Transitions – The battle between day and night

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing along the Central Coast of CA. While in CA a lot I hadnt been to this part of the state yet. Just so happened the trip coincided with the full moon so naturally my mind starts to line up ideas that could be possible. While we had been at the dunes earlier in the week the decision was to come back for sunset on our last night. Full moon rise right around sunset. While sunset was great (see previous post) the light was about to get crazy. There is a very small window of time, where the fading twilight starts to balance the brightness of the moon. It is in this brief window that I am now completely enraptured by. Nothing compares to the uniqueness of the colors that become possible. In the end I believe I was able to just take 3 photos before the light wasnt quite the same. This image I have two versions of, one cropped to make an interesting panorama. I am including both for your viewing. Which do you prefer??

Enjoy!
aF

1

Ripples on the sand illuminated by twilight and moonlight.
“Transitions” (unreleased) © 2017

2

Ripples of sand illuminated by twilight and moonlight along California's Central Coast.
“Transitions II” (unreleased) © 2017

Dunes in…CA?!

Just got back from a 10 day trip to CA…of which I was able to shoot for 7 of them. Havent been able to shoot that much in, perhaps years. Not only was a pushing buttons but also exploring places I hadn’t been yet in California, then Central Coast. Even with all my trips I had not made it down to that part of the world. Needless to say I will be returning. Incredible seascapes, rolling hills, incredible Oak trees…dunes (my favorite). After looking out of the window on one of my many plane trips I noticed an area below that I had to explore. Didnt know it would take years to get there but we ended up spending 2 separate shoots there over 4 days. This particular shot was taken on the return trip for sunset. Which started out VERY windy (and chilly, even though the temperature was 15F higher just a bit inland). As the sunset the wind subsided and the light turned magic. In normal aF fashion I was scurrying around as the light dwindled trying to find whatever compositions I could. I was initially above this dune and then noticed the shape of the shadow and curves leading toward the point in the background. After tweaking the composition 3 times the 4th resulted in this image.

There will be lots to share from this adventure and please enjoy this surreal place!

aF

Sunset along Oceano Dunes in Central California
Untitled Dune © 2017 (unreleased)