By Kerry Drager
In the Summer, fog and the California coast just seem to go together! Foggy seascapes often translate into beautiful and moody scenics, of course. But the soft light also offers opportunities for photographing other subjects too.
After multiple days of misty shorelines on a recent trip, I started looking for small scenes along the streets of Central California's coastal towns. One morning, I discovered a row of rental surfboards lined up outside a surf shop. To my eye, the repetition of the boards had a particularly appealing graphic design quality. More shooting thoughts:
- I chose a telephoto perspective (via my 80-200 zoom), in order to give the appearance of compressing space - i.e., making the subjects look closer together than they really were. A slight tilt of the camera helped create a diagonal composition.
- Tight framing put the emphasis precisely where I wanted it - on the lines, colors, etc. - without the sidewalk, background wall, pedestrians, or other distractions.
- A polarizing filter helped minimize much of the glare, in order to make the already bold blues even bolder.
- When shooting stationary subjects, I always experiment with composition - i.e., zooming in, zooming out, and trying both formats (horizontal and vertical). Two versions are pictured below.
More info:
- Check out my BetterPhoto.com online photo classes: Creative Light and Composition and Creative Close-ups
- BetterPhoto.com's digital photography school
- Online photo sharing at BetterPhoto.com.
Surfboard Repetition 1 ... (c) Kerry Drager
Horizontal Version; f22, 1/4 sec., 80-200 zoom at 185mm; polarizing filter;
tripod & cable release; 100 ISO; Nikon D2X
Surfboard Repetition 2 ... (c) Kerry Drager
Vertical Version; f22, 1/4 sec., 80-200 zoom at 155mm;
polarizing filter; tripod & cable release; 100 ISO; Nikon D2X
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