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

Heceta Head Lighthouse In Fog

A Beacon Of Hope

We have reached the end of another year. I hope that you made many happy memories and took lots and lots and lots of photograph along the way.

Wishing you joy, success, good health, deep passion, and the fulfillment of your dreams in 2023!

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lenses:     GF 45mm f/2.8

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

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

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock At Dusk

Wonders of the Pacific Northwest

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lenses:     GF 45mm f/2.8

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2022 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

Autumn In Central Park - The Bow Bridge

New York's Romantic Treasure

Camera:    Fujifilm GFX 100S

Lenses:     GF 30mm f/3.5

                GF 23mm f/4

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2021 Daniel R. South
www.dansouthphoto.com
All Rights Reserved

Sunlit Lawn - Central Park

On A Clear Day

New York's Central Park is a busy place. This lawn is typically full of people, hundreds of people who come here to read, sunbathe, toss footballs and Frisbees, or just to enjoy some fresh air while spending time with friends.

On this day, too, the people where there. They were behind me, crammed onto smaller patches of grass. The park was not nearly as peaceful as it seems in the photo.

Nevertheless, and to my great delight, this popular meadow was closed. I'm not sure why; I didn't take time to read the sign. I saw the opportunity to take a very special photo of a park without people, and I got to work on that. 

The weather was perfectly clear. The grass was an amazing rich green for late in the season. And that streak of sunlight channeling through the buildings, that was just pure magic.

This is my favorite photo of the year.

Sunlit Meadow - Central Park

Camera:    Sony a7R IV

Lens:        Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2020 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

Twilight Tranquility

Last Light On Florida's Gulf Coast

Twilight Tranquility

Camera:    Sony a7R III
Lens:        Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2018 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Florida Fishing Pier In Black and White

Mood And Motion

Florida Fishing Pier in Black and White

The black and white rendering brings out the drama of the clouds and the waves as a storm brews over the Gulf of Mexico.


Camera:    Sony a7R III
Lens:        Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM

Black and White conversion in Adobe Lightroom

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2018 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