California Memories

Searching For Lost Gold

In the spring of 2007, I made three trips to the California coast to take photos with a large-format film camera that I had recently purchased. It was an adventurous undertaking. I was still learning how to use the camera which typically took several minutes to set up and focus. This built-in delay required me to think ahead and visualize what the light was about to do. This was particularly tricky at or near sunrise and sunset when lighting conditions change quickly.

Point Sur Lightstation In Morning Light - California, 2007

The trip presented a number of challenges, like spending time each day loading and unload film holders, managing and labeling boxes of exposed sheet film, and lugging some heavy bags along narrow, hilly trails.

Along the way, I managed to capture some keepers. I also made a lot of mistakes, often in terms of exposure. The camera was fully manual. I had to meter the scenes with a handheld spot meter, and admittedly this was not a skill that I had practiced enough prior to hitting the road.

Sunset With Flowers From Point Reyes - California, 2007

I had a digital camera with me, as well. My plan was to use the digital camera to grab quick shots and research compositions, and to use the film camera to capture the best shots. That worked to a degree, but I had overlooked a couple of important factors.

First, images captured on film have to be scanned into digital form in order to be used the way we use images today, i.e. sharing them on blogs and posting them to online galleries. Quality scanning is a laborious effort if you do it yourself, and it's expensive to have it done by professional services. For that reason, most of my film photos live in a box. I take them out occasionally when I'm feeling nostalgic, but I'm not going to invest in scanning most of them.

Second, the quality of digital cameras even in those days was quite good. Further, software has gotten more powerful. I'm able to resize 10 megapixel images to the point where they look like they came from a 40 megapixel camera. That's plenty of resolution to make large prints and even do creative cropping.

I've been through those digital images recently to see what gems I may have overlooked or forgotten. The quality varies - sometimes, camera shake was an issue. It's windy on the coast - but I'm happy to report that I've been finding some pleasant surprises among them, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other treasures I may discover.

Camera:    Nikon D200

Lens:        Nikon AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2023 Daniel R. South
www.dansouthphoto.com
All Rights Reserved

California Sunset

Path To The Waves

I took this shot from a trail that led down a steep incline toward the water. There aren't many places in the Big Sur area where you can get close to the ocean. A lot of the coastline is on private property, and trespassing is strongly discouraged.

I was delighted to find a trail that went down so far. I hadn't explored this spot before, and I wanted to see what was visible as I got close to the edge. I wasn't looking forward to climbing back up to my car in darkness, but I didn't have to worry about that yet.

I discovered that the view at the edge of the water wasn't particularly spectacular. The vantage point was too low. I climbed back up the hill a little way until I reached this position and took shots in different directions.

This was the most dramatic view, but it was a complicated shot to capture. Setting a tripod up on a steep incline is always a challenge. There was a lot of vegetation, so there wasn't a lot of firm ground where I could place the tripod legs. On top of that, the wind was strong and getting rather chilly. I didn't have a good place to stand, so I had to bend my body in strange ways to compose and focus the shot. My feet got sore from clinging to the sloping path while recording long exposures.

Was it worth it in the end? I'll let you be the judge. It was an experience. Thankfully, the climb back up to the roadway wasn't as bad as I expected.

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lenses:     GF 120mm f/4

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2022 Daniel R. South
www.dansouthphoto.com
All Rights Reserved

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Visiting A Friend On The Coast

I have spent a lot of time photographing Pigeon Point Lighthouse over the years. I've learned a lot about photography on my visits to this iconic tower, about light and composition, about weather and focus, about attaining critical focus in a variety of conditions.

Anytime I plan a trip to this section of the California coast, I make sure to stop by and spend a little time with my old friend.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse With Spring Flowers

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lenses:     GF 45mm f/2.8 (photos 1 and 3)

                GF 80mm f/1.7 (photo 2)

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2022 Daniel R. South
www.dansouthphoto.com
All Rights Reserved

Remembering Galen Rowell

Discovering The Possibilities

I had a casual interest in photography as a young adult. When I was growing up, my family had a black and white television. I got my most vivid view of the world through photographs published in magazines.

