During a two-day trip to San Diego, I ventured to La Jolla's Hospital Reef potholes, hoping to capture the sunset with its famous potholes. Luckily, I found parking nearby and enjoyed a short walk to the location. To my surprise, there were only a few other photographers present. I'd heard this was a popular spot, so I felt fortunate to have found such a peaceful setting. Although I didn't move around much to get different angles due to others already claiming their positions, I was able to capture the beautiful sunset as the light played on the potholes.
Thank you for viewing, and I welcome all comments and critiques.
These are great shots. Your compositions are spot on and I love the detail in the potholes. One slight technical comment is that the sun looks blown out. It could've been because of the export to JPG....I know that this is a tough shot and the only way to get the exposure right is to either use a graduated ND or to blend 2 shots, one exposed for the foreground and one for the sun. I don't know if you did either one of these techniques. I stopped carrying my graduated IDs since they are big and heavy, so my default for these scenes is to bracket a lot. I like #1 and #3
dakel wrote:
Excellent work. #3 for me. #2 there is a bright rock in the bottom edge of the frame that my pedantic self would crop out or darken.
Thanks a lot for your feedback. I did see that before posting but left is as is as it was part of the scene. Although, I do see that there is a very faint red lens flare that I should have removed in #2. Thanks for the suggestion, I will certainly play with it.
zuru wrote:
These are great shots. Your compositions are spot on and I love the detail in the potholes. One slight technical comment is that the sun looks blown out. It could've been because of the export to JPG....I know that this is a tough shot and the only way to get the exposure right is to either use a graduated ND or to blend 2 shots, one exposed for the foreground and one for the sun. I don't know if you did either one of these techniques. I stopped carrying my graduated IDs since they are big and heavy, so my default for these scenes is to bracket a lot. I like #1 and #3 ...Show more →
Zuru, thanks a lot for your feedback. All the images were single shot and I believe I did use a 3stop ND filter for some of these. I have never used graduated ND filters but I guess it would work in a scene like this one. With high dynamic range of sunlight it's always tricky I guess, I could have bracketed this series. One reason to go back......
Thank you
