Category: Photo

Photos – Beach Sunsets

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

Here are some sunset photos I took at Laguna Beach, California. What I like about the first photo is how it’s a little blown out on the left. It gives the appearance of the photo fading into the distance.

Do you remember the photo of sunglasses I posted a couple weeks ago? That shot was taken a little to the right of this image.

Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 28mm / 1/80 / f/5.6 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

The second photo uses water on the sand to reflect the colors of the sunset. This brings the colors of the sunset into more of the photo.

Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 27mm / 1/50 / f/5.6 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

When shooting sunsets, don’t stop after the sun goes below the horizon. Some of my best sunset shots, especially at the Grand Canyon, were done after the sun has set. The sky can really light up, especially if there are clouds. And remember to look all around to see what the light is doing both in front of you and behind you.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about these photos, or photography in general.

I processed these images with ON1 Photo Raw. Check it out at https://on1.sjv.io/15Mjdz

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photos – Laguna Beach Kelp

Published / by adminjc
Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 24mm / 1/400 / f/5.6 / ISO 200 / Hand Held

Hi Everyone,

Here are some more photos I took at Laguna Beach, California. These are several shots of kelp, also known as seaweed.

Seaweed washes up on shore after a storm breaks it loose, or after a sea urchin eats through the base of its stalk. You can sometimes find barnacles or other ocean life attached to the seaweed. And it often has a fluid or serpentine look to it when on the beach.

A few tips about shooting at the beach.

1 – Always keep an eye on the waves. You don’t want to get knocked over by a wave, or get salt water on your gear. After you have some experience shooting at the beach you get a feel for how far a wave will travel on the sand. Waves come is sets of two to fifteen, with five to seven being normal. And the last one or two waves in a set will be the largest. Before you start shooting, watch the waves for a while to see what they are doing.

It was nice to know that even though I had not been to the beach for 25 years, I could still tell just how far a wave would come up on the beach.

Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 66mm / 1/160 / f/4 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

2 – Depending on where you and the sun are, you can use a polarizing filter to cut down on glare, and to darken the sky and foliage near the shore. It also works great for shooting in tide pools.

3 – It’s easy to add a human quality to the photos by including footprints in the sand or people in the background.

4 – Watch the background. You can be so focused on what’s in front of you, that you forget about the background. There could be buildings, people and offshore oil rigs that you don’t want in your photo.

5 – Use water on the sand to reflect things, like I did in my last beach post with the bird.

6 – If you walk around the beach barefoot, and you should, when you’re done you’ll find that sand sticks to your feet like it’s glued there. To easily remove the sand, rub talcum powder or corn starch on your feet. The sand will slide right off.

If you find yourself shooting in Laguna Beach, when you’re done head a little north on Pacific Coast Highway and stop at the Crystal Cove Shake Shack for a date shake. The shakes and view are both great.

Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 29mm / 1/250 / f/4 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about these photos, or photography in general.

I processed these images with ON1 Photo Raw. Check it out at https://on1.sjv.io/Zdvkjz

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Sunglasses at Laguna Beach, California

Published / by adminjc
Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 70mm / 1/40 / f/5.6 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

Hi Everyone,

The circumstances around this photograph are strange.

We were at Laguna Beach, California, walking around main beach. We went around a tall rock, and my wife, Linda-Ann, spotted these sunglasses. They were sitting on the rock exactly as you see them in the photograph.

At first, I thought someone put them there as they roamed around, but there wasn’t anyone else in the area. And why would someone put two pairs of sunglasses on a rock and leave?

I’ll never know why they were there, but I liked the composition and took this photograph. And yes, I left them there as we continued exploring the beach.

It’s not all that uncommon for me to find things lying around. I’ve found money on the ground, including a $20 bill last week. The most I’ve found was $80. I love windy days that blow money around.

I’ve also found large store-bought crystals, jewelry, wallets with nothing inside but cash, tools, hiking gear, lens caps and filters, fossils and more.

It’s nice to look up, but it pays to look down.

I processed this image in ON1 Photo Raw as I no longer use Lightroom or Photoshop. I find ON1 to be faster and easier to use, and it gives sharper images. It costs less than Photoshop too.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this photo, or photography in general.

Check out ON1 Photo RAW at https://on1.sjv.io/Zdvkjz

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Birds at Laguna Beach, California

Published / by adminjc
birds feeding on the beach in southern California.
Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 70mm / 1/250 / f/5.6 / ISO 100 / Hand Held

Hi Everyone,

Here’s another image I took at Laguna Beach, California. I grew up in southern California and spent a lot of time at the beach bodysurfing, SCUBA diving and exploring the tide pools.  

There are several things I like about this photo, including the wave in the background, the reflection of the bird on the wet sand and the warm light of sunset that balances the blue of the water and sky.

I processed this image in ON1 Photo Raw as I no longer use Lightroom or Photoshop. I find ON1 to be faster and easier to use, and it gives sharper images. It costs less than Photoshop too.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this photo, or photography in general.

Check out ON1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Bird Of Paradise Flower

Published / by adminjc
Bird of Paradise flower with sunset sky.
Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS at 57mm / 1/1600 / f/4 / ISO 100 / Hand Held / Sky added using ON1 Photo RAW

Hi Everyone,

I took this image at Laguna Beach, California. The Bird of Paradise was in a planter next to the sidewalk.

