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This beach in Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco can only be reached during an extremely low tide. These conditions expose normally submerged creatures for about 1 hour. Even then, the water in this pool becomes a whirlpool with every wave and I had to raise the camera and tripod above my head each time. And the rock became completely submerged almost every time. So wellies are useless here - LOL!
I had to wait for the fog to be thick enough to reduce the contrast and provide more even lighting.
1/10 second exposure @F22 with ND grad 0.6 (I notice no image degradation at F22 at the widest angles of this lens. And just a little when zooming to 40.)
| Title: | Starfish Pool |
| Username: | 
PatrickSmith |
| Uploaded: | 30 Oct 2006 - 3:24 PM |
| Camera: | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens: | Canon 17-40L @19 |
| Recording media: | RAW ISO 50 |
| Tags: | General, Landscape / travel, Starfish point reyes |
| Votes: | 157 |
Comments
A beautiful shot, the lighting is perfect. The creatures on the rock look fascinating!
Excellent composition and great light,very nicely presented a super image.
Mo.
Lovely natural colours to this Patrick, like the FG detail too..
amazing depth and beautiful foreground detail in this cracking composition
Seems so clear and beautiful on your side of the map, would love to see some of this here. Excellent work, as always your capture of just the right amount of light to enahnce the colors and tones is on the money. Spot on! Click!!!
Greg
P.S. When your done with your windows you should be pretty much an expert, come on down to my place and work on mine! 
Like the ripples and clarity with the water - the way the weed just drifts and hangs makes the scene come to life...
fantastic shot, the clarity in the water is amazing and the colours are excellent
chris
Fantastic details in the larger version!
Looks like the water is as clear as here in Finland...
Well done again, Patrick...
LOL Greg...Need a fancy little digger?? LOL...
Jouko
Beautiful lighting and the colours are superb. Great work!
Benjamin
some lovely soft, subtle light at play here Patrick, particularily on the far cliffs. Just the right length shutter speed to capture some movement in the water but not blur the floating seaweed.
Another image worth getting your feet wet for!
Mike
Thanks for looking!
Yes Greg, We're still waiting for the first significant rain since April. Just one clear day after another. We have had maybe 5 cloudy days in the last 6 months. But lots of fog at the coast fortunately. Wondows are NOT fun. Especially when the house has stucco walls. I'll never buy another fixer-upper! I thought your place was perfect.
Yes Jouko, the water is clear until the winter storms come. Then is is a greenish blue. I coudl use that digger when you're done!
Thanks for noticing Mike. That is what I wanted to capture.
Patrick
Patrick
Hey U,
Where've you been???
Sleeping on the job again......'eh??
Just spotted the Z's...LOL...
Well, you weren't sleepin' here, that's for sure.....Nicely taken, P.
Excellent rock detail, was just staring at it trying to take in all the different sea creatures hanging on...
Luv that giant black squid dangling on the end of the coral.....And I thought it was just an old sailors legend....
The water in the foreground looks like it was warm??? Like a little bath-tub...
Hope all is well....Now wake up, heard it's been way TOO quiet around here...
Later,
S
Lovely foreground texture and sense of water movement, excellent composition.
C
great light and clarity, I love all those starfish too, super large,
Chris.
One of these days I might get to see this place for myself, we can but hope. Great work
Victor
Thanks for your comments!
Suzie, I will continue to doze off until I see another shot from your neck of the woods! And no, the water is always cold here. Even in SoCal, the water is rarely above 68 (20c) even in mid-summer. It is about 60 (16c) right now and just a little colder in January, but it is not noticeable. I can have bare feet year round, but it always feels cold but not painful.
C'mon out Victor. I'll show you around!
Patrick
Beautiful perspective with stunning foreground detail.Wonderful photography.
Tom.
Great foreground detail, nice range of light and shadow across the cliffs.
Lovely composition Patrick, the spot colours produced by the starfish give it great lift.
MikeA.
Beautifully sharp and clear shot Patrick.
As well as the "interesting" rock and the incoming wave, I also like the reflections of the cliff on the wet sand.
Martin
wow, incredible shot!!
You know Pat, you need some like like Jim to do the work for you..You know, Jim? The guy from Mutual of Ohaha's Wild Kingdom? The guy who would get stuck wrestling the lion as Marlin Perkins took all the credit in safety. You need to become like Marlin anbd find you a "Jim" to go to those crazy places and take pics for you..LOL..after all, you are the EPZ Grand Poobah! I'm sure you can find you a "Jim" LOL
Anyway, GREAT photo!!