Cameras fascinated me. I was always a fan of gadgets, and cameras seemed like marvels of precision and craftsmanship. They also had the almost magical power to capture moments for later review. I dreamt of buying a nice camera one day and using it to take pictures of seashores, sunsets, and lighthouses. I subscribed to photography magazines and read them eagerly each month.

But the dream had to wait. I didn't have the expertise or the financial resources to pursue photography seriously. The camera ads in the magazines were more confusing than helpful. The myriad of choices seemed overwhelming.

I took snapshots with point and shoot camera. I recorded family events and short trips, and dropped the film off at the drugstore to be processed. The prints were reminders of places and events, but with rare exceptions, there weren't artistically impressive.

Pfeiffer Beach Sunset - Big Sur, California

One day, while visiting a museum, I happened upon an exhibition of photographs from the Tongas, a rain forest in Alaska's panhandle. It was a surprisingly moving experience. The photos were beautifully colored and highly detailed. It was hard to imagine that such images actually came out of a camera.

The photographer was the late Galen Rowell. Rowell was a seasoned climber and wilderness enthusiast. He traveled the world capturing images of remote and surprising places for National Geographic and similar magazines.

These were impressive locales, but the magic of Rowell's photos was in their vivid colors, stunning detail, and surprising juxtapositions, like dramatic skies and rugged foregrounds. Rowell liked photographing in what he called "last light," a post-sunset glow of dim but saturated colors.

I found these qualities fascinating. I was immediately obsessed with this style of photography. I wanted to figure out how he had captured these breathtaking images and hoped that one day I would be able to make photographs of my own using a similar approach.

I drove to my local Borders, bought a few books about photography, and started studying. I bought a reasonably priced Nikon with a serviceable zoom lens, along with twenty rolls of the film that Galen preferred, and I got to work. Every week, I was shooting, experimenting, making mistakes, trying again, and learning all the time.

Sadly, I never had the chance to meet Mr. Rowell. He died in a plane crash on August 11, 2002. That was twenty years ago as of the writing of this post. Coincidentally, I am now the age that Rowell was when he passed away.

Inspiration is one of the most wonderful things that can happen to a human being. A magical moment can change the trajectory of our lives, taking us in directions that we never thought possible, leading us to places and experiences that we could never have imagined.

The Tongas exhibition set my photographic journey into motion. Seeing Galen Rowell's dramatic images printed in all of their finely-detailed glory was more than an inspiration. It was an awakening. It introduced me to possibilities in image making that I would never have imagined possible and to a fascination with the art of photography.

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lens:         GF 30mm f/3.5

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2022 Daniel R. South
www.dansouthphoto.com
All Rights Reserved

Big Sur Coast At Sunset

Last Light At Land's End

Big Sur Coast At Sunset

Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2020 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

November Morning on the Big Sur Coast

Adventures In Black And White


I had intended to take some black and white seascape photos on my recent trip to California. Actually, I had been planning this for about two years. 

While I was out there, someone nominated me for the "7 days, no explanations" fad. So, in addition to these shots crafted meticulously with camera, tripod, and special long-exposure filters, I had fun taking some quick snaps with my iPhone.

It's funny how things work out. Fortunately, people seem to be enjoying all of the shots, even the ones from my phone. 


Camera:    Sony a7R II
Lens:        Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2017 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Sunset Over Point Lobos - Carmel, California

Coast Highway Detour

In May of 2017, a massive landslide destroyed a significant portion of California's coastal highway south of Big Sur. Six months later, the roadway is still closed and may remain closed for another year. Motorists are forced to follow a very long detour along an inland route.

I arrived in Carmel later than expected due to delays incurred along this detour. Desperate to grab a shot of something (anything) before the last light faded, I parked by the outlet of the Carmel River, grabbed my camera, and pushed through a thicket of poison oak to find a vantage point on the beach.

