Drifted Ashore

Posted on 7 May 2012 by Chris DeAngelis

This shot is from one of the better sunsets since I got to Okinawa.  I shot on this beach with my son after returning some dive gear at the adjacent marina.  There is a stone pier that juts out to sea that I thought would be perfect for some sunset and long exposure work.  I ventured out but didn’t realize that I scouted during low tide and returned to shoot during high tide!  I did some shooting on the beach anyways and was drawn in by this piece of drift wood that had washed ashore.  I liked how it was ‘pointing’ down the curve of the water and seawall to lead your eye through the frame.  It was almost telling me to ‘go that way’ and shoot some more… which I did… and you will see at a later date!

As far as processing, I had captured an exposure for the foreground and one for the sky, but in post realized that my first shot was pretty nicely exposed.  I ran the image through CS5 and LR3, and after comparison, liked the LR version better (a much faster edit too!).  I’m currently using this as my iPhone home screen and if you would like to also, you can download it here!

(Click to view large in the light box!)

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40L, 21mm, f/8, ISO 200, 30 seconds, Marumi 3 stop ND

Posted in Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, Canon 5D Mark II, Japan, Landscape, Long Exposure, Nature, Okinawa | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

No Swimming

Posted on 4 May 2012 by Chris DeAngelis

When I shoot, I tend to linger in one spot…  I haven’t become ‘good’ enough to get my shot and know it’s my shot right away.  This is especially true (and time consuming) with longer exposures/ND filters.  In this case I set up and probably took 10-15 shots of the same scene because I wanted the clouds to be streaking just right over the ocean.  I ended up processing the first shot that I took and it looked pretty good.  I felt bad for the others though and went back and reviewed the skies, and wouldn’t you know it, the last shot I took had the sky you see below.  Now I wouldn’t have had this problem if my darn remote didn’t break on day 1 of my trip and I would have just shot a 1 minute exposure, but I was limited to 30 seconds so I’m glad that I stuck around!  You may have seen the set up shot on my Instagram feed a couple days ago so I hope you enjoy the final product as well!

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Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40 L, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100, 30 seconds, B+W 10 stop ND

Posted in Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, Canon 5D Mark II, Japan, Landscape, Long Exposure, Nature, Okinawa | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Road Work, 50 Meters

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Chris DeAngelis

Well, the weather has been less than spectacular since we’ve been in Okinawa…  It has rained almost every day and even though the forecast has called for thunderstorms, I haven’t seen any good lightning. :(  Usually by this time, the water starts to get nice and blue and the skies are just perfect, but the season is just a little bit behind schedule…  The kids and wife weren’t feeling well today, so just a quick one from our trip so far!

There has been lots of fast moving clouds overhead, so I have tried to make the best of the weather by shooting long exposures.  If you follow me on Instagram (C_DeAngelis), you may have seen the bridge shot that I posted a couple days ago.  After shooting a few exposures of that from a restaurant parking garage, I ventured out into the road for some light trail shooting.  I liked the curves in the road when I was scouting earlier and decided to use the road work sign as my focal point.  For those of you who aren’t really paying attention, notice the backwards light trails… I have accidentally turned down the wrong side of the road a few times out here and it takes a little getting used to :)

I processed this in LR with VSCOFilm today :)

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Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40L, 31mm, f/16, ISO 100, 25 sec.

Posted in Abstract, Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, Canon 5D Mark II, Japan, Landscape, Long Exposure, Night, Okinawa, Urban | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Giant Jacks

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Chris DeAngelis

This image is from my first day out shooting in Okinawa.  It was pretty rainy after we arrived, but I decided to venture out for some shooting after the rain had passed.  The clouds were moving quickly, but the layer overhead was still pretty overcast.  I knew I wanted to shoot some long exposures near the sea wall and I climbed down to shoot these giant concrete jacks out in the ocean.  These are used to brace the seawall that runs along much of the west shore of Okinawa.  I love the textures on these and thought they contrasted nicely with the smooth water.  I was hoping for some streakier clouds, but I was only able to get 15 second exposures with my 10 stop.  I shot 1 exposure for the sky and another for the jacks and blended them together.  I’m hoping the weather is clearer over the next couple weeks!

(Click to view large in the light box!)

Canon 5DMarkII, Canon 17-40L, 17mm, f/16, ISO 100, B+W 10 stop ND

Posted in Architecture, Black&White, Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, Canon 5D Mark II, Japan, Landscape, Long Exposure, Okinawa | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Union Pacific – Building America

Posted on 20 April 2012 by Chris DeAngelis

I apologize for the little hiatus that I took from the blog the past 2 weeks, but things were pretty hectic!  We moved out of our house (3 days with movers) and into a hotel in Fresno, then hopped on a plane on Monday and flew to visit my in-laws in Okinawa Japan!  Total travel time was almost 24 hours from hotel to home here.  The baby did fantastic, but the 2 year old is… well 2… :(  Anyways, between the busy move and jet lag, this is the first time I’m able to sit down and post.  It’s Saturday here, but we’ll call this my Friday post, OK?

There are very few things I have missed about my old camera set up since switching to my 5DMarkII, but one of them is the ProOptic 8mm Fisheye lens…  I made some great images with that little manual lens, but alas, it doesn’t work on a full frame camera.  When I first started in photography, I never contemplated shooting with a fish, but I had that one lent to me and I was hooked!  My buddies Jesse Pafundi and Rich Williams consistantly are killing it with the fish and I have been really itching to get one for myself.  Canon actually stopped making their 15mm, and Jesse highly recommended the Sigma, so I decided to take the plunge!

I shot a little around the house during the move, but what better way to break in the new fish was to head to the local train yard…  It was a pretty rainy day, but I got about an hour of fantastic cloud cover!  I shot a couple different comps here, but this was definitely my favorite!  I got out shooting in Okinawa today and I’m certain I will have a fair amount of fisheye shots to share! :)

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Canon 5DMarkII, Sigma 15mm Fisheye, 15mm, f/16, ISO 100, 9 exposures

Posted in California, Canon 5D Mark II, HDR, Landscape, Lemoore, Sigma 15mm EX DG Fisheye, UrbEx | 6 Comments