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Withered Cypress and Pfeiffer Arch

Posted by
Don Smith (California, United States) on 13 December 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

At least once a year at this time I journey down to Pfeiffer Beach along the Big Sur coast as the sun is on its southern-most track allowing it to align with the opening of the arch. If there is enough mist in the air, or if one time's it right after a crashing wave, you'll get a nice orange glow as it nears sunset. My plan on this trip was to try something different, although I did not know what or how. Upon arriving, I decided to climb the sandstone cliff directly opposite the arch. Unfortunately, the contrast range was so great (about 9 stops from the shadowed front of the arch to the sky), I knew I would have to isoloate on the arch itself. About 15 minutes before sunset the light was taking on a beautiful warm glow and the orange mist was clearly visible. Frustated with my pre-scouted position, I began moving around in search of something new. I spotted this withered cypress and hit on the idea of juxtaposing it with the arch as a secondary subject. I was shooting with my new Canon 28-300mmL lens (a very sharp piece of glass) and came up with this composition at f/22 and a slow shutter speed of 1.3 seconds which in turn allowed for some movement of the water. I teach two workshops per year in Big Sur (one in March and the other in August) and Pfeiffer Beach is always one of our shooting locations. If you would like more information on these and all of my workshops, please got to my website at http://www.donsmithphotography.com and click on the Workshops tab on my homepage.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 13/10 second F/22.0 ISO 200 100 mm

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