I found myself returning to one of my earliest Decaseconds posts (almost exactly 11 years ago) as I updated my Top 32 album on Flickr—the digital portfolio where I display my best (or simply favorite) photographs. Finding “Waves and Rocks Dwarf Man” in that set, I saw both the excellent light and composition that my old Nikon had captured in 2011, as well as all of the places where my choices in processing the original image now left my unsatisfied. Rather than simply reprocessing that original image, I went back to the folder of camera raws from that day and selected an image I took just moments later to tackle. (Always keep save those raw files!) I not only like this composition better than the older one, but I also feel that I have brought something new out here, rather than simply reprocessing something old.
Tag: Pacifica
Saturday Afternoon on the Pier
Resilient Tree at Sunset
Of all the plant phyla, I’ve always felt a particular affinity for the conifers. Those spiny softwood survivors have a diverse yet particular set of aromatic compounds that accompany them; I can chart a lot of happy memories to pine or cypress groves and their applied organic chemistry. Starting on the east coast, through the midwest, and finding myself in grad school on the west coast meant contact with a lot of different species. These ocean-wind-sculpted examples from Pacifica, California are particularly dramatic.
California Coast II
Rough Coast
Anchor Oxidation
Another California Coastline
Rocks and Surf
Waves and Rocks Dwarf Man
The coast near Pacifica, California has some gorgeous, craggily coastline. All kinds of people were out walking their dogs; if I were a little braver, I would have gone over to shoot portraits of them, as well. Still, composing everyone together into a landscape produced a pretty satisfying result. The old man on the log looks more idyllic than I could have hoped.
I was initially disappointed that it was such a misty evening, but the upside was that the contrast was lowered to the point where I could produce HDR images from a single RAW photo.
Pacifica Pier
On a chilly Christmas Eve, it can be nice to think back to warmer times. I thought I would continue from Brendan’s shot over Puget Sound and post a shot from the beach. A few months ago, I was lucky enough to go crabbing with some friends in Pacifica, CA. The pier was absolutely packed with fishermen and all of the contraptions used to get crabs. I was most struck, however, by the hexagonal cross section of the pier itself, and the great rust colors next to the water.