I set my tripod up as quickly as I could and composed a frame with the line of the beach running through the foreground. I focused on the distant trees, locked it in, and bracketed a few exposures before the light disappeared.

Sunset Over Point Lobos - Carmel, California

It's amazing how often you have to scramble like mad in order to capture a landscape photo. The landscape doesn't move around, but the light can change rapidly. Miss that light by a few seconds, and you'll lose your chance completely.


Camera:    Sony A7R II
Lens:        Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2017 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Desert Highway - Death Valley

Converging Lines and Calculated Risks

I made my first trip to Death Valley on a clear day in June when the temperature hit 122 F. I had recently become a photography enthusiast and wanted to capture some images of this majestic wilderness. 

In extreme temperatures, however, one shouldn't venture too far from the car. I made an attempt to hike to the Mesquite dunes but turned back quickly due to concerns over dehydration and heat exhaustion. For the rest of the day, I stayed close to the car.

I exposed the most memorable image of the day as sunset approached. I pulled the car off to the side of a stretch of roadway that had been freshly paved with deep black asphalt and painted with bright yellow lines. I mounted a 24mm lens on my trust Nikon F100 - yes, a film camera - and had my travel companion watch for cars approaching from behind me.

Of the handful of shots that I snapped, one of them turned out particularly well. I had several copies of it printed; a few of my friends still have that image hanging in their homes.

Returning to Death Valley some years later, I wanted to capture a similar image with the help of a tilt-shift lens. The tilt feature on this special-purpose lens enables focus to be repositioned from a vertical plane (typical for most cameras) to a ground-hugging plane that extends infinitely off into the distance. When the lens is adjusted correctly - which is a bit tricky - focus will be sharp on both the foreground features in the frame (e.g. the yellow lines and pavement near my feet) and distant objects as well (mountains, sky, brush, distant lines on the roadway). 

The stretch of highway that I had photographed years earlier was now gray and worn, but I found another location that appealed to my eyes. The surface was in good condition, it had been painted recently, and it stretched straight off into the distance where the last light of sunset was still visible. 

I was set except for one major complication. On this trip, I didn't have a travel companion. I had to rely on my ears and frequent glances behind me to keep from getting run over while focusing my camera in the middle of a highway. (Luckily, no one was drag racing through the valley that evening.)

As I mentioned before, focusing a tilt-shift lens can be tricky, and it becomes increasingly more difficult as the light fades. It's a manual process, but you have to focus for the near and far objects separately. By adding a small amount of tilt, typically only a degree or two, you can reach a point where both near and far objects are sharp. It's very each to add too much tilt, however, which messes everything up.

The process typically takes a few minutes even for skilled photographers - and even when you're not in mortal danger of being struck by a fast-moving automobile. Luckily, I had a lot of experience with my tilt-shift setup, so I was able to acquire the proper focus fairly quickly - while looking over my shoulder every ten seconds or so. 

Please don't attempt a shot like this without spotters. Even if you have someone - hopefully more than one person - watching your back, this kind of shot is risky to say the least. Just because I got away with it doesn't mean that it was a good idea. 

You'll think about it. It's tempting. My advice is to think about the future as you relax and enjoy the sunset a safe distance from traffic.


Camera:    Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:        Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2017 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

McWay Waterfall - Big Sur California

Sea of Tranquility

Add the McWay Waterfall in Big Sur California to your list of places to visit. It's heavenly - so tranquil, so inspiring, so breathtakingly beautiful. See it once, and you'll never be the same.

McWay Waterfall - Big Sur Coast

Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2017 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Springtime on the California Coast

Season of Renewal

I have spent a lot of time photographing the California Coast over the years. I have countless happy memories from those adventures, everything from the sights that I have seen and the images that I captured, to the restaurants where I stopped for lunch. Every detail mattered. Every experience was meaningful. 

Each year about this time, I feel a longing to return, not just to take more pictures, but to experience the beauty of California first hand, to renew mind, body, and spirit in this magical, incomparable part of the world.

