DSLRUsers.com

Invited again by Gerry to another dawn seascape at Dee Why on Sydneys Northern beaches on the weekend - thanks again Gerry it's great that you take the time to setup these things

The plan was to shoot till sunrise at Dee Why and then move across to Newtown (Sydneys inner west) for breakfast and then some Street Graffiti shooting.

This time I invited my eldest daughter to come along with me and when we left home at 5:45AM it wasn't looking all that good. On arrival at Dee Why ocean pool at 6:15AM it was raining lightly and the sky was black with clouds and with us all huddled in Suren's car overlooking the ocean it only got heavier . We could catch glimpses of clear sky down south but it really wasn't looking good.

However only a few minutes before sunrise the sky looked to be clearing a little and the rain stopped. We decided to risk the move down to the rocks and started shooting and as if by magic the skies parted enough to get some decent colour and cloud action and the rain stayed away till we finished shooting just before 8AM. As we were making our way back to the cars the heavens opened again - luck!

Some images for your C&C

Dawn Surfer

NIKON D7000 + 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm, 3 sec at f / 16, ISO 100

Raging White

NIKON D7000 + 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm, 1/4 sec at f / 16, ISO 100 + CPL

Ocean Outcrop

NIKON D7000 + 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm, 0.4 sec at f / 16, ISO 100 + CPL

God Rays

NIKON D7000 + 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm, 1/4 sec at f / 22, ISO 100

I havn't looked at or processed any of the Newtown/graffiti images yet but I'll post some up (and some of my daughters too if she's keen - she shot with my old D90) when we've done that.

I like the last two the best, although think you can crop out the rock in the last. I also think landscape format works best for these?

The first is interesting, but the movement of the arms creates more of a 'smudge' than a more well-defined component of the image. I also think that the bottom third or so (still water) can be cropped off as it doesn't add much to the image.

They all look to be underexposed to me, but perhaps it is the screen I am viewing them on? I take it you use the CPL to extend your exposure time? Perhaps this is contributing to the under exposure I am seeing?

Mother nature sure helped you out with the interlude in the rain and in providing some wonderful cloud formations, very moody feel.

Geoff M wrote:They all look to be underexposed to me, but perhaps it is the screen I am viewing them on? I take it you use the CPL to extend your exposure time? Perhaps this is contributing to the under exposure I am seeing?

Oops - I'd PP'd these last night in the dark - I've adjusted the overall exposure/brightness a little and re-uploaded - it was however quite dark at Dee Why (lots! of cloud cover)

Remorhaz wrote:
Oops - I'd PP'd these last night in the dark - I've adjusted the overall exposure/brightness a little and re-uploaded - it was however quite dark at Dee Why (lots! of cloud cover)

That's better the third is my pick, the composition works better IMHO with the added interest of the cliff face on the RHS, details of which can now been seen following the exposure adjustment.

Rodney,
I like the colour/tone in the second and third.
There is a little to much movement in the foreground wash for me in #2, where as the third has it all going for it.

Reschsmooth wrote:I like the last two the best, although think you can crop out the rock in the last. I also think landscape format works best for these?

Thanks - how about this square crop of the last:

colin_12 wrote:I like the colour/tone in the second and third.
There is a little to much movement in the foreground wash for me in #2, where as the third has it all going for it.

Thanks - how would you feel about a pano crop of the second (loosing the bottom third)? and #3 is my own favourite

pano always looks better

#3 is a winner in my books, just crop him up.

2 & 3 are standout images Rod. There is something good about rain and storms after all. Having said that, it would be nice to have a standard, sunny day in Coffs before winter comes, just once!

#1 is superb composition I reckon. The moving surfer is the only minor issue. Why is the little bit of land jutting out near the surfer so dark? (Did you manually blend two exposures to get this shot?)

#3 is also good. Nice timing of the wave here to define the rocks.

The rest are not as strong compositionally.

Slightly under I think. Perhaps increase the brightness a touch.

I think one of the things to consider is that when the waves come in, it changes your landscape including your lines etc so effectively changes your composition. What I do is to have in my mind what I want and wait for that sort of wave. Too big or little, is not effective.

surenj wrote:#1 is superb composition I reckon. The moving surfer is the only minor issue. Why is the little bit of land jutting out near the surfer so dark? (Did you manually blend two exposures to get this shot?)

I wish he'd stayed still staring out at the waves a little longer - I had to move the tripod and adjust the orientation, etc - took too long

It's not a manual blend but I did use two grad filters (in lightroom) - one to darken the top and one to lighten the bottom and that little jutting bit would be about where those meet - I'll take a look and see if I can adjust.

#3 is also good. Nice timing of the wave here to define the rocks.

Thanks - it's my fav - I actually like the sort of frozen green rolling wave at the back of this and #2 as well

I like the square crop on #4. crops on 2 and 3 would also work Rodney.