Another classic California shot
This photo is from a day hike Meghan and I took along the Northern California coastline in Marin county a couple of years ago.
Previously, I had written about the California landscape though that shot was from an inland hike – surrounded by the dry scrub grass of the golden (brown) hills. This time, the classic California shot if one from the coast.
In this image, I like the clarity of the ocean (so often covered in fog, it’s nice to get clear days) though the fog is visible in the distance in the upper right and as it starts to mask some of the distant hills in the upper left.
Being such a bright day, I was able to keep the aperture closed down to f9 allowing detail all the way into the distance of the image. I had recently injured my ankle prior to this hike so I brought along my monopod to serve double duty as a walking stick, though for this shot I didn’t need it, being able to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/320th of a second.
The rock outcroppings create such a different environment than the West coast beaches that I grew up with though by now they’ve become quite familiar. It was these objects that I was most concerned with framing. That and the wave patterns along the beach were my main focus for determining when to fire the shutter.
Looking back at this photo now, one thing I would correct is the horizon line – it’s a bit off for sure. It’s funny but I find that most of my images tend to slant in the same direction. Apparently I stand a little crooked.
