Shooting the Big Sur Coast

Pre-Dawn Light on McWay Falls, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

If you're ever shooting on the Big Sur Coast, it helps to chat with the officers of the California Highway Patrol there. Aside fromresponding to accidents caused by the ocasional tourist who causes a truck to jackknife due to leaving her bicycle laying down on the road (true story), a lot of their time is spent interfacing with the public. They know every turnout and access point (and have participated in rescues people making their way to inaccessible spots), so they can help you spend your time there efficiently and safely

This waterfall, McWay Falls, is apparently one of two waterfalls dropping into the ocean in the continental United States, the other being Alamere Falls on Point Reyes.

This waterfall is accessed via the parking lot for Julia Pfeiffer State Park, but the park doesn't open until 8am, so I took this from a turnout up on Hwy 1, a few dozen yards higher than the standard path. The park also asks for a $10 fee for entry and parking!

There are some seriously quirkly rules and restrictions for accessing much of the coast, so I'll try to add notes as I add photos. For example, I blew off Pfeiffer Beach, a Forest Service access (due to all of those trees on the beach?), but unfortunately they've allowed a concessionaire to profit from Federal Recreation Passholders who bought the annual pass under the understanding that it would gain them entry to USDA Forest Service sites. They also close at sunset, not 30-40 minutes later when the sunset color is over, so it's virtually worthless to photographers who prefer to shoot in the best light(at least the ones who choose not to risk getting a ticket). I'll be sending the confused USDA bureaucrats some correspondence on that one... and I'll share the names with concerned photographers as well so your voices can be heard and your interests represented. Bureaucrats don't like risk, so I suspect they may show some flexibility if their users start raising a stink about counterproductive policies. Point Lobos State Park just up the road allows photographers to stay until 30 minutes after sunset, stilla bit tight but a far more reasonable compromise.

Oneonta Falls and the Columbia River Gorge

Oneonta Falls, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (Oregon Coast today).

This turned out better than my shots here last Summer. I like the leading lines in the left foreground water (bubbles on the surface of the stream?).

Shot with 82mm circular polarizer. Adobe Lightroom adjustments: White Balance: Shade, slight bump in contrast (Canon 0EV RAW results are too low in contrast), Recovery (recover highlight detail), Punch (further detail recovery and contrast bump). See "more properties" in right column of the photo's page on Flickr for exposure detail (click on the photo).


Regarding using "shade" for the white balance "correction" It looks more like what we'd perceive (the waterfall as white), but less like as it actually was and the camera recorded (with a blue tone to the light). Let the debate on what "reality" really is ensue...

Horsetail Falls Backlit at Sunset

Horsetail Fall in Yosemite Valley is backlit by the setting sun for roughly two weeks each year. As the sun falls behind the vertical face of El Capitan, it selectively lights this waterfall with its orange sunset glow.

This was an amazing spectacle to witness. Lasting only from 30 to 15 minutes before the sun goes down, the lighting gradually grows in intensity and color for the last 5 minutes or so. On the nights I watched, it was like seeing a narrow strip of lava flowing down the face of El Capitan.

The weather and the water flows often don't cooperate, I was shut out by back to back blizzards last year, so I was fortunate to see this on two consecutive evenings in 2008.


There are two good shooting locations:

1) Along the bank of the Merced River near the turnout just East of the Cathedral Beach picnic area (which is closed for Winter). This location is described on page 24 of my 320-page guidebook "Photographing California Vol. 2 - South".

2) In the vicinity of the Cathedral picnic area on Northside Road in the valley, 1/2 mile East of the El Capitan bridge. That North road is closed for maintenance, so it's a 1 mile walk each way from where the El Captan bridge road hits Southside Road. This location is also described in "Photographing California Vol. 2 - South".

#1 is a 75 foot walk on top of the snow from where you park, while #2 is a 2 mile round trip on closed roads (including a couple of hundred yards over snow at the closed picnic area), with the return half after dark. Make sure you're at one of them 45 minutes before sunset, because the best show is roughly from 30 to 15 minutes before sundown, but that could change as the sun moves each day. To get a good selection of where to place your tripod for the "easy" spot #1, consider arriving 1.5 hours ahead of sunset.

Yosemite Valley, Labor Day Weekend

I went camping in Yosemite National Park over Labor Day weekend and swam in the plunge pools under several of the valley's waterfalls. One in particular stood out. There's little water left in this creek at this time of year, and I found a relatively secluded alcove near where the natural shower was falling. I had a flat rock in the sun, adjacent shade nearby for refuge as needed, and there was just enough water falling to cool off in the refreshing spray.

Reaching this spot one night about 30 minutes before sunset, I watched the light from the setting sun creep up the face of Half Dome. The other swimmers who had been enjoying the pool left, but I was able to stay since I had brought a headlamp for the return trip. As I flyfished for the next 20-30 minutes under the remaining alpenglow, the nearly-full moon rose over Glacier Point, bathing the scene in bright, pale light. Although the air started to get crisp, the rocks were radiating the heat they had been absorbing all day, so I was completely comfortable in my bathing suit.

With the calm pool, waterfall, sunset and moonrise, in perfect weather, this was one of the most romantic settings I've ever been in.

Next time I'll have to bring someone!

Jeff

Photos from the trip:
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