Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz, CA.

PrevailingConditions

While I work in Silicon Valley, I love getting down to Santa Cruz whenever possible. Here are a few that I took last year and I would love to hear what you think.

Best,

Mike

#1


#2


#3


#4

frigidlight

These are great! I love the reflection in #1, especially how crisp it is in the water. Almost like a mirror. #2 seems a tad dark, but that sky is CRAZY. The person seems a little out of place in #3. He/she is kinda this blurry dark spot amidst a sharp, colorful landscape. And in #4, the HDR is either really good or overdone, depending on the viewpoint. It's a very visually striking picture, but the HDR kinda makes me question the scale and what I'm actually looking at.

kevincaophotography

Wow! Great shots. #4 is award-winning in my opinion. Mind if I ask what lens you used?

PrevailingConditions

frigidlight wrote: »

These are great! I love the reflection in #1, especially how crisp it is in the water. Almost like a mirror. #2 seems a tad dark, but that sky is CRAZY. The person seems a little out of place in #3. He/she is kinda this blurry dark spot amidst a sharp, colorful landscape. And in #4, the HDR is either really good or overdone, depending on the viewpoint. It's a very visually striking picture, but the HDR kinda makes me question the scale and what I'm actually looking at.

Thanks for commenting. I almost didn't post #2 because it was dark, but did because I liked the sky.

In 3, it's a surfer that's jumping into the surf. I was set up waiting for the light and this guy came up and jumped into the waves. I have some without, but I thought he added an interesting element.

4 isn't HDR at all. It's more a combination of light painting and photoshop. It's a fairly long exposure and I was shining a powerful flashlight while the shutter was open. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, so I beat on it in PS.

Thanks again,

Mike

PrevailingConditions

kevincaophotography wrote: »

Wow! Great shots. #4 is award-winning in my opinion. Mind if I ask what lens you used?

Thank you Kevin. It was shot with a Canon 10-22 at 10.

Mike

stirinthesauce

I agree on #4, fantastic!

TreyHoff

I like No. 4! The softness of the water at the base of the rock is very nice and the spacing of the 3 birds are an added benefit to the shot. I think I would like the photo better if the bottom was cropped out a bit up to the reflection....maybe for a 16x20 print?

rhituraj

#4 is great! liked #3 also