use the lowest possible ISO, but remember that aperture and shutter speed should be considered first as they offer a wider range of creativity. Finally, don’t get too caught up in minimizing noise because the vast majority of the people that view your image won’t notice it.