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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Twilight at Morro Rock


Back in February, I made a quick overnight trip to visit the Coast Guard Station in Morro Bay, CA. That evening, I walked down from my hotel to the boardwalk that lines the waterfront hoping to take a few pictures. It was a chilly evening, with the wind blowing so hard it was shaking the boardwalk structure I was standing on. There was a mild cold front passing through, with some good clouds rolling in from the sea. Morro Rock, an iconic geological structure that dominates the local landscape sits at the tideline between the harbor and the open sea. This is the first of three posts which shows twilight turning into night. I used my Canon 10D with a tripod and the Tokina 12-24mm wide angle lens, set to 14mm. The first picture was taken at F 6.7, ISO 100, 3/10 sec exposure. I enjoy taking pictures where the clouds add a lot of character to the photo. Most landscape photographers prefer skys with interesting clouds to a clear blue sky, and I tend to agree. Some will go as far as to combine photos using image editing to add clouds from another photo to a landscape photo that has none. I prefer to stay with the original scene as photographed, which is why often timing is everything in catching those favorite shots.

Twilight at Morro Rock - Part II


Taken with Canon 128-135 mm lens at 28mm, F.5.6, ISO 100, 1.5 seconds exposure. A slightly closer view of Morro Rock framed by twilight clouds.

Twilight at Morro Rock - Part III


Taken at 14mm, F 4.5, ISO 100, 30 sec exposure. The 30 second timed exposure of this shot allowed the camera to capture the blur of the clouds moving in, as well as the rocking of boats anchored out in the harbor. All three of these photos were taken within twenty minutes of each other between 5:05 PM and 5:25 PM, as you can see the light changed quickly.