It is all about the light

Sometimes a photograph becomes so abstract that it is no longer a representation of reality. I took this black and white, high key picture during a camping trip at Patrick’s Point State Park, September 2019. The park, located 25 miles north of Eureka, has many sweeping views of the ocean, from cliffs and beaches. The weather was mostly rainy, overcast, and foggy, typical of the region.

Unlike the ocean photos in my previous posts (Beyond Fort Ross, My Mood of the Ocean and The Face of the Ocean), where I emphasized dark areas in conjunction with smaller bright areas to achieve a “dark and moody” feeling, the image above  has a “bright and airy” look with a preponderance of paler tones. These types of images, to me, are dreamy, soothing, and have the lightness of unreality.

The two types of images mentioned above are best taken under different conditions: generally, dark and moody require a contrasty scene to start with, whereas bright and airy are easier to take under very diffuse light and low natural contrast.

Location: Patrick’s Point State Park, CA, USA

Equipment: Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm F2.8, tripod, lee filters (polarizer, 6 stops, blue filter).

Settings: 50 mm, f/14, 30”, ISO 100

Tips: Southern and central Californians be aware, it rains there! Little to no cell phone reception on the coast. Use a remote trigger, experiment with very long exposures for this look (25″ and up). In post, played the the blue slider in Photoshop to lighten the blues and slightly overexposed the image.