Dawn at Shipwreck Beach, Kauai

Posted by Don Smith (California, United States) on 10 September 2009 in Landscape & Rural.

UPCOMING 2009 / 2010 WORKSHOPS:

Water movement can often times transform an image from ordinary to extraordinary. I am finishing the edit of my late-July scouting trip to Kauai, Hawaii and came across this image which I captured on my last day on the island at Shipwreck Beach.

What first caught my eye about this setting was a calm pool of water amongst this bed of lava. I had checked the tidal charts and knew the tide was receding, and my hope was to capture the reflection from the clouds once the warm dawn light arrived. I actually accomplished my goal in the first sequence of images as I used a Singh-Ray 5-stop soft edge split neutral density filter to give me a proper blend of exposure between the bright sky and the dark lava. Then I hit on the idea of having some movement in the water and turned around to grab my Singh-Ray 8-stop variable neutral density filter just as a large waved crashed across the lava. It hit with such intensity that it knocked my tripod/camera over; needless to say, I thought my Canon 1DsMKIII was toast!

I quickly grabbed a cloth out of my backpack and wiped the camera and my 16-35mmL 2.8 lens down and began a cursory check for damage (all while the light was nearing its peak)! Other than a small nick near the bottom of the camera, cosmetically, everything looked fine - internally - who would know?

My rule when in the field is: when the light is happening - shoot - and ask questions later. So I recomposed my image with a low perspective. Next I turned my polarizer about 3/4 (a full turn rendered the righthand side of the frame unnaturally dark), then I held my variable neutral density filter set for -4 along with my 5-stop split grad (think contortionist) and made a couple of test frames with the RGB histograms visible on the back of the LCD. When shooting back towards the sun I carefully monitor the red histogram channel as it can easily clip chroma. This information would typically not show if I was using the luminance histogram. Two test frames later I was ready to go.

Fortunately the swell action which had knocked my camera over was still active and the next swell, which poured water into the pool, resulted in this image. My resulting shutter speed was 6 seconds. I was able to get two more attempts but the swells began to subside. Soon the water in the pool calmed and the reflection once again reappeared but at that point the warm light had started to fade. The good news is my camera and lens have seemingly survived the crash (part of the steep price tag for a pro-style body) and are working fine. If I would have taken the time to check while the light was peaking, I would have missed this image.

One other plus about shooting sunrises in Hawaii in mid-summer is that the ambient temperature is a pleasant 76 degrees (24 degrees Celsius) while the water temperature is about the same! I would have been bundled-up if shooting along the central California coast at that hour.

If you would like to join me and assistant instructor Gary Hart for a workshop next July on this beautiful island, please click here Kauai Workshop for more information.

My Website: "how to" articles, galleries, stock photos, and more...
www.donsmithphotography.com

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Comments (19)

Barbara Kile from United States

Love the patterns in the little pool and glad your gear survived! Colors are wonderful here too.

10 Sep 2009 5:12am

@Barbara Kile: I'm glad I fought the natural temptation to start trouble-shooting my camera. I see many of my workshop students lose "exceptional" moments becasue they get into the technical side of things instead of concentrating on the visual side. As we all know, moments in nature where everything comes together are fleeting - stay in your right brain during these moments.

Stefan from Thiersee, Austria

Wow, love the colors!

10 Sep 2009 6:24am

Zahai from Berlin, Germany

lovely light and beautiful scenery :)

10 Sep 2009 8:35am

Elora from Genoa, Italy

Absolutely lovely, and I'm glad you camera survived its near death experience! I always love that soft water effect!!

10 Sep 2009 11:32am

@Elora: Hi Elora, I am often asked at workshops as to what shutter speed to use when photographing water. The simple answer is, there is no magic formula. Obviously in film days one had to due much testing and keep meticulous notes just to get in the ballpark. So many factors come into play, including the speed of the water and your distance to the water. Our tiny LCD's can at least give us a clue as to what is going on, but the best method I have found is to experiment and bracket. The old acronym CYA is very apropos to this situation.

Viewfinder from Bradenton, FL, United States

Super nice movement shot. The water looks magical.