Thomas
Gorgeous light, colours, reflections and starfish Patrick, lovely work.
"Still waiting for the first significant rain since April"....we have some here you can have if you want!
Gwyn
Wonderful exposure capturing all the details. Love the almost black sea weed in the RH foreground and of course the starfish.
Mark
Lovely foreground detail, that pool looks so crystal clear. Brilliant camera work.
Rg Tony
one of my favorite places to photograph and fish in California...great clean and detail work, You are truely one of the seascape master photographers .....
alex
Brilliant shot Patrick, it amazes me that such a huge variety of wildlife live in such close proximity on these rocks. Looking forward to seeing more.
John
This is definitely the kind off picture that has to be viewed large, with all the great details.
P.S. only got about 100 mm the last 10 days
Peter
Patrick you are introducing us to some interesting locations which is always welcome. You seem to have a photographers dream location there judging by your other work.
Assuming you know where to go that is..
Chris
I agree with Jatkis, the large pic is really worth viewing. Nice capture, Pa, I do wish you would take someone with you on these expeditions though, to take all the pics of you getting into quandries!!!
Great shot, as usual :0) x
great f/g detail patricl, like the clarity of the water and the movement. This shot just proves to me we you don't have to over saturate and over sharpen a shot and rarely does it improve it.
Malcolm
Fantastic shot Patrick. There is so much to see wherever you look (even the waves in the disance). The shutter speed you chose was spot on. I would guess you got well and truly soaked getting this shot.
Nigel
Thanks for your comments!
LOL - Thomas, so I need a Jim. I remember how Marlin got all the glory and poor Jim got all the injuries! C'mon out and I'll throw in a few baywatchers for ya!
Gwyn, I'll take you up on it! Well, maybe just a little as long as I get some dramatic skes out of it!
Thanks Alex, it is one of my best spots too. I do want to see those sand dunes near Oceano though. At the right time of course!
Yes John, it is amazing how many species are crowded onto each little rock.
100 mm Peter. Well, we did get about 2mm a couple of weeks ago. What a tease! But that is how I have a few new ones with some real clouds that I'll show later.
Thanks Sweetpea. But you really wouldn't want to see what I have to do. Way too boring! However, maybe it would be comical as I run back and forth. I'm glad there is usually nobody around when I take these shots! Too embarassing....
Thanks Malcolm. I added about 5% saturation in C1 and that was it. The starfish would have been blown out since they are so comorful compared to the rest of the scene.
Yes Nigel, I got soaked up to my armpits several times! I wore shorts that could get wet, and they did!
Patrick
your work has always impressed me Patrick!. . . but I bought a 19" TFT recently [as the laptop was'nt doing it for EPZ or me! . .] your shots simply blow me away now! . . . .
. . . amazing! . . .
Mike.W
A magnificent seascape Patrick, excellent colours and composition. The detail on the creatures that inhabit the rocks in awesome
Can add nothing to the above Patrick, so will content myself with my own enjoyment of another superb shot. The larger version is fabulous!
Regards, Jim
Worth all the effort Patrick another stunning Image
Brian................
The clarity is so good it feels as if I am right there on the beach. Stunning image!
Hi Patrick,
you must know all the best nooks and crannies and littles coves and beaches there are to know around your way and that everyone else has forgotten.Your landscapes are the tops.
I love how all the little crustaceans are clinging to the rock and the seaweed is just floated into place naturally and the lovely reflected light on the water.Top class as always.
It's all been said.Exquisitely composed.You take care and don't do too many physical jerks,don't want you getting hurt.
Take care.Ann
Excellent composition Patrick, with fabulous clarity and superb detail!
gill
Cracking composition and capture. Love the lead in of the foreground rock. Bruce
Beautiful composition and lighting is this, Patrick, You do get the most amazing lighting in your shots. superb.
SB
Cracker shot, Patrick! I think this one is even better than your last upload.
Ted
This is nice but i have to say i like starfish point better simply because there is a better reflection of the cliffs in the sand, the sand appears wetter right up to the cliffs and the light is better with the fog masking the tops of the cliffs, there is also more action in the water.
This is nice though with bright colours and nice and sharp as always, there is also good lighting on the cliffs, an overall pleasing colour cast too.
Beautiful photo that stands out.I was just wondering if you use anything to protect the camera from the spay of the water.Well done and take care.
Thanks for looking in!
