Sunset - King Tide at Half Moon Bay (Part 5)

Several times a year, Half Moon Bay in California has it's mega low tide day. During the mega low tide, the ocean will retreats for a few miles, and land that is usually 5-10 feet under water becomes exposed. On 11-27-2011, it was one of the days. In following days, I will be showing you photos I've taken. Please come back and look!

Part: Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Today I will mainly be focusing on landscapes. And as a special treat, a preview of some of the sunset photos I will be showing tomorrow. :) I hope you enjoy viewing these shots! Please leave comments! Also please don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook! I added a button to the top of the right-hand sidebar. That way I can notify you whenever more photos are posted. Thanks!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos from this event, use this link. To see all of the photos from this event, use this link. To see my best sunset and night photography shots, use this link.

I decided to post the sunset preview first. Tomorrow I got like 8 more sunset photos. :) So for this picture, just the right amount of orange and blue right?

I hope you enjoy viewing these shots. The land I was standing on is usually underwater, an angle like this is very rare!

Photography Tip: For my sunset photos I post today, I shot them in RAW mode. The key to a good sunset photo is all in the exposure. Low exposure is key to sunsets, but usually when you do sunsets, capturing the moment is the key too, so you don't have much time to mess with the exposure settings to get it "right". Taking the photos in RAW keeps the exposure settings unlocked, this way you can adjust it to a setting you like later on a computer. By shooting in RAW you will always have a good looking sunset. :) The same applies for sunrises.

A photo of kelp. Did not turn out as good as I though.

Was testing out how macro works on my new EOS 7D. Not bad right? LOL

Another landscape shot. See all that kelp? See the rocks in the far back? That is usually underwater, but it was all exposed during the low tide. If Half Moon Bay ever have a low tide like this again, I would recommend you go. They are pretty rare! Only a few times a year.

So many people right? LOL So much kelp too.

More landscape shots.

This island rock thingy. I'm guessing the rock is usually underwater considering how there is kelp growing on there.

Those are mussels on the ground! Lot's of them. And like I said before, they are edible. XD I think I know why I saw so many star fishes there. They got enough food. ROFL

A landscape shot taken after sunset. See the red at the horizon? Beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed viewing today's post! Tomorrow will be the last post on Half Moon Bay, and it will be all sunsets! I hope this has been an experience for all of you as it was to me. Thanks for your time, please share with your friends! Don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook!

Part: Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

King Tide at Half Moon Bay (Part 3)

Several times a year, Half Moon Bay in California has it's mega low tide day. During the mega low tide, the ocean will retreats for a few miles, and land that is usually 5-10 feet under water becomes exposed. On 11-27-2011, it was one of the days. In following days, I will be showing you photos I've taken. Please come back and look!

Part: Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Today, I will be focusing on the more small stuff that was there. This includes anemones, mussels, starfish, and kelp. Most of them are macros. Hope you enjoy viewing them! Usually these things are not visible. I did not use Photoshop to touch up any photos here. I tried to use it to remove the glare from the water, but wasn't too sure how. So yeah, these are original. First off, I got a few pictures of a starfish.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos from this event, use this link. To see all of the photos from this event, use this link. To see my best wildlife photos, use this link.

Photography Tip: So you see the glare from the water in the image? That can be gotten rid of with a polarizing filter. Polarizing filters help filter light coming in from different angles, which helps get rid of reflections from water, deepen the color of blue skies, and help saturate colors. Polarizing filters are great for taking photos of things underwater (while your above water), and for landscape shots. It is a very handy tool to keep in hand, but shouldn't be kept on your lens at all times. A professional photographer always keeps a number of filters on hand for different effects. The effects can be mimicked in Photoshop, but it's not as good as the real thing.

A purple starfish.

Another close shot. :)

A sea anemone closing up. They close up if you touch them.

Hm... Wonder how the sea snail got there.

There were lot's of anemones in the tide pools. It was really cool.

More anemones and kelp.

Close up shot of the kelp. Don't they look like mini palm trees? LOL

Lot's of mussels. They were further off sure than the anemones and stuff. Oh yeah, they are edible. LOL Ate them before... Collected a few while fishing at Half Moon Bay last time. :P They are really good.

There are more mussel patches at Half Moon Bay, you probably have to go during low tide. The ones at this State beach can't be collected, but you can look elsewhere. I ate them before. LOL

Close up of the mussels. Some of them were really big.

Another close up shot.

Tomorrow I got landscape pictures and pictures of birds. Also this group of Occupy Wall Street protestors I saw on the way there. HAHA Come back and see! The landscapes are great!

Part: Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

I'm guessing these are mussels.

I'm guessing these are mussels. There sure are a lot of them. :D I wonder if they taste any good... LOL
很多贝壳，不知道它们好不好吃。。。 哈哈！

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing here. Best wildlife photos here.

I think this picture was taken at a pretty popular fishing spot in Half Moon Bay, CA, United States of America

Next time, if you go fishing, make sure you check out your surroundings too. You never know where you may find something interesting. Surprisingly, I thought I was walking on rocks until I looked down. :)