2016 Walk-About Photography Event - Saturday, February
5, 2016 Huntington Beach Pier
61 Main St. corner of Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington Beach, California
Two-part photo walk-about at
Huntington Beach Pier Main St. and Pacific Coast Highway (8.5 miles
from Crowne Plaza). As it gets dark, the second part will have
participants photographing the pier with the sun setting.
Members will need to register for one or both parts of the Walk-About
when registering for the event in order to receive further information
regarding these activities. Those attending will need to pay $1.50 per
hour, to a $15.00 daily maximum, for Beach parking. Participants
will be asked to submit some of their Walk-About photos to be posted on
the Chapter web site following the event.
The following notes are from Carl
Morrison, Carl@TrainWeb.com,
714 225-8463
• The best chance for a parking space at Huntington Beach Pier,
California, is the Sixth
Street entrance off PCH, first light northwest of the Main Street pier
entrance. At the stoplight turn toward the beach,
downhill, and you will find spaces in the tiered parking lot. Pay
at a
machine. Machines take credit cards. $1.50 per hour.
Handicapped parking is
free at this lot, or any parking machine lot in town. Put the receipt
on your driver’s side dash board. (photo below)
From the lot, walk down to the beach and follow the paved path to the
left, under the pier (taking photos as you go if you wish) to the first
Lifeguard Tower No. 1.
Look for these members of the Anaheim Camera EnthusiastS (ACES) for
photo tips:
Carl Morrison, English
(look for same jacket and hat)
Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Tamron 18-270mm 1:3.5-6.3 DiII
Sunpak Pro 423PX tripod
iPhone 6+
James Wat
English, Mandarin and Cantonese
Leica M9
SONY A7
Nikon D810
Hasselblad
Bob Webber
(look for same jacket)
English, Spanish
Nikon D800 Nikon 16-35mm 1.4 lens.
Curtis Choe
English, Korean
Canon 1Dx,
5D Mark III and II.
• Check in with Carl Morrison (photo above) at Lifeguard
Tower No. 1, southeast/left of the pier. I will be there starting
at 4:30, sunset is at 5:26, the pier lights come on 15 min. after
sunset. Even with my night movie below, I left an hour after sunset,
that would be 6:30 this evening. Therefore, 4:30 to 6:30 will be the sponsored time for
this event.
You may come earlier and stay later, There are several eating and
drinking establishments directly north of the pier, up Main St.
• Suggested equipment for this Huntington Pier Sunset
shoot: DSLR camera with
live-view screen and self-timer (or your preferred camera); Circular
Polarizing Filter (for
sky/cloud contrast and water reflection adjustments) or at least UV
filter to protect your primary lens from salt spray; Tripod for stabilization and
multi-shots of surfers walking by or HDR; Cover for your camera while not in
use (I use my hat).
• Dress for cool, damp, breezy weather. (Carl and Bob's
photos above were both made while we were at the pier.) You will
be walking on dry and wet sand. Wheelchairs can easily use the
pier and paved trail at the back of the beach, but it is about 50 yards
across the dry sands to the waves. The trail runs under the pier for
photo like I have below.
• The following photos were taken from the sand. I walked
out to where the waves were rolling onto the sand. I
took these photos from a location under the pier to the second
Life Guard Tower (Number 3) on the southeast side of the pier.
• From the dry sand, with a tripod, I used 18 mm to 130 mm range
of my lens: 18 mm - 270 mm (times 1.6).
• Sunset this day was at 5:07. My first photo was at 4:46
and my last photo was at 6:10. I paid for 3 hrs. parking, but two
would have been sufficient.
• Reminder: Protect your camera and lens from the salty
breeze. More than just a lens cap. Use a moist lens towelette
during the shoot.
• Please send some photos
from this afternoon's Pier
Walk-About. Please include some of the surfers as well so we can
make a photo CD in appreciation of their being available, to:
Carl@TrainWeb.com Subject: HB
Pier photos 2/5/2016 by (first and last name) Put your copyright
in the lower right corner of all photos. Size the photos no
larger than 1024 on any side. Submitting photos signifies
permission to be published in PSA and ACES publications.
(Click
any photo below and the image will appear on a black background; Click
BACK in your browser to return to this webpage.)
17 minutes before sunset. Between Lifeguard Tower 1 and 3 south
of the pier. Surfers were entering the water at the base of the
pier and coming ashore about lifeguard tower No. 3, then walking back
toward the pier to reenter the water. I photographed them as they
passed in front of me. Foreground sand cropped as well as much
sky.
More sky and more wet sand, no surfer
Unsolicited models
Nearer Lifeguard Tower 3 the sun is near Ruby's on the end of the
pier. 130 mm
Shoot verticals for future magazine cover or phone or tablet lockscreen
photos.
HDR of photographers near Lifeguard Tower No. 3 focusing on the pier
and sunset
Single image HDR gives proper exposure of surfer. He would be
silhouette in a single shot (first photo above). Some loss of
sharpness with HDR
processing.
"Last run of the day"
The lights come on 15 minutes after sunset.
3-image HDR As the surf receds, the wet sand reflects the pier
lights. Post-processing increased saturation helps as well.
More reflections with the top and sand cropped. Good for Facebook
cover photo at 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall.
Step into your self-timed, tripod shot with the flash on for a record
shot. Maybe we can take a group shot this way before we depart.
Closer to the pier, between Lifeguard Tower 1 and the pier. Fills
more of the screen.
My last shot of the evening with my DSLR, 42 minutes after sunset. 8
sec. exposure,
f/10, ISO 1600
iPhone 6+ photos:
Park, use the machine to get your ticket, put it on the dash of your
car, enjoy.
180 degree shot of Huntington Beach south east of the pier, between
Lifeguard Towers 1 and 3 (there is no tower No. 2)
Taking less than 180 degrees in a panoramic will give you a taller
image. (Saturation added in post processing.)
Straight iPhone 6+ photo with post-processing saturation added.
My camera does not have GPS, but a shot with my iPhone, exported to
my laptop, gives the GPS location for future reference. Click "Show in
Maps" for closer location information.
Reminder: Protect your camera and lens from the salty breeze when
not in use. More than just a lens cap. Use a moist lens towelette
during the shoot.
There are opportunities to use your
video mode.
This Sunday
evening there was a drumming session in the amphitheatre just west of
the pier at the Main St. intersection. The durmmers were playing
the entire 2 hours that I was at the pier photographing. I am not
sure when this takes place or if it is a Sunday only event.
Huntington Beach Pier is also an
excellent location to photograph surfers. Bob Webber has provided
the following photos from morning visits to the pier. You might
want to return to the pier for some photos like these in the future: