Morro Bay — Nathaniel Young

Central Coast Sunset | Sony Alpha a7 II + 24-70mm f/4 @ 70mm, f/9, ISO 100, 3/10 sec - still frame from my time-lapse

My family headed to the Central Coast this past winter, and we enjoyed some hiking and exploring along with some good food. It took us a while to get out of the house and on the road; after a long lunch break as well, we finally checked into our inn. Funnily enough, it just happened just a few buildings away from another inn we stayed at when I had a baseball showcase in the same area several years ago. Anyway, since we arrived much later than we originally planned to, we did not have time to head to the beach or do any hiking. With the sun setting in half an hour, we jumped in the car and headed up the hill to find a good viewpoint for sunset. Once we got to the gate of the hiking trail, we realized that it was closed. Then, we decided to head further up the windy road, and we were greeted with a wonderful view overlooking the rolling hills and coastline. From this viewpoint, you could see Morro Rock in the distance which was pretty cool. There was no parking lot – just a handful of cars that pulled off to the side of the road with everyone sitting in their cars while enjoying the sunset. It was a little windy up there, so I think most people wanted to stay warm.

I honestly had no expectations to come away with a photo from this evening. By the time we arrived, the sun was already below the horizon. I originally just walked out from the car to enjoy the view with only my phone in hand. Then, we decided to take a family photo, so I took out my camera and tripod to do that. Since I was here anyway and the clouds were looking pretty good, I decided to set my camera up for a time-lapse. Originally, I was a little sad that I did not bring a telephoto lens with me on this trip, but it turns out that I actually do like the wider field of view that I ended up capturing because of all of the colorful clouds in the sky. And boy, the colors and the clouds did not disappoint. Good thing that the best colors always come a little bit after sunset.

After we got back to our inn, we rested and played some card games. The next morning, we got up early for some breakfast before heading down to Montaña de Oro State Park for some hiking. It was nice and warm outside, and the hiking was pretty easy as we went on a very flat trail along the coast. Last winter, our family went to Yosemite National Park, and it was very cold. So, this time, my dad wanted to go to somewhere much warmer – and without snow. Then, we headed back to Morro Bay for some lunch before going to the beach to catch another sunset. Unlike the previous day, the sky was mostly clear of clouds.

Sand Formations | Sony Alpha a7 II + 16-35mm f/2.8 GM @ 17mm, f/22, ISO 100, 1 sec with Syrp ND filter

My original plan was to photograph Morro Rock, but there were no clouds in that direction; however, there were some clouds along the horizon to the west. As the sun was setting, I was aimlessly walking along the beach hoping to find an interesting subject to photograph. I was switching lenses to see if a different focal length could somehow magically allow me to find a better composition. Since it was low tide, there was a lot of exposed beach; and in the end, I stumbled across this interesting sand formation in the ground. I frantically switched back to my wide angle lens, put on an ND filter, and got my tripod set up as low as possible. It was quite a challenge holding my bag while setting up my camera since I did not want my bag to get wet – my bag would probably have been alright regardless though. Since I was so close to my subject, I put my camera at f/22 and had to do a two shot focus stack. After I took this photo, I ended up moving my camera to the right a bit, but the first photo ended up being my favorite. It was only about five minutes later that the next wave came in and washed over the sand formation. Since the light was already fading and my foreground interest was gone, that meant it was time to pack up and go back to the car.

Here are a couple of behind the scenes photos of my camera setup from those two sunsets that I photographed. These were not exactly the photos that I had in mind before I went on this trip. I figured that I would get a photo of Morro Rock and its reflection in the receding tide along with the sand formations in the ground. Failing that, I figured that I would at least capture some sea stacks with some interesting water motion in the foreground. Even though these two photos that I captured were different than my original idea, I am pleasantly surprised with them. I learned that instead of trying to force a composition to work, it is best just to let the best light dictate where I point my camera. In these cases, I just looked where the clouds were. And it seemed to work out pretty well. The only downside is that I have not cleaned my camera sensor in a while. Instead, I had to spend time in Photoshop and Lightroom cloning out the sensor spots. Let me tell you, cloning out sensor spots on one photo is fine, but doing it on a time-lapse while the clouds are moving adds another level of difficultly.

The following day, we headed to Solvang in the morning – a place where my parents visited a long time ago before my brother and I were born. Throughout the trip, it was always fun listening to my dad talk about the different types of clouds. I remember particularly while we were waiting for lunch in Solvang, my dad was telling us the names of the clouds that were overhead. Then, we saw some Monarch Butterflies and walked along the beach at Pismo Beach. By that time, the storm front was rolling in, and the skies were covered in low, gray clouds.

Also, here are a few more photos from our trip that I like. And I hope you enjoyed my blog post and my photos. I sure enjoyed the trip and writing about my adventures.