Big Sur (HDR Scenery & Panorama)

I recently visited Monterey and went south a bit more also visiting Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos State Reserve, and Big Sur. This trip along California's beautiful coastline has lead me take many many beautiful photos! I am here to share them with you spread over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos!

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 view the best photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of the photos from this trip, use this link.

Before I get started, I would just like to remind you that I made a Facebook Fan page for this photography blog. You can "Like Us" here. I have also made Google+ and Twitter pages. If you follow or "Like" me on these, you can be updated whenever I post something new! :) Please invite your friends too! I'm trying to get more viewers on here. Anyways, as always, enjoy my photos!

Parts

Point Lobos: Birds and Seals | Squirrels | Flowers and Misc | HDR Scenery | Regular Scenery

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey, CA: George's Birds | Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse | Scenery | Birds/Misc | Seagulls

Carmel-By-The-Sea: Photos

Big Sur: HDR Scenery & Panorama | Regular Scenery

I have three HDR compositions and one panoramic photo from Big Sur today. Big Sur is located on the west coast of USA in California. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos. After this blog post, I will have one more post from this trip displaying the regular scenery photos I took. Please take note that you can click the photos to enlarge them. The panoramic photo has been compressed and resized for the purpose of displaying it on the blog.

我今天有一些 Big Sur 景色照片。Big Sur 是在加州，美国的西边。

The panoramic view of Big Sur near Bixby Creek Bridge. The bridge is on the left of this photo. 

Ocean scenery

Photography Tip: You see how the water near the beach is clear and you can see the bottom? Do you see how the sky is also a very saturated blue? This photo was taken through a circular polarizing filter. Polarizing filters can help get rid of glare from the sun and also help saturate skies for a deeper, more vibrant blue. When buying filters, make sure you buy the correct size for your lens. For polarizers, there are two types. One type is a linear polarizer (cheaper) which will give you the best polarizing effect, but will render your auto focus system useless. The other type (the one I use) is the circular polarizer (more expensive). Circular polarizers gives a slightly less effect than linear polarizers but it is compatible with auto focus systems. When using polarizers, make sure you set your camera on a tripod as this filter will cut around 1-3 stops of light depending on the filter. I recommend B+W polarizers as it is made of extremely high quality materials. I've touched the filter by accident several times with my finger... My fingerprints did not stick to the filter at all, nothing showed up on the filter!

 Ocean scenery plus flower field. 

 Bixby Creek Bridge

I hope you have enjoyed viewing the scenery on today's post. If you are starting to get tired by this chain of posts, I have 1 more, please bare with me! :) Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts

Point Lobos: Birds and Seals | Squirrels | Flowers and Misc | HDR Scenery | Regular Scenery

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey, CA: George's Birds | Sapporo Sushi & Steakhouse | Scenery | Birds/Misc | Seagulls

Carmel-By-The-Sea: Photos

Big Sur: HDR Scenery & Panorama | Regular Scenery

2012 Solar Eclipse Photos

These are not photos of the moon people (well it actually is), but photos of the sun! A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth blocking out part of the Sun seen from Earth. These photos were taken from Shadow Cliffs Regional Park located in Pleasanton, CA. Sadly, to see the full eclipse, you had to drive further north in California to Eureka. In the SF Bay Area, we only saw a partial solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse is similar to a full eclipse but the moon doesn't line up directly so you can see the "ring of fire". You only end up seeing a crescent of the sun. Either way, being able to see this eclipse from the Bay Area is rare and I see it as a blessing.

Websites did warn you not to take photos with your camera with out special filters, but I did with a simple polarizer filter. Nothing bad happened. XD I also looked at the eclipse with only my sunglasses. Nothing bad happened too. I'm not saying you should do the same, but if you do, you do it at your own risk. You should know looking at solar eclipses with out the right equipment and protective gear can be dangerous and can even cause blindness. How did I cope? Short 2 second looks at the sun. It works well as I do that by accident several times everyday.

The following photos were taken with a Canon EOS 7D at 300mm with ISO set at 100, shutter speed set at 1/8000 of a second with an aperture of f/45. This is probably why nothing happened to my camera. Using an aperture of f/45 lets in very little light. Some of the photos were taken through a polarizer filter, some of them are not. The solar eclipse occurred on 5/20/2012 beginning around 5:30 PM.

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.

 5:58 PM

At first, I didn't want to risk damaging my camera, so I waited for some of the sun to be covered before I take my first photo. This was about the time I got to Shadow Cliff and parked.