10 Sep 2009 12:05pm

BJ from Murfreesboro, United States

Incredible color, love the touch of sun sparkling on the rocks

10 Sep 2009 1:17pm

@BJ: Hi BJ, welcome to my blog. You have actually hit on one of the benefits of shooting dark subjects (such as this lava bed) and that is the highlights (in this case spectral in nature do to the water) hold their detail. If these rocks were mid-tone, the highlight would be washed out - not necessarily a bad thing - but more noticeable. I do have to ask, where is Murfreesboro?

john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States

Magnificent photograph. Incredible light. Love the cottony wave action. (We always enjoyed hiking the bluffs above Shipwreck Beach.)

10 Sep 2009 3:34pm

Steve from Camdenton, United States

Great shot of the light sky and the dark lava. Thanks for the explanation and insight to the use of the filters. (I can see the contortionist thing happening)

10 Sep 2009 6:13pm

@Steve: Thanks for your nice comments Steve - hope to hear from you again.

Eleftheria from Athens, Greece

I love the water.......

10 Sep 2009 6:17pm

Zoom from France

What a moving spectacle ! Thrilling, fascinating, unforgettable. Thanks for sharing Don, with such talent.

10 Sep 2009 7:00pm

Vitor Martins from Lisboa, Portugal

This is the kind of photo that I like, amaizing composition and amaizing colors , with "silky" water. Very, Very nice. I realy like your work, as well as, Gary Hart work.

10 Sep 2009 7:01pm

@Vitor Martins: Thanks Vitor, I like Gary Hart's work also, he's an excellent landscape photographer. Gary and I have been teaching workshops together for the past 4 years. I assist him on 4 of his workshops, and he assists on mine. We have two completely different styles when it comes to working in the field, but it is the results that count.

alex centrella from California, United States

simply beautiful !

10 Sep 2009 9:07pm

@alex centrella: Thanks Alex, nice to hear from you.

Lambspun from Madison, Maine, United States

Oh my.....this is gorgeous.....very magical photo. Thank God for your equipment and that things are safe.

10 Sep 2009 11:25pm

@Lambspun: I think a good lesson for all of us is that equipment can be replaced but not the people making the images. Sometimes we put ourselves in precarious locations for the sake of making an image. Every location has a potential for disaster, around the ocean, it is obviously wet rocks and rogue waves. It is just being aware of our circumstances and perhaps not pushing the envelope so far that we get ourselves into trouble.

Tracy from La Selva Beach, United States

Awesome! This is my kind of scene! Love the low perspective, and the movement of the water...Glad to hear your camera is OK, too!

11 Sep 2009 12:26am

@Tracy: Thanks Tracy, CPS has gotten enough of my business over the years.

Judy from Brooksville, Florida, United States

Oh, my word ... and yet you kept on going and got this breath-catching image.
Contortionist perhaps, and very talented! 50 *****

11 Sep 2009 4:54am

@Judy: Thanks for the compliment Judy, I am really trying to get the point across that quality light is fleeting. I see far too many workshop students lose the moment because they get overly concerned about equipment issues. When the light is right - shoot - ask questions later.

SCOTT F. SCHILLING from San Martin, United States

Don, you are a very lucky man! And I am glad the camera still works because this is a fantastic image. When I first saw it loading I thought that it was Pt. Lobos and a shot near carmel river beach, the image has similar characteristics of land. Wonderful color and the clouds in Hawaii are fantastic! I like the shutter speed on this! Great work and have a fantastic weekend!

11 Sep 2009 5:11am

@SCOTT F. SCHILLING: Thanks Scott - and thanks for the head's up about Saturday.

Jen from St. George, United States

Glad your camera survived! It's a stunning shot with a great composition. I love the low perspective, and the light dancing across the wet rocks. The colors are amazing to. My favorite element is the swirl of water in the little tide pool. :)

11 Sep 2009 4:34pm

BJ from Murfreesboro, United States

you have a great blog, very informative and beautiful photo work. by the way Murfreesboro is a small town outside of Nashville Tennessee and we moved here from California 20 years ago and had never heard of it either

11 Sep 2009 7:24pm

@BJ: Thanks BJ - I have been to Nashville - great city!