Yes Ann, I've lived here most of my life besides college and I do know all of the nooks and crannies. But now it is most enjoyable to return to all of my favourite spots with my camera!
That's true Terry, it is always difficult to have every perfect element in all photos. But that is why it is good to take several versions of the same location.
John (yjjeep) I have a plastic bag that I keep over the camera. It is clear so that I can set the exposure time and composition while the waves are crashing around me. Then, when things calm down, I take off the bag, plant the tripod if need be and take the shot before covering and/or running!
Patrick
Another stunning shot from you Patrick, it's wonderful to be able to see all those creatures on the rock that are normaly covered by water, the detail in the large version is superb. 10/10 for perserverance re your description!
Sez
Auch. My finger get hurt from scrolling down to the end of comments. It seems they have a lot to tell you, Patrick.
Well its an extraordinairy picture anyhow.
Must be seen large to get the full effect off.
Excellent Patrick.! Worth all the work you done for.
Jan
lots of detail in the various species on the rocks Patrick and a thoughtful and well timed composition
Clarity Patrick,that's all I can find to say.... except that I wish I'd have taken this...then I would be in your part of the World!!
great detail and Clarity Patrick,good use of the elements,nice one.
Ian.
love the light and detail patrick, what a lovely bonus to get the sea creatures aswell.
Do you crop your images Pat or are they as seen by the camera?
Thank you for your comments!
Sorry about the fingers Jan - LOL!
Come on over Janet, I'll give you a tour or show you where to go to get the best shots!
Hi Terry, it has been months since I've had to crop a shot. These are all full-frame. I want as many pixels as I can get so I can print them large. Though occasionally I have to rotate one by 0.5 degrees or less. Sometimes I don't have enough time to set them up perfectly!
Patrick
Well thought out composition Patrick (as always) beautiful colours in the foreground starfish and the focus is so good throughout, impressive work
nice one patrick, excellent f/g detail and amazing colours too.
marc.
Excellent clarity,Patrick,lots of interest here and a fine composition.
hayley
The details on the rocks and the sand colours blend beautifully Patrick...a lovely scene...I am off to London to pick up my commission from Insight Guides to photograph a location somewhere in the world, not sure where yet but will keep you posted.
Doug.
Nice one Pat.
Glad to see the fog hasn't lifted since I was out there a couple of weeks ago. Although to be honest the weather was great in SF, just crap down the coast
Cheers
Fantastic ..... just love the detail ... so clear and sharp .... colours are amazing too .... cracking comp ..... so ... I gather that you got a tad wet then Patrick .... lol ... well it was absolutely worth it ... a marvelous image! Click*
Karen
Absolutely beautiful shot, I really like the foreground details and colors too. Would like to see the full sized version of it ☼☼☼☼☼
Rob
Cracking shot Patrick.Love the rock details.Well worth the soakings!
~Alley~
fantastic shot great capture of the creatures on the rock excellent lighting and colour.
eve.
Hi Patrick, fantastic shot with an excellent composition, love the clarity of the water!
Charlotte
Looks like a monster from the deep washed up on the beach. Lovely detailed work with superb colours. Another fine quality image Patrick.
All the very best
Dougie
This is both a "big picture" and detail shot - I could look at this for ages (and have!) and still keep seeing new things, it's lovely. I love the starfish in particular. Would love to see the "master at work" running back and to/getting wet...!
Thanks for looking!
No Cathy, I don't think you'd want to see what I have to do to get these. I'm glad nobody was there!
Patrick
lovely detail and colors. it's all been said..but I wanted to add my little voice to those saying"well done indeed"
Just been sitting staring into the large version.......I absolutely love this. Fantastic detail and the starfish look so beautiful...gorgeous colours.
Ali
Lovely lighting and those gritty textures in the foreground make this an exciting seascape for me.
Hawk
Fantastic shot, the foreground detail is superb, lovely light and colours.
Pete.
Thanks for looking! I have more from here that I'll show later but I have some other ones that I want to show first.
Patrick
Oh dear i am slacking. This lacks just a bit of colour for me Patrick.
Mike
Good rock detail, but agree with above.
Looks a little washed out.
Brian.
I've not seen the SF seashore so well captured. Most of the paintings never really capture the life of the sea and its critters. Well done! Jenn
Thansk for your comments!
Don't worry Mike (Grey), this one looked very subdued to my eye so I left it that wat.
I know what you mean Jenn.
Glad you saw it Mike (Smith)!
Patrick
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