Surf City Storn

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted January 8, 2016991 views9 comments

January 7, 2015 at Huntington Beach Pier, (California). El Nino is here and this was the tail end of the second storm passing through this week. Surf was 12 to 15 feet. This is a very tall pier and the spray was all the way to the top of the pier. I shot this photo next to the head Orange County Register photographer, and he was shooting continuous shutter from a very tight angle to get a newsworthy shot of the surf conditions at the pier. This pier is entirely made of concrete and does not have the same challenges as the Ventura Pier that was damaged last week.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 24-120 lens 23mm ISO100 1/100 f/13 White Balance Auto RAW Processed in LightroomCC2015, PhotoshopCC2015, NIK and TK I was flipping back and forth between NDF shots to get creamy surf and shots with faster shutter speeds to capture the wave effects.

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on January 8, 2016 at 10:41 PM

Hi Patrick - Send some of those storms out east , will you! Dynamic shot with the surf and sky. Spot lighting on the pier has a nice effect. Not sure if your intent, but the sky looks too saturated and cyan for me. The rest of the scene looks, fine, so maybe that was your plan to process. Even the clouds in the top have taken on the cyan cast. Maybe an adjustment in the sky would help.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 9, 2016 at 2:25 PM

Beautiful, Patrick! Intended or not, saturated or not, the surf, the warmly lit pier, the cool blue sky—a perfect blend here. I would be glad to call this mine. But I do wish you had included a larger image so I could admire it all the more! cool

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 9, 2016 at 7:45 PM

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 9, 2016 at 7:45 PM

Large Version

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on January 10, 2016 at 8:12 AM

I like this image. The feeling of the heavy surf, the nice light and the clouds right above the pier work really well. My only nit and it was the first thought when I open the image was the top part of the sky is a bit to dark. I think if it were lightened just a little it would blend better with the lower part of the sky. Just my opinion.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on January 10, 2016 at 2:57 PM

I have looked at this a couple of times and I like the drama. The composition works nicely, but I agree that the sky looks over-processed in terms of color--the cyan and blue are too strong, so I'd back those colors off quite a bit. The one thing I am curious about is the dark blue band at the top. I would expect a more gradual transition in the gradient of the sky's tonal values. I think with some tweaking, you'd have a fine image, here.

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 10, 2016 at 3:46 PM

Thank you Harry, Phil and Preston for your feedback. By my eyes, your suggestion have helped me to find a much better image. You exemplify the power of NPN. You are super-stars in my estimation.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on January 11, 2016 at 5:03 PM

The last posted image shows your work has paid off. Much better and it pops nicely.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on January 11, 2016 at 8:12 PM

Patrick,

Excellent seaside and pier image. The light on the pier is great and the surf is wonderful - especially in the larger view (thank you!) because we get to see the extra drama in the waves. Oh, and I just notice the pilings reflecting in the sand too - Nice!

The repost is much better handling the blue/cyan. I do think perhaps a tad more reduction in the cyan, but I wouldn't lighten this any further.

Terrifc M&N image.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments