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Live Oak Silhouette

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 17:07 -0700

A lone California Live Oak silhouette with double starburst, black and white. I walked through lots of stickers to get in the right spot to get the sun starburst directly behind the oak’s tree trunk. I’ve never captured a double starburst like this before, but I really like what it adds to the silhouette, especially as a B&W photo (shooting at a small aperture like f/16 or f/22 is the best way to achieve this result). This particular live oaks was perfect for a silhouette photo with its distinct shape and balanced set of branches. I had originally envisioned a double silhouette with the oak that was next to this tree, but decided it was a bolder photo with the other live oak cropped out. This photo was taken in Concord, CA next to the California State University East Bay Concord Campus (CSUEB Concord Campus) which is a beautiful campus up on some hills. For a different kind of oak silhouette, check out my previously posted Golden California Live Oaks Silhouette photo. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Milky Way Joshua Tree Rock Arch

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 10:53 -0700

The Rock Arch in Joshua Tree provides a perfect foreground for milky way photography. This was my first attempt photographing stars in Joshua Tree (actually any night sky photography). The better part of the milky way was actually in the other part of the sky, but in order to make the composition work with the arch I had to shoot this direction. I’d like to come back in the summer to get a different part of the milky way into the photograph. Technical details: This photo was at 16mm on a full-frame Canon 5D Mk II (my widest lens, though I wish I could go wider), f/2.8 for 30 seconds at ISO 4000. No HDR here, but I did some curves and levels to increase the contrast in the sky to bring out the stars more. I light painted the foreground rocks with a flashlight - my hand blocking most of the light since it was too bright. With this type of shot, the basic goal is to get as much light captured without getting star trails. At 16mm this means not exposing longer than 30 seconds. Be sure to come at new moon if you want to shoot the milky way because otherwise you won’t see much since the sky will be too bright from the moon. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Rock Arch Joshua Tree Starburst

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 11:18 -0700

A really great destination in Joshua Tree National Park CA is this rock arch. It’s just a short walk to the arch from White Tank Campground site #9 in the center of Joshua Tree. The natural rock arch is easy to get to on a half mile hike. The solid granite arch is a perfect subject for taking photos, especially if you can get a nice starburst effect like this. It was tricky to get my camera + tripod setup in the perfect spot to photograph the sun peaking through the rock arch. The sun moves surprisingly fast in situations like this. An aperture of f/22 produced the nice star burst effect. I processed this as an HDR photo using HDR Efex Pro, cleaned it up in Photoshop, and used Color Efex Pro to add some more pop. You’ll want a wide angle lens to get a photo like this of the arch; I was at 16mm on my full-frame Canon 5D Mk II and I wished I could have been wider. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Golden California Live Oaks Silhouette

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 17:28 -0700

California Live Oaks silhouetted on a golden California hillside - this is one of the scenes that makes you realize why California is often referred to as the Golden State. I took this photo in Walnut Creek, CA, but this scene is common in much of the central coast of CA: golden hills rolling through the distance with random California live oak trees amongst grass and mustard plants. These two distinct live oaks stood out to me as awesome silhouette subjects when I saw them earlier in the day while visiting this area and I envisioned a photo similar to this. When I came back later at sunset, I was stoked to see that the scene I had pictured before was actually going to work out! This very often doesn’t happen, but in this case I was able to get a composition of the trees on the hillside in a way that worked well with the position of the sun. As the sun set, the golden light started pouring out to complete the scene. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Hobbit Hole, Hobbiton

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:25 -0700

This is one of the many Hobbit holes of Hobbiton, home of Tolkien's Hobbits (from Lord of the Rings) in New Zealand. I took this photo two days after they had finished filming scenes for The Hobbit film, so all the sets & props were still fresh. It felt as if the Hobbits had just left moments ago. Up until recently there was an embargo on all photos taken at the Hobbiton film set, but that has recently been lifted. I'm not entirely sure why it was lifted just now, but I'm not complaining. :) You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Laguna Beach Waterfall Seascape at Sunset

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:25 -0700

This is a sweet place at low tide because the waves create this waterfall down these partially submerged rocks. I found this place mostly by accident last Saturday night. This is Woods Cove in Laguna Beach, CA just off Diamond St. and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Don't miss the orange starfish on the rocks which seemed to be posing for me and makes this photo all the better, I think. Getting completely soaked and eating my Wahoo's dinner cold was my small sacrifice for getting this shot. I have no regrets. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

The UFO Has Landed - Singapore ArtScience Museum Reflection

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:31 -0700

Welcome. The UFO has landed. On the left is the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum in Singapore's Marina Bay. Its roof is retractable, providing a waterfall through the roof of collected rainwater when closed in the day. The reflection on the right is the Marina Bay Sands casino and hotel. Nearby Singapore photos you may be interested in: Rain Oculus inside Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Marina Bay at night You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Lago di Como Lake Shore Walking & Cycling Trail

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:09 -0700

Early morning light along Lake Como, Italy. There is a really nice walking / running / cycling trail along Lake Como starting at the town of Como which is the perfect place to be at sunrise. As you wander down it you find hidden coves and steps leading into the water, presumably so you can easily hop off your boat and go into town. More Lake Como photos: Lake Como Cafe at Night, Villa del Balbianello Villa, Storybook Land Villa, and Italian Man Drinking Espresso. You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Rain Oculus - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:25 -0700

This is the Rain Oculus inside Marina Bay Sands hotel & casino in Singapore. Periodically a torrent of water (6,000 gallons per minute) is released from the clear inverted dome 2 stories above which has an off-center hole which causes a huge swirling effect as the water drains out the bottom. This creates a huge waterfall from below. Basically it's like being underneath a clear, clean toilet bowl. In this photo you can see people enjoying Sampan Rides in Chinese wooden boats along the canals of the Marina Bay Sands around the Rain Oculus. Another interesting fact is that when you're above at the edge of the dome, it acts like an audio parabolic reflector so you can hear people whispering on the other side. Other Singapore photos you may be interested in: Singapore Marina Bay at night and Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.

Big Sur House on the Cliffs

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:30 -0700

Who wants to stay in this house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Big Sur? Or is it a hotel? I'm not really sure, but either way it has a great location with awesome views of Big Sur, CA. This is some of the most spectacular coastline of California. More Big Sur photos: Sea Arch at Pfeiffer Beach, Bixby Bridge from Above, and McWay Falls You can buy this photo here, with many options including standard prints, canvas gallery wraps, gift cards, mugs, T-shirts and much more.