Just as a reminder, if you love my blog, you can also "Like" us on Facebook. You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar. This will give you updates on your Facebook feed as I post more photos.

 6:14 PM

 6:24 PM

 6:30 PM

Things that has to do with solar eclipses.

 6:32 PM

 6:35 PM

 6:37 PM

 6:39 PM

 6:43 PM

 6:48 PM

 6:58 PM

 7:04 PM

 7:15 PM

The little dots in the photo are pollen. This is when I took off my polarizer filter. The filter filtered out the reflected light from the pollen, but since I removed it to take photos of other stuff, they started showing up.

7:27 PM

I hope you have enjoyed the solar eclipse photos! What a beautiful natural phenomenon isn't it? Anyways, again, if another solar eclipse occurs, don't stare at the sun with out special glasses (welding goggles may also work)! If you wasn't able to enjoy it, I hope you have enjoyed these photos! Please don't forget to share this blog post with your friends, family, and coworkers! Thanks for viewing!

Circular Polarizer Demo

I have written up a newer version of this article that includes some new sample shots of another circular polarizer from B+W. I suggest you read this article, then go check out my new version of the article here.

Today, I will demo a few sample photos using my B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer. First off, let me tell you why a circular polarizer is good. First of all, if you love landscape photos, you have to get one, a circular polarizer helps contrast the colors and deepen the blue sky. Using a circular polarizer can also help get rid of glare from water and glass. A polarizer will also protect your lens from the elements like fingerprints, scratches, and water. It is a good idea to use a filter. I have also read online that a filter saved his L model lens from a fall! Definitely worth the investment because $100 < $5,000. LOL

If you are serious about photography like me, I recommend you not get the cheap ones because they cause unwanted glares in your photos and the polarizing effect isn't good. The one I have is a B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer which is a prime filter. It is a German made filter, and includes special nano-technology coating that causes water that collect on there to drip right off. There is also little vignetting at wider angles. However, this filter is pretty expensive, but most good ones are. This one cost me around $100.

If you don't know much about polarizers, you will find two types of polarizers. One type is the linear polarizer and one type is the circular polarizer. The linear polarizers will have a slightly better polarizing effect than circular polarizers, but will render your auto focus function useless as the polarizer will prevent the auto focus sensor from seeing light. Linear polarizers are usually cheaper than circular polarizers. Circular polarizers won't effect the auto focus sensor and is what most people use. Circular polarizers are more expensive.

The only down side to using a circular polarizer (like with all filters) is that since filters is suppose to filter out the light, it will also slow down your shutter speed. If the shutter speed gets too slow, make sure you have your camera on a tripod. 

Alright, let's move onto the sample photos I took. All these photos were taken at Lake Tahoe, California. If you want to see more Lake Tahoe photos, click here.

This photo was taken without any filter.
Update 2/22/2016: I visited this place again recently, and unlike my 17 year old self, I actually took note of where this actually was. This photo is shot at at Kings Beach, CA.

This photo was taken with my circular polarizer. See how the glare from the water just disappeared? :)
Update 2/22/2016: I visited this place again recently, and unlike my 17 year old self, I actually took note of where this actually was. This photo is shot at at Kings Beach, CA.

Lake Tahoe was cold, there was a think layer of ice on top of the lake near the shore. Lot's of glare from the ice right?

Polarizer on and part of the glare is gone and the bottom of the lake can be clearly seen.

 Another photo of how the lake bottom is now clear due to the polarizer.

I already posted this photo several days back, but the effect in this photo can only be achieved with a polarizer. See how the glare from the water is gone and you can see the rocks at the bottom? See how the colors are saturated? Beautiful photo isn't it?

I also posted this photo several days back. I wasn't able to remove all the glare, but this photo is a lot better than a camera with no filter. 

This is all the sample photos I got. Remember the filter I have is a  B+W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer. If you are going to buy it, please buy it through my link. :) I get referral money that way and you'll be supporting the costs of running this blog. Even if you don't, please click in to check it out. I understand this filter might be a bit expensive for a lot of people, there are cheaper filters out there, but I don't recommend those. Also, when purchasing, don't forget to check if you got the right size filter!

Thanks for looking at this demo. I hope you have enjoyed it. I have also written up a newer version of this article that includes some new sample shots of another circular polarizer from B+W. I suggest you also read that article here.  Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.