I shot these on Jan 1st, as I wanted to start the new year out right by being out shooting! These are out by the Point Vincent Lighthouse on the Palos Verde Pennisula in SoCal. Now the fact that I actually processed these so soon in 2013 is a bit of a miracle in itself...

While up there to shoot the Lighthouse at sunset, I was totally amazed by a couple of whales showing up. It was really cool to be up on the cliffs and shooting down onto these cool creatures. I don't usually shoot too many animals, but I think they added a nice touch to my landscapes.

#1 and 2 have the whales in them. #3 some crazy birds flew into my shot as I was going for a more abstract shot. And #4 is when the sun started getting closer to sunset and while it did light up the clouds some, I liked this one where the sun was pretty contained by the clouds, but threw some nice colors out onto the water. #4 did have a boat in it that came in for a view but actually only succeeded in scaring the whales so they stopped showing, so I extracted it from the shot.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

PS... these were shot in the DX mode on the D800 to give me a little more reach.

A beautiful sentiment, Jim, but not your best photos in my opinion. These are great photos, but your photos have been beyond great lately. 4 is a bit too 'baked' for my taste, and the others are edited perfectly, but don't hold my attention for too long. Of those 3, the third would have to be my favorite, as it seems like a well thought out abstract. The first two seem more like the endeavors of a whale watcher, not a photographer.

Hello Jim... I like #4 best out of these. (Oh.. these look like the ones I took... meaning... you guess.. )

Happy Shooting!

Kee

Jim, great start to the year and a great experience!
cheers Andrew

Well, I, too, started out on january 1st, just haven't processed and shared it yet . Surely the whale sighting must've been a nice experience. I agree with Matt, the third one appears to be the nicest even though it has no whale in it.

I really love the baked shot, can you send me the recipe...

Great work.. the second one is so cool...

Jim, I'm really liking that fourth one. Great composition!

Ron

Matt Tilghman wrote:
A beautiful sentiment, Jim, but not your best photos in my opinion. These are great photos, but your photos have been beyond great lately. 4 is a bit too 'baked' for my taste, and the others are edited perfectly, but don't hold my attention for too long. Of those 3, the third would have to be my favorite, as it seems like a well thought out abstract. The first two seem more like the endeavors of a whale watcher, not a photographer.

Hey Matt, thanks for the comments. These are different, and it was nice to shoot something different. I am sure I wouldn't put these up with my best, but they were what I shot on New Years Day so I am kinda stuck with them...

As for the first two, I definitely am not a whale watcher, but they seemed cool to me, and it was fun to see. It was something totally out of the ordinary for a Southern California beach sunset shots, so maybe the experience was better then the photograph... I added those first two into this set simply because they were fun shots to see and shoot.

Jim

rhee wrote:
Hello Jim... I like #4 best out of these. (Oh.. these look like the ones I took... meaning... you guess.. )

Happy Shooting!

Kee

Hey Kee,

Don't tell me you were there? There was a ton of people there that night, I guess being a holiday and all helped with the crowds. I am glad you liked #4, the colors were cool.

Jim

Milan Hutera wrote:
Well, I, too, started out on january 1st, just haven't processed and shared it yet . Surely the whale sighting must've been a nice experience. I agree with Matt, the third one appears to be the nicest even though it has no whale in it.

Hey Milan,

I hope everyone realizes that I wasn't there to shoot whales, they just happened to pop up, so as a photographer, I started shooting them, cause you know, it's what we do...

With #3, I had set up and was just going for the patterns with the gold and blue in the water when I spotted the birds flying in the corner of my eye, so I took a couple of shots as they flew through, this was my favorite.

Now get to work on processing your New Years Day shots!

Jim

Zeph wrote:
I really love the baked shot, can you send me the recipe...

Ha ha... thanks Zeph. Yeah, #4 doesn't seem that baked too me, but it's good to hear that Matt thinks that as it's good to hear about the shots from different eyes.

Jim

Jim,

I like #4, its a very strong photo. I like the vertical reflection lines (banding on the 800E? haha no no i'm not going to open that can of worms :P ) and the colors. I don't think the colors are baked personally myself (its subjective to personal taste). I've seen sunsets like this in SoCal, strong orange and yellows (though I think usually from the smog and usually inland ).

The first three are definitely not your usual photos, but its always good to explore. You'll need a bigger canon ( ).

Jason

Hi Jim,
I never captured whales in the wild. Sounds very challenging. Thanks for sharing.
I really like your fourth shot. Amazing sunset colors with many layers of reflection and detail.
Best,
Fred

Wonderful start to the year, Jim. Lovely images. Partial to the last. Happy New Year.

Cheers,
Ed

Very cool catch in the 1st, Jim!
The last is a delight.

Barry

Hi Jim,

Looks like a fun time that was had. The whale shot with the bird in the spray is great. Is there a chance to crop into that one for more detail of the whale and bird? Your reflection of the sunset is a beautiful shot. Nicely done.

JBR