Sunset – Page 5 – Circadianreflections Blog

Just be there

June 15, 2011June 15, 2011Posted in Interviews, Landscapes, PhotographyTagged Hawaii, Oahu, Photography; How To; Interview;, Sunset, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

…with Todd Maeda

If you’ve ever tried to capture a photograph of a beautiful sunset you know just how challenging it can be. Time is the enemy. The light and color fade as the shadows deepen with the setting sun, and you only have minutes to shoot that precise moment when all the elements come together. Photographer and lifelong Hawaii resident Todd Maeda captures those magic moments time after time, and shares with us how he did it on this beautiful tropical evening in Oahu.

Q. Tell us about this location.

Todd: This is at Kaka’ako Waterfront Park, in Honolulu, Hawaii, a State park that was reclaimed from the old town dump. It is situated near the entrance of Honolulu Harbor, so there is a stream of boats and ships going in and out. It’s part of the game; ship, barge, wave, sunset… A “go to”spot for solid sunsets while keeping your feet dry; most of my mid-week forays are right after work, so I am usually still in work attire.

This particular spot is on a hill closest to the harbor. At the bottom of the hill, about the center of this image, is a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) memorial. Rather poignant, and a decent sunset subject/foreground. The vantage point is such that I actually get better views of the water, and usually fewer people. Usually. A problem with this spot, and actually any spot on a hill in the park, is the maintenance crews sometimes turn on the sprinklers in the middle of the sunset. Something to watch for.

Q. What time of day?

Todd: This was that magic moment around 15 minutes after the sun sets, when the colors “pop,” then die quickly. During the “winter” months, so a little after 6PM. Yeah, I know; Hawaii don’t have winters. Hey, we have to wear warm shorts, so there!

Q. How difficult was this to capture?

Todd: This was a fairly basic capture; hardest thing is to be sure you have everything you want in the frame. Since I do a fair amount of post-processing, I try to give myself some latitude in the composition for possible creative cropping, which I did here.

Q. How did you expose for this shot?

Todd: I used a 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter to hold back the light at the horizon, as it was still bright enough to darken the foreground without it. Other than that, Aperture Priority on Matrix Metering (Nikon’s equivalent to Canon’s Evaluative mode), because the light is moving so quickly. I usually input -0.7EV, because I prefer that look. This one ended up at ISO200, f/22 for 1/4 second; you can see a bit of the effect in the trees and water.

Q. What camera and lens did you use for this shot?

Todd: The Nikon D700 is my standard landscape body. I had the Nikkor 17-35mm/2.8D mounted for this shot, as it is the widest reasonable lens with filter threads I have; I did know I would be using filters for this particular day, based on the sky. Had that mounted on a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead on a Gitzo GT1531 tripod, with the Rapid-Rise column at the lowest position.

You can see more of Todd’s photographic work here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbah_slippahs/

…and read his blog here:

http://toddmaeda.blogspot.com

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”~Mary Anne Radmacher

September 2, 2010September 2, 2010Posted in California, Landscapes, NikonTagged Alviso CA, Santa Clara County, SunsetLeave a comment

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”~Mary Anne Radmacher, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004.

Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge
Drawbridge Ghost Town

2.5 mile hike out to this spot

A friend and I went out to this refuge to scout it out for a possible Meet-up location.
Unfortunately you can’t really get to Drawbridge anymore from this side. This is as close as we can get.
Not a total loss though. There were White Pelicans everywhere, and several types of Egrets, and this sunset was rather nice.

Nikon D300s
Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8AF-S

After Hours Photo-Walk

August 23, 2010August 23, 2010Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Flowers, hikes, Landscapes, NikonTagged Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont CA, Moon Rising, SunsetLeave a comment

A friend and I went to Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, CA for an after hours photo walk with a Ranger.

There were quite a few other photographers there. We were a 5 car caravan in all with Ranger Bev, Alex, and myself in the lead car.

We drove out to a creek to catch the last of the Golden Hour. Here we saw white pelicans sleeping on a pond, the moon rising, and the most beautiful golden amber color on the sun dried fennel, thistle, and grass.

For this shot I used my Singh Ray LB ColorCombo/Warming Polarizer which really helped to make those golds pop.

I also thought to take my telephoto on my D90 just to be ready for any wildlife or birds. It proved to be a wise choice.

While shooting the creek several White Pelicans flew by me. I managed to get this one as it passed me. It’s lost its whiteness in

this evenings amber glow.

and a couple more,

While regrouping and getting all 5 cars ready to roll to the next stop I caught this shot with the Fennel in silhouette through the window

of the van.

After this we drove around the mountain to the mud flats where we parked then some of us climbed up a trail on foot about 1000 ft with at least a 20% grade- NO KIDDING! I’m going to look up the name of this hill, er Mountain!

The view was stunning. Here I got a great view of the lights just coming on in Eastern Fremont including the Moon on the rise.

I turned around and got a nice view of the mud flats and sunset. As the evening wore on the colors in the sky got deeper and deeper.

I used my Graduated Neutral Density filters and polarizer, to cut the heat of the sky, and then found bracketing with 2 stops down really brought out those reds, and oranges.

Here is my last shot of the night. Bands of blue, red, orange, and yellow, and a bit of reflection in the damp mud flats. I used the middle bracketed shot EV 00. I ran it through ACR’s basic sliders, added a bit of sharpening, and resized it.

It was a lovely Sunday evening spent with good people, a good friend, and beautiful views.

Nikon D300s

Nikon D90

Nikkor 80-200mm 2.8AF-D

Nikkor 17-35mm 2.8AF-S

Polaris Blues

August 16, 2010August 16, 2010Posted in California, Landscapes, NikonTagged Astrophotography, North Star, Polaris, Star Trails, Starry Sky, SunsetLeave a comment

A friend and I went south to the town of Morgan Hill about 30 mins. from me to Henry Coe State Park to shoot the stars for Star Trails, and we hoped for a nice sunset too.

Arriving early we scouted the area and found a couple of really beautiful oak trees that we thought would make a lovely foreground to our star trail photographs.

We set up camp which for me is a folding chair, tripod, and camera gear then waited for the sun to set.

The sunset was so golden, and even with my LB ColorCombo Polarizer and SinghRay2 stop soft edge Grad ND filter the sun was hot, and I had lots of sun flare. I actually think it came out cool looking in this photo.

After this we moved across to the opposite side of this hill to set up for the Moon Rise. The colors on this side of the valley were so much prettier

than the sunset.

I loved the bands of red and blue. One of the beautiful oaks made for a lovely foreground.

After the moon rise I moved locations to set up and start my test shots for my star trail sequence. Here’s the second test shot.

I was lining up the foreground and Polaris, the North Star.

We weren’t alone up there last night. There was also an Astronomer hobbyist taking photos of the stars and nebulae with his star tracking gear, and telescope mounted to his camera. It was such a wonderful evening chatting with him and looking through his large telescope at Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon.

I’m still working on my Star Trail photograph. I hope to post it tomorrow.

Nikon D300s

Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8AF-S

In Cook’s Meadow

June 3, 2010June 3, 2010Posted in CaliforniaTagged landscape, Nikon, Sunset, Yosemite National Park7 Comments

After an already great day in and out of Yosemite Valley we went to Cook’s meadow to try and get Half Dome lit up at sunset.

When I arrived down in the meadow after scaling a fallen tree, and crossing a little creek, and walking along the boggy grass to a nice spot with a great view of Half Dome it was covered in clouds. We all hoped the wind would shift and clear out the clouds before the sun set.

The top of the mountain was “hot” so I put on my 2 stop soft edge Singh-Ray Grad ND filter. It really didn’t help enough so I fooled around with different apertures-stopping it down and it was still too “hot’. So I took off the the 2 stop and put on my 3 Stop Hard Edge Grad ND filter. That did the trick! After awhile I was blessed with this shot. It was a fantastic birthday!

This is how Half Dome looked when I first got down in Cook’s Meadow.

Yosemite National Park

California

Sierra Mountains

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8 AF-S

Horse Tail Fall Sunset

February 20, 2010February 20, 2010Posted in California, TravelTagged Forest, Snow, Sunset, Trees, YosemiteLeave a comment

I got up at 2am on the 18th and left the house at 3:15Am to drive to Gilroy to meet-up with 4 other photographers. At 4am we left Gilroy to meet-up with 2 other photographers in Mariposa,CA before heading into the Yosemite Valley where we would meet 5 more photographers from the north side of the Bay Area.

The trip revolved around a sunset shoot of Horse Tail Fall. The sun sets on Horse Tail Fall twice in 2010 for a few days in Feb. and again in Oct. The peak day for the best sunset was supposed to the 18th.

We shot all through the valley, had a picnic lunch at Bridalveil Fall, and well before sunset got to a spot to set up. Our spot was off Southside Drive just past Cathedral Beach picnic grounds.

I had a lot of fun and met some pretty neat people. We left the valley about 7:30PM and stopped for dinner in Mariposa. I didn’t get home until after midnight on the 19th. It was a 22 hour day filled with stunning views, and the company of fun, good people.

The light spot on the face of the mountain is the sun setting on Horse Tail Fall. The Fall wasn’t running very fast or full on this day.

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