Exposure Isn't Everything

Sometimes perfect exposure doesn't always mean getting the shot that you're after. For example, in this fine-art photograph I wanted to give this stretch of Manhattan Beach  an ethereal appearance and therefore chose to use my histograms to over-expose the image, defying normal convention. This produced a somewhat dreamy effect helped by the already hazy conditions.

I really like this effect as it helps to draw attention to composition and color as well as creating a very specific mood. I'm therefore working on a series of these shots with a similar effect from different beaches. I've included another one here with a similar effect achieved from a beach in Miami. 

Tidal Pools

I found these really unique tidal pools on the outskirts of La Jolla whilst on a trip to Southern California last week. I loved how the rock formations and pools of water gave the beach an almost lunar-esque appearance and it provided plenty to work with in terms of interesting foreground subject and composition. Given that it was the holidays, I was fortunate that the beach was relatively empty and although I didn't quite get the sunset and clouds I was hoping for, here are two of my favourites from a great location. I'll definitely be heading back here soon! 

Iphone X - Big Sur Black and White

I've recently got an IPhoneX and have been really impressed with the quality of the camera. I therefore wanted to test it more thoroughly on a trip last week at one of my favourite locations, the Big Sur that is situated on the Pacific Coast Highway and is perhaps the most dramatic stretch of coastal road in the whole US. I shot all of the photographs direct from the phone using the in-built black and white filter and wanted to see how good the dynamic range was at capturing high contrast scenes. The selection you see below are therefore all completely unedited and native straight from the IphoneX. 

Californian Light in Black and White

I have been blown away by the quality of light in California on my trip here. Yesterday, I took a short trip out of San Francisco to Ocean Beach and spent a hours just observing people wandering along the beach as beautiful light refracted, reflected and bounced off the ocean casting all kinds of shadows and interesting shapes and lines. 

These three images were some of the favorite that I shot with the figures showing the scale of the beach and the ocean; this is especially noticeable in the photograph of a sole man wading in the Pacific (the middle one) which is perhaps favorites . Black and white conversion helped accentuate the strong highlights and shadows and really bring out the dynamic range in these images; I just can't get enough of those rich, velvety blacks.