After teaching my seminar in Sacramento, I decided to stay an extra couple of days and take a drive to San Francisco and eventually made my way down the coast. For the past 3 years I’ve been trying to photograph the Big Sur coast and have had absolutely no luck. Every time I get there it’s covered in fog. Well, Mother Nature having the humorous side that she does, this time was no different. It was looking good for a while but as it got closer to sunset, the fog set in.
Luckily, I was in a good place, at Pfiefer Beach, trying to catch a shot of the sea arch there. Around this time of year, the sun is in the right location that it sets directly behind the arch. You can get some pretty cool light coming through the arch if you’re there at the right time. Well, I was there at the right time, but it wasn’t happening today. No sun whatsoever 🙂 But it wasn’t a total bust. At least the fog subsided long enough for me to grab a few photos and I thought this one looked good as a black and white. I processed it with onOne’s Perfect Black and White plug-in, and I’m actually really happy with it. I think the rock looks much better as a B&W then it did color. It just tends to show the details and overall tones better this way.
(click to see the photo larger)
Wish me luck today as I try to get some more photos of the elusive coastline (at least elusive to me) 😉
Have a good one!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Found your blog and I am hooked! My husband bought me LR4 for Christmas, hands down best software I have touched recently….love love love!!
Hey Matt – seems like you are using OnOne products more instead of Nik. Different tools or just liking OnOnes latest offerings better?
Just digging their stuff better. I’ve got the suite and it’s nice to have everything all in one place. 🙂
Nice images Matt, glad you’re taking some time to explore the CA Coast.
Open ended offer…
Spring and early summer is a great time to visit NorCal interior. Snowshoeing and snow camping on Mt. Lassen in the spring. Wildflowers and waterfalls on Table Mountain in the spring.
When the snow clears on Lassen around July, Bumpass Hell is like traveling to another planet. Wifey and I can get you to all these places, we have all the camping gear when needed and photos from these locations.
I was gonna ask you at Sac… I have the D800E and have been shooting a lot of my everyday photography in Dx mode, I mean 17mp is better than the D700 I used for everyday photos as well as paying gigs. …thoughts?
Had a great time at your seminar, I’ve implemented the maps in my workflow. I think the biggest thing I learned from you was how to be a better instructor for my photo mentees and NorCal PPA seminars. Most of the other LR stuff I’ve learned from you guys at Kelby over the years.
DC
Really nice shot.
Hi Matt,
I agree, that sometime B&W really adds some drama and detail to photo like this one! Beautiful job! Yep CA can be a bad place in the winter months with the on shore flow this time of year. It generally starts coming in around 3:30 pm unfortunately. Good luck today and safe travels back to FL.
Dennis
Hey Dennis – I have many tell me this is the best time of year to come for photography. Unfortunately every time I post that I was here and that I had foggy weather some one writes in and tells me that I was there during the wrong time of year 😉
So basically what I’m finding is that it’s like this all year around at some time or another 🙂
Great shot Matt. I love the tones and detail in the rocks and the water crashing through the “door.”
Oh, btw there’s some “gunk” in the top left of the frame you might want to clean up in Lightroom. I miss cleaning up ugly dust spots sometimes myself until looking at it full screen :).
Thanks. Thought I got rid of it, but it looks like I only did it on the color version 🙂
Nice click Matt. I read your blog every morning as I’m sitting at my desk at my day job having my coffee. I love you posts. Thanks.
How odd, Matt. I drove the entire PCH from Morro Bay to S.F. LOOKING for fog and saw none that I could photograph. Had a beautiful drive though, seeing elephant seals, flowers, and a cyclist that was peddling from Canada to Mexico, and he was from Britain!
I took your LR4 class in Kansas City, and your advice about OnOne’s Perfect Photo Suite 7. Totally rocks!
Just follow me if you’re looking for fog. I have no problem finding it. Actually this morning at sunrise it was “good” fog so I was happy to see it. Let’s hope it goes away for sunset though 🙂
Great shot if the arch Matt. I was fortunate enough in January to catch the sun coming through the arch. It was quite amazing. Wish I could have attended your workshop but had already planned to take a few days off and do some shooting in Yosemite. Hope you are enjoying your California trip!
Laura Smith