Springtime on the California Coast

The photograph above was taken at sunrise. It might appear to be a sunset, since the color in the western sky. But that's the amazing thing about the Pacific Coast. The skies are unpredictable and dynamic. The color of a sunrise or a sunset can appear in any direction. It keeps you on your toes. If you're not in tune with what's happening in the moment, you'll miss an opportunity like this one. Be in tune with the moment is critical not only to getting the shot, but to making the most of or your California adventures.


Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5 ED Tilt/Shift

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2017 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

McWay Waterfall in Black and White

Sea Of Tranquility

McWay Waterfall - Pacific Coast

McWay Waterfall in Black and White

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur, California


Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2016 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Sunset Over Point Sur

The Race For Peak Light

A friend suggested that the Earth Color Magic blog shouldn't wrap up its year with a black and white photo. I realized that he had a point. So here, for my color appreciating friends, is one last entry for what has been a fulfilling and enjoyable 2015.

People sometimes find this hard to believe, but landscape photography is a fast paced activity. Subjects like mountains and coastlines don't move around, but the light and the atmosphere change constantly. It's not unusual to have to work fast to get the shots that you want.

The best color of a sunset, for instance, rarely lasts for more than a couple of minutes. In order to capture peak moments, the photographer needs to interpret changing conditions, get his gear into position, compose, focus, and execute the exposure quickly and accurately.

Sunset Over the Lighthouse at Point Sur

I was photographing a line of trees about a mile from the lighthouse when I realized that a terrific sunset was about to reveal itself. I grabbed my gear, jumped in the car, and drove up the road for a more promising shooting location - being mindful of traffic, of course!

The Lighthouse at Point Sur is one of my favorite West Coast subjects. It sits atop a massive rock that juts out into the relentless surf of the Pacific Ocean.

I set up the camera again in a spot where I could silhouette the lighthouse against the most colorful part of the sky. I pulled out a couple of my best lenses and raced to get as many shots as I could. 

This was one of my favorites. It reminds me of the great fun that I have had over the years chasing fantastic light along this magical stretch of the California coastline. 



Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2015 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Along The Road

Unexpected Opportunities

National parks, thriving cities, architectural marvels. We love to visit these visually remarkable places. They offer extensive photographic opportunities. If we travel to Grand Canyon or Yosemite, Paris or San Francisco, Alaska or the Serengeti, we expect to come home with a gallery of amazing images.

But we live on a big, beautiful planet. Celebrated destinations don't hold a monopoly on scenic wonders. 

Breathtaking vistas are everywhere. We might notice something extraordinary when we're simply driving down the road.  

Along The Road - Eastern Sierra Region

When we see a beautiful view as we drive along the road, it's natural to want to pull over and take a photo. Just be careful. Safety is always the first priority. No photograph is worth risking serious injury. 

Never put yourself or your family in danger by diverting attention from your driving, or by parking in or shooting from a dangerous location.

But when it is feasible to stop your car safely, to park it in a location where other drivers aren't likely to collide with it, and to operate your camera safely away from hazards such as traffic and cliffs, you might just capture a roadside vista to remember.

Your "along the road" photos offer two distinct advantages over the oft-photographed view of big cities and national parks. 

Firstly, your photos will be more distinctive and personal. Rather than photographing the same scenes that everyone else has snapped (and published), you are creating a portfolio that reflects your own personality and tastes.

Secondly, you stand a better chance of optimizing the quality of light. Keep watching. When the light hints that it might take on a magical quality, you can shoot in that moment, in the place where you are, rather than racing to some pre-decided destination.

Will the photos work out every time? No, of course not. Some locations might be obscured by power lines or other features that you can't control. Or when the light looks interesting, you might find yourself in a place where it's too dangerous to park. 

Don't worry about missed opportunities. There are lots of frustrating days in the life of a photographer. The important thing is to keep yourself open to possibilities no matter where you are. Over time, you'll get better at recognizing those opportunities, at capturing the magic wherever you happen to be.




Camera:    Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:        Canon TS-E24mm f/3.5L II 

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2015 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved