China Beach, San Francisco, California

davidryan

Wanted to share a shot taken at sunset from China Beach in San Fran...hope you like it.

gus

I do like it. What a great bridge to live near & get the opportunity to photograph it as often as you like. I started walking across it last time i was there...man it was like the scene from monty python where the king & the bloke with the coconuts could never get to the end of the road...it just got further away from me the closer i got onto it. Its a ridiculously massive structure. All the more reason to spend time with it.

schmoo

gus wrote:

I do like it. What a great bridge to live near & get the opportunity to photograph it as often as you like. I started walking across it last time i was there...man it was like the scene from monty python where the king & the bloke with the coconuts could never get to the end of the road...it just got further away from me the closer i got onto it. Its a ridiculously massive structure. All the more reason to spend time with it.

That's one way to look at it!

I haven't been to this beach yet but it looks fine. I like the way the long exposire makes the waves look like clouds. The Bay is a great place to be and photograph, so thanks for sharing!

a110p0

I like it!
Very nice shot. I love the colors, and the long exposure effect.
The composition is very nice as well. I like the way the rocks lead
me into the shot all the way to the bridge.

Well done.

Alvin

davidryan

gus wrote:

I do like it. What a great bridge to live near & get the opportunity to photograph it as often as you like. I started walking across it last time i was there...man it was like the scene from monty python where the king & the bloke with the coconuts could never get to the end of the road...it just got further away from me the closer i got onto it. Its a ridiculously massive structure. All the more reason to spend time with it.

Thanks for the compliments, Gus.

I don't actually live in San Fran-- though it'd be nice, I'm sure. I was actually there at China Beach doing a photoshoot for a family that had lived in the area for several years (the husband was in medical school at Stanford) and now they're headed to Boston-- so they wanted one last family photo and chose China Beach, which I never heard of until then!

davidryan

schmoo wrote:

That's one way to look at it!

I haven't been to this beach yet but it looks fine. I like the way the long exposire makes the waves look like clouds. The Bay is a great place to be and photograph, so thanks for sharing!

Thanks Schmoo-- the exposure is actually a pseudo-HRD. Long explanation made short, I shot in raw and made the appropriate changes to get that wider range of ...erm... "dynamics." I had very little time to get the shot, the family was done (it was getting dark and the lil kids were huuungry!) and this is my last trip to San Fran for a while-- so I had to capture what I could.

I always wanted to do an HDR and so this was my first attempt, even though I didn't do it the proper way of taking several unique exposures. I like how it turned out, though.

davidryan

a110p0 wrote:

Very nice shot. I love the colors, and the long exposure effect.
The composition is very nice as well. I like the way the rocks lead
me into the shot all the way to the bridge.

Well done.

Alvin

Thanks Alvin! You know, the composition was intended...to a point... but there was this strange man wondering about the beach who had approached the wife/mom of the family that I just finished with and he totally broke through her comfort zone by getting way too close, and quickly. Upon seeing this and seeing that her husband had his hands full with the kids (and did not know of the situation), this shot was done, quickly, before I stepped in. I had actually clicked off the remote trigger and went to help before the exposure was even done.

I think the man wasn't right in the head. I don't think he meant any harm but my client was VERY uncomfortable.

I enjoy providing photography AND bodyguarding services, sometimes at the same time.

eoren1

Very nice shot Ryan.
This has that 'photomatix' feel to it but is very well done without the halos that can pop up. Great composition and use of a long exposure.
E

davidryan

eoren1 wrote:

Very nice shot Ryan.
This has that 'photomatix' feel to it but is very well done without the halos that can pop up. Great composition and use of a long exposure.
E

Thanks E-- and yes it was sent through photomatix. I'm not skilled or experienced in the ways of HDRs but have always liked them-- mostly because scenes like this one exist (well, not the foggy-looking water perse) but the lighting in this situation was difficult and quickly changing. Standing on the beach, this is how it looked-- but no exposure-- over or under-- would get that feel. But now I have it