The Cave At Corona Del Mar
After a long Summer with nary a sunset worth shooting, some nice clouds are finally beginning to make their way back into Southern California. So I've obviously been making many more trips down to Laguna and Corona Del Mar lately and one such opportunity came up a couple of weeks ago. I honestly had no time to go out shooting on that particular night, but as I was working, I kept peering out of my window and I could see that a fairly nice sunset was starting to set up. Skyfire was predicting something that was absurdly low...maybe 30 percent, but as the critical hour approached, my will power finally gave out. I had 30 minutes to make it to Arch Rock from my house, and after a quick look at the tide level, I jumped in the car and floored it down the 55 freeway.
I jumped out of the car almost before it stopped rolling and raced down Poinsettia Avenue, hitting the beach almost at a full run as golden hour was just ending. The sky looked spectacular, but I forced myself to keep moving. I passed several gorgeous shots on the way down, one with two egrets staring into an incredible sunset. I usually pick my way carefully over those rocks, but on this particular night I threw caution to the wind and was surprised that I made it to Arch Rock before the sun sank below the horizon. I hurriedly set up my tripod and began firing off shots. I was shocked that I was the only photographer down there on a Saturday night with a sky like this. As the sky lit up in front of me, I tried my best to be all places at once. I lunged back across the rocks and clambered up to get a wider view of the sky behind arch rock from halfway up the cliff. Just as I was beginning to settle in I remembered that there was a small cave further South from where I was. Could I make it in time?
Bah. I threw caution to the wind and must have looked like an idiot as I danced across the rocks in a frantic attempt to get to the cave before the sky cooled off. I tried to set up the tripod but the Manfrotto has a center column and would't fit. I left the Feisol at home. (Insert bad words here.)
Ditching the Manfrotto, I slapped on the Rokinon 12mm, set the camera on a rock, and composed my shot. .
Full disclosure...this isn't so much of a "cave" as it is a tunnel, and it isn't even much of that . To get further South up the beach you can either walk across the slippery rocks in front of Arch Rock or you can crawl through a tiny tunnel. When I first crawled through it last year, I remember thinking that if I could come up with a decent sky, it might make a nice composition.
I've seen quite a few shots of the sunset from that particular night from all over Southern California. I definitely fell further behind in my mountain of work, but I had no regrets as I grabbed a burrito from Baja Fresh and headed home.
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +
The Cave At Corona Del Mar
After a long Summer with nary a sunset worth shooting, some nice clouds are finally beginning to make their way back into Southern California. So I've obviously been making many more trips down to Laguna and Corona Del Mar lately and one such opportunity came up a couple of weeks ago. I honestly had no time to go out shooting on that particular night, but as I was working, I kept peering out of my window and I could see that a fairly nice sunset was starting to set up. Skyfire was predicting something that was absurdly low...maybe 30 percent, but as the critical hour approached, my will power finally gave out. I had 30 minutes to make it to Arch Rock from my house, and after a quick look at the tide level, I jumped in the car and floored it down the 55 freeway.
I jumped out of the car almost before it stopped rolling and raced down Poinsettia Avenue, hitting the beach almost at a full run as golden hour was just ending. The sky looked spectacular, but I forced myself to keep moving. I passed several gorgeous shots on the way down, one with two egrets staring into an incredible sunset. I usually pick my way carefully over those rocks, but on this particular night I threw caution to the wind and was surprised that I made it to Arch Rock before the sun sank below the horizon. I hurriedly set up my tripod and began firing off shots. I was shocked that I was the only photographer down there on a Saturday night with a sky like this. As the sky lit up in front of me, I tried my best to be all places at once. I lunged back across the rocks and clambered up to get a wider view of the sky behind arch rock from halfway up the cliff. Just as I was beginning to settle in I remembered that there was a small cave further South from where I was. Could I make it in time?
Bah. I threw caution to the wind and must have looked like an idiot as I danced across the rocks in a frantic attempt to get to the cave before the sky cooled off. I tried to set up the tripod but the Manfrotto has a center column and would't fit. I left the Feisol at home. (Insert bad words here.)
Ditching the Manfrotto, I slapped on the Rokinon 12mm, set the camera on a rock, and composed my shot. .
Full disclosure...this isn't so much of a "cave" as it is a tunnel, and it isn't even much of that . To get further South up the beach you can either walk across the slippery rocks in front of Arch Rock or you can crawl through a tiny tunnel. When I first crawled through it last year, I remember thinking that if I could come up with a decent sky, it might make a nice composition.
I've seen quite a few shots of the sunset from that particular night from all over Southern California. I definitely fell further behind in my mountain of work, but I had no regrets as I grabbed a burrito from Baja Fresh and headed home.
--------------
Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +