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Under the Pier - Berkeley
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Under the Pier - Berkeley by PatrickSmith
This view underneath the Berkeley pier was taken at low tide so that the mussels and dark seaweed can be seen. And plus it is only at low tide when you can squeeze under the pipes to get to this spot relatively dry. Waves kept splashing salt spray onto the filters, so the plastic bag over the camera and filters came in handy. So it took about 20 minutes to get this shot because at least once every 30 seconds a wave would make me have to cover up.
This pier sits on a fault line and on top of 300 feet of mud so there is not a straight line in sight! I have now been under lots of piers and in this area they all have plenty of cracks and rust. Great for photography.
I've been experimenting with HDR (not on this shot) and have come close to getting the results I want. I hope that the new version of PhotoMatix (that should be released sometime soon I hope) will do a better job. I'll have to try this using HDR, though in this case, the inverted ND grads also increase the exposure time, which I like for these sorts of shots. And a little extra contrast and limited dynamic range vs. HDR helps bring out a little extra definition and boldness I think.
30 second exposure @F18 with inverted ND grad 0.9
| Date Added: | 15 Jan 2007 - 15:08 |
| Camera: | Canon 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 24-105L @50 |
| Film: | RAW ISO 50 |
| Categories: | Architecture General Landscape / Travel |
| Tags: | berkeley pier san francisco long exposure |
| Readers' Votes: | 197 |

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Peter

Brian..............
Jim


Sean



Yes Peter, it took about 1 minute to process 8 shots I had taken this weekend but shorter on some ones with only 3 exposures.
Keith, I'm using 'Merge to HDR' and then tone mapping. Since I don't have that ghosting tool yet, I haven't tried to shoot anything with waves. It works fairly well on normal daytime shots, but I tried one from under a pier with the GG bridge in view (in much brighter light) to the left as the sun set. But even with a wide range of exposure values, it came out really strange. It was a series of long exposures varying from 1-5 minutes, but by the time I'd taken the last one, it was much darker and the light was much different. Oh well. I'll try it again later.
I did try the 'fake HDR' with blending in PS and it looked even more strange!
It is great to try out shots that I would not even attampt with grads. I can't wait to get this process right.
Patrick

another great and well done image!
jennnnnnnn

Phil.

I nearly clicked this....but I've seen it before and I'm feeling non-generous.

Aha Keith, then I'll have to do an HDR version of this, though there isn't a lot of contrast. You asked for it! I'll have to wait until later this week when the tide is low near sunset. The forecast is for more dead-clear skies for the next week so I have to wait for sunset. 100 mile visibilities today.
I know Maddie, isn't he a meanie? LOL!
Patrick
I love the infinity in this,more so than your last shot,however might of been tempted to crop that firt horizontal beam?
I do have one zoomed in a little more starting from the second beam but it doesn't quite have as much 'going to infinity' feel to it.
Patrick


Reminds me, my first job abroad in 1973/4 at Ras Tanura, Saudi-Arabia, We did a modification/extention underneath the large pier where the ships came loading the Oil products. Views like this, but lots of pipes to. lol
Jan

Tom.

Eric.

Thanks Mike, I haven't done one yet this year. Not in the right place at the right time!
LOL Jan, I will have to take a trip to the middle east to get more shots like this!
Thanks Eric. I did try to get high tide line into the right spot. I had to fiddle around with the composition for a while, as there were no straight lines or anything to go on.
Patrick

Bridget

that is one amazing shot,i like how you can tell with the dark band then the green lichen band,then the wood/textured shot with the grain all the way up.The symmetry,perspective,the water that looks mirrored and the beauty of it all they way along.A magical natural abstact.My kind of shot.Perfect!!!
Take care.Ann



New snow here now and -5 C, when writing this, BUT expecting +4 C tomorrow and RAIN!! AGAIN! Grr!!!
Hope Suze don´t get cold there....LOL....
Jouko

This HDr lark sounds fun..all I have to do is take some landscapes..lol
I like the textures here,this is a good sidekick to the prievious one in your pf wih the water higher.
Hope you had your waterwings on...Dangerman..lol
Janet

Mike
Ann, I like those bands too. Low tide is the best time to get these sorts of shots. That high tide mark really adds something to it.
Rain Jouko? This is amazing. One of my co-workers used to live a few hundred miles away on the Russian side of the border and it used to get frozen solid over there. Something is really happening. It will be warmer there than here, at least when it is night time here. I got to work and it was +10. Much warmer than at my house. Berkeley is near the 13c water. LOL - The Megsta will be fine. It is very warm where she is. But there is a massive amount of cold air to her west that will eventually reach her.
LOL Janet, the only danger here was squeezing through the pipes and hoping that the rising tide did not trap me in there! HDR really allows you to get shots that normally would be too contrasty. I can't wait to do more.
Mike? LOL - I thought you were 'Mr. Smith' Well Infinity is like.... WAY out there. In this case about 1/2 mile.
Patrick
Ali

Jeanie
edit; was just showing this to Trev and was telling him about your suggestion that I do this here with one of the 3 piers close by -then I realised that to get the water this high in any image I took I would get wet right up to my shoulders! Hee hee!!

Pauline.
John
Yes Ali, I like it too because it just goes on and on....
Hi Dennis. I think I may try one with HDR just to see what it can do. Since it is right near work, it will be a good place to experiment when it is low tide at sunrise or sunset.
I like that too Jeanie.
John it is over 1/2 mile long. And then there is another part that has collapsed off from the end of it. You can see ti on my PF page. It was much longer at one point.
Patrick

Incredible perspective and depth, well worth the perseverance
Malcolm

Mark.

Dot

Mark



Nikki


Nigel


gill

Greg
stay well
and happy new year!
tonymarq
I'll try an HDR version later. I just did one that turned out very well. And it looked complely natural as I saw it with my eyes.
Patrick

Bruce.


Jon
chris

Allie


marc.

Has a tremendous symmetry to the shot, even though it's not symmetrical!! Bit of a contradiction there but you know what I mean.
Martin


click
Dave
I know what you mean Martin. There is not a straight line anywhere in the shot! But somehow it is symmetrical. I spent quite a while fiddling around with the composition.
Yes Terry, I like how the posts gradually disappear. Wait until you see the Santa Monica Pier. Lots of potential there. But no symmetry.
LOL Dave... Yes, I almost tricked Keith into voting for this one. I should have said it was HDR!
Patrick

alex
MikeA.
Hawk



Hi Alex, it seems to depend on how you bracket the images. I'm working it out now. I'll let you know.
Mike, I'll be doing other versions. We'll see whether the shadows of each piling appear on those versions.
I know what you mean Ian. Everything is off kilter here but somehow the overall effect still came through. But this is not as perfect as the other pier. I do have some other that are, however.
Patrick

Photomatix for the HDR software, been given a good site address by Dave Hirst (tandberg)
www.petemc.net/hdr-guide/
john
Yes Walter, not a straight line in sight! No, I did not get to Long Beach. It is far away from the family in Northridge and on the way to and from San Diego, it was dark! And it always works out that way so I'll have to make a specific trip there. I will get there eventually.
John, these can be difficult, as grads are usually needed in rather unusual angles and the light changes so much that exposure times are difficult to get right. I shot a 10 minute exposure last weekend. It took 30 minutes to get it right. And it was my last chance before complete darkness took over. Thanks for the link. It has lots of good links and other information.
LOL Ade!
Patrick
Mo.
Lisa


A wonderful shot, Luv those colours and the depth you've captured, just Beautiful!
Hope you're having a good week....

Suzan

PS: Thanks for the mod.....Great job!
PSS: It's 2°C tonite.....

Well done
Oh and my image was from one raw file
Dave
I know what you mean Lisa. I lost a few comments myself.
Suzee, this is the winter with no winter for you guys back east. We are having the coldest one in a long time! And no clouds either in almost a month... during the rainy season??
Thanks for the info Dave.
Thanks Mo, Jim and Phil!
Patrick


Andrew


Andrew
LOL - Rebecca, I think you must be on the wrong page!
Patrick

I am looking forward to seeing your HDR in the near future.
Simon
Susie :o)

I love the long exposure effect you've captured here in the water.

Brian.
Yes simon. It was rather cramped in there, so that makes sense.
Thanks Howard. It is like how you described. I get a little dizzy looking at it.
Patrick

185 clicks and no comments? well something is wrong here!
I took a HDR of under a pier much like this one, it turned out to be my most voted and viewed image, a modest figure compared to yours but I'm satisfied with it.

was it me that alerted you to this?
Thanks,
Patrick

---LOL--------------------------

---------------------------------squeeze -------------------
Great picture well done
Doug































Well done.
Rob