On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youâre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
This morning we see a new technique from Bill, but the Milky Way shot is still my favorite! ~WaterGirl
?BillinGlendaleCA
My colleague Hami asked if I’d like to drive over to Leo Carrillo to shoot the sunset. I drove over and ran into a traffic break about 5 miles east of the park, so I had to head back and take a different route over the mountains to get there. I arrived about 20 minutes prior to sunset and we set up below lifeguard station 3 where I’ve shot before.
Shooting into the Sun can be difficult since it’s very bright and when you shoot at an angle you risk getting sun flares. I took the exposure bracketing approach where I set the camera to shoot 5 exposures of different exposure lengths. This allows me to retain detail and color in both the bright areas around the Sun and in the dark shadows as well.
I usually combine these shots using either the built-in HDR function in Lightroom or an external program (Aurora HDR) to combine these shots. These methods do a fine job, but do not allow for much control. With several of these shots I’ve taken a different tack, I’d find the bright area in one of the shots and selectively re-introduce them back into the shot in Photoshop. We waited for astronomical twilight to end to head back to the rocks to get some Milky Way shots.
The Sun dips down into the marine layer. I was a bit disappointed that low clouds were preventing views of the Channel Islands to the west.
This is a tight shot of the sun, you can see one of the Channel Island peeking out of the fog at the left. I used Kodachrome emulation for this shot.
I moved the tripod bac a bit to get more of the foreground rocks into the shot.
I moved the tripod bac a bit to get more of the foreground rocks into the shot.
A sliver of the sun hangs over the Pacific in this shot processed with Lightroom’s HDR method..
I couldn’t let a clear evening go by without getting a Milky Way shot. There were clouds to the east that began to move west into the shot as astronomical twilight ended.
eclare
Those sunset shots are gorgeous!
JPL
The sunset and gorgeous, and I do like that you included the rocks. Such an interesting composition.
Baud
I want to go on vacation now.
There go two miscreants
Very cool, especially the “sliver” one.
fun with duct tape
Thanks, youâve brought a bit of calm to my day.
waynel140
Beautiful work, as always. I’m still trying to learn darktable, an open-source Lightroom.
MomSense
Very beautiful.
Mel
Thank you, Bill, and many thanks to WaterGirl as well. This has been a really tough week, and these beautiful images lifted me away from the worries and stress for a bit.
All are gorgeous, but the last two are just sublime. That deep orange sunset against the steely blue water – breathtaking. And the Milky Way photo is so peaceful, with ocean and sky so serene and limitless.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eclare: Thanks. It was our last day of regular sunsets before the Bobcat fire obscured the sun.
@JPL: I kept the camera low to get more of the closer rocks on these shots.
@Baud: The kid’s in Fairbanks today trying to see the Aurora.
@There go two miscreants: Thanks, got it just before it went away!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@fun with duct tape: Glad you like em.
@waynel140: One of the reasons I went with the $10/month for Lightroom/Photoshop is that there’s quite a bit of “how to” videos out there.
@MomSense: Thanks.
@Mel: I’m glad you found them uplifting.
azizhp
Bill, i want to try and see the MW by eye. Whats your advice on Leo Carillo as a spot for this? Ive tried it from there before but i think i went at the wrong time of year.
BigJimSlade
Lovely set – the way the site shows them (kinda small), they look like postcards :-)
J R in WV
Great stuff as usual, Bill. thanks!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@azizhp: You can visually see the Milky Way along the coast but it’s not the best location due to the marine layer and humidity. Inland, drier and higher is better. Lockwood Valley near Frazier Park is good in July, the best spots are up CA-14 north of Mojave(Red Rock) and US-395 north of Ridgecrest(Fossil Falls). While Milky Way season lasts from late February to late October, at the coast the best time is probably late July to late September since it will be more to the south and away from city lights earlier in the night. Also keep in mind you do not want the moon to be in the sky, it washes out the stars.
@BigJimSlade: I do make them smaller for OTR(1024 long edge), larger versions are at my site in the OTR gallery(and you can even purchase a print). Just click on my nym and it will take you to my site.
Anything I post here is available on my site first(usually a few days earlier) and is usually seen by my patrons a good deal earlier.
@J R in WV: Happy ya like em.