This is from 2013. We were headed toward San Francisco to photograph the full moon coming up over the city – from a few thousand feet. The results were very disappointing, but on the way down along the coast fog was rolling in at sunset and I got this. It was an effort as I was trying to manage a 300mm f/2.8 in the very small cockpit of a Taylorcraft, but I had persuaded Ted to take off my side window which gave me a little more maneuvering room. I had a very limited angle, though, to avoid the wing strut just off to the right, and couldn’t stick the lens out past the plane of the window due to wind buffet from the propwash.
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D3, 300mm f/2.8 + 1.4X, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/640 sec. Raw file re-processed with today’s LR version and Topaz DeNoise. Minor dodging of a darker area in LL and gradient burn from the bottom. A touch of Nik CEP Tonal Contrast.
The ridges, the fog and the light together with the colors makes this a great image. First, I thought that the vertical lines maybe came from any window/light effect, but then I red that the window was demounted. Is it due camera/plane movement or is it anyhow an effect of the light? Anyhow, I think the vertical lines add to the quality of the image. One possibility could be to crop a little bit of the FG, it is the least interesting part of the image.
Thanks, @Ola_Jovall! You’re seeing light beams coming through openings in the trees and illuminating the fog – or more accurately, the shadows of the trees. I have other views as we moved on over maybe 30 seconds, with the beams at more of an angle, but the best light was shooting directly toward the sun. and I liked the composition of the ridges better on this one. I’ve shot similar light at other areas on the coast – I’ll go digging and post a couple.
Oh, this is awesome, Diane. We used to live in San Jose and we traveled to the city often. The fog rolling in from the coast always was a wonder to see. You’ve captured the essence of this perfectly. What a wonderful scene.
This is absolutely gorgeous, Diane! The light rays coming through the trees and lighting up the fog is magical and the layering with the receding ridgelines has created some wonderful depth to this lovely scene. No suggestions from me.
I will echo all the comments above. This is a wonderful image Diane. The light rays are different to the most commonly seen when we have our feet planted to the ground . The image has taken some effort to capture, so kudos there as well.
I thought about Ola’s comment about cropping a little from the bottom. Another version like that could work, but I feel the bottom section is a wonderful base for the image.
