• Maliblue Pier • [EXPLORE #2: 9/2/16]

            My very first evening shooting in California was on January 5th, about a week after arriving here from Maryland. It had rained the previous day and all morning before turning into a colorful overcast sky later on. Without much knowledge of the weather, I really had no clue how amazing the sky was during the winter months and how hazy and sunny it would be the rest of the year. 

I had brought Scotch to the beach a few days before and decided to leave him at home since he was still exhausted from the trip and so I could take my time and shoot until all the light had disappeared. California beaches are relatively empty much of winter and this pier first caught my eye because of how empty and simple it was. That, and the abundance of free parking along the Pacific Coast Highway. 

At this point in my trial by error approach to learning photography, I had had plenty of practice capturing long exposures of waterfalls during the daytime but very little when it came to the breezy ocean at night. I was still in the mode of shooting in quantity hoping to pick a best one of the bunch. Basically I'd frame the shot, focus and then play around with the settings and various neutral density filters before moving on to another vantage. Fortunately I've moved past that and have become much more efficient with my shooting and exposure choice, but sadly I haven't gotten any skies like this in quite some time. 

I've been spending a tremendous amount of time lately with the old dog working on my dark portraits while waiting for clouds and/or rain to return. Considering how strongly I prefer sunsets and long exposures, I've had difficulty  trying to think of places that don't depend on weather to be interesting to me. I even hiked 3 miles a couple weeks ago at Eaton Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains with all my gear and a 105°F heat index to a waterfall that supposedly had water. What I found had all the force and flow of a leaky faucet and 15 people shuffling around in 1ft of water collected at the base. I didn't even bother to take the camera out. I could definitely use a few more nights like this one. 


Malibu Pier
Malibu, California
January 5th, 2016
TEMP: 56°F
WIND: 27mph

SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@29mm
ISO 100
f/18
30 seconds
ND8
CPL
   

Taken on: January 5, 2016

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Wilkof Photography « less

Sets appears in: • Piers • Maryland to California With A Dog: 3,600 miles over 10 days more » • My Personal Favorites • Long Exposure • Explore « less

Groups appears in: • The Best Of What You See Is What You Are • Piers in California more » • 10 stop ND • 10 stop filter • in explore « less

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T4i, f/18.0, 30 sec, 29mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS REBEL T4i
Lens:	EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
Aperture:	f/18.0
Exposure Time:	30
Focal Length:	29mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 (Macintosh)
Show full info

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