I processed the image in ON1 Photo RAW by running it through the NoNoise AI, and adjusting things like contrast, highlights, midtones, whites, vibrance and saturation. I now use ON1 instead of Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom.

Bird of Paradise flower.
Image adjusted for the flower. Now to replace the sky.

When I was done, the flower looked great, but the flat blue sky wasn’t to my liking. So I used the Sky Swap AI in ON1 and dropped in a nice cloudy sky at sunset. This module does a great job of selecting the sky, but there are adjustments you can make if you want to change the original look and placement of the new sky.

When doing composites, you want to make sure the light on all the layers is coming from the same direction. Since the flower was lit from the right, the sky had to be lit on the right. Fortunately it was, but Sky Swap AI lets you flip the sky horizontally, and make other adjustments. I could have easily made the light for the sky come from the left.

With the sky added, the photo really came to life, and I was very happy with the end results.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Check out On1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Watson Lake at the Granite Dells

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

I love shooting at the Granite Dells in Prescott, Arizona. The choice of subjects is amazing. You can see herons, egrets, ravens, various kinds of ducks, turtles sunning themselves on logs, pronghorn and, of course, the amazing rocks.

Watson Lake in the Granite Dells of Prescott, Arizona
Canon Rebel XSi / Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS at 70mm / 1/125 / f/11 / ISO 100 / Tripod used

There are several entrances to the Dells, and this shot was taken near the furthest picnic area, which is about a three minute drive from the main entrance to Watson Lake Park. The last time I was there, the entry fee was $3. It’s well worth the cost to have access to the Granite Dells, Watson Lake, hiking trails, picnic areas, restrooms and more.

I just made some basic adjusts to the image for contrast, vibrance and saturation.

You can see several videos taken at the Dells on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcd8nqgH0CiaveaIlKbE1mA

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

And check out ON1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – View To The Past

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

I took this photo in 2010 at the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, next to Jerome, Arizona. As you can see, the window is very dirty and created a hazy and washed-out view of the outside.

Canon Rebel XSi / Canon EF-S 55-250mm kit lens at 55mm / 1/200 / f/11 / ISO 200 / Tripod used

I really liked the photo and wanted to make it look its best. But back then Photoshop and other software didn’t have Artificial Intelligence (AI) to do a lot of the work for you, including creating masks.

With my pen table I created a mask that would allow viewers to see clearly through the glass. It was a lot of fun, and I even wrote an article about the process. You can read this article, which was published in two magazines and a website, here www.jeffcolburn.com/articles/make-a-complex-photo-mask-with-a-pen-tablet

While AI is amazing, I still enjoy using my pen tablet to tweak masks.  

And check out ON1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Tree At The Grand Canyon

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

I created this photograph at the Grand Canyon. A couple of hours before sunset I scouted the area and found three places I wanted to shoot at sunset. Because I would only have about 15 minutes of shoot time, they had to be close together.

Canon Rebel XSi / Canon EF-S 18-55mm kit lens at 42mm / 1/50 / f/11 / ISO 400 / Tripod used

The tree was the last of the three places I wanted to shoot. I shot the first location, then grabbed my tripod and ran to the second location, then the last one.

To get to the proper vantage point was a little tricky as there was only a narrow dirt path that led to it. This path was covered in tiny rocks, which made it slippery, and it sloped toward the Canyon. Slip on the rocks, or get too close to the edge, and you would fall hundreds of feet into the Canyon. Oh, the crazy things photographers do to get a picture.

But I got the shot, and it’s been a popular photo in the gallery.

If you are faced with a dangerous situation when taking photos, always err on the side of caution. No photo is worth your life, or getting seriously injured.

And check out ON1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Photo – Wukoki Ruins

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

This shot of the Wukoki Pueblo was taken at Wupatki National Monument. The main ruins are interesting, but I prefer these ruins, as its isolation gives me a better feeling of what it was like to live there.

Wukoki Ruins
Canon Rebel XSi / Canon EF-S 18-55mm kit lens at 18mm / 1/80 / f 7.1 / ISO 200 / Tripod used

I set up my tripod as low as possible to get this shot. The photo was taken close to sunset. While you can get great shots at any time of day, at sunset the red sandstone almost glows.

I could spend all day shooting here. The ruins offer great distant shots, like this, but there are also great detail shots of the rocks and ruins that are amazing.

Wukoki Pueblo reminds me of a lone ship at sea, but the sea is made up of sand and rock. You can walk around, and in, this ruin.

And check out ON1 Photo RAW.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Lots Of Changes

Published / by adminjc

Hi Everyone,

There are a lot of changes going on with my three websites. I’m hoping these changes will make things easier for you, and me. I have moved my ebooks at CreativeCauldron.com and my blog at TheCreativesCorner.com to JeffColburn.com

This way, you can go to one site and see everything. If you have signed up for my monthly newsletter, you will continue to receive it on the 7th of each month. The email for March will be larger than normal, it’s just how the system works since I have the blog set up at a new website. After that, it will only show posts added since the last newsletter.

Barren aspens

I have also renamed the newsletter Jeff Colburn’s Photography Newsletter, which will be the new heading of your email. If you have any problems with your newsletter, please let me know at info@JeffColburn.com

Finally, I will be closing down CreativeCauldron.com and TheCreativesCorner.com. In a day or two those sites will autoforward to JeffColburn.com, and in a few months be gone.

Have Fun,
Jeff