If you are ever interested in getting a beautiful and unexpected sunset shot along the Oregon Coast, I would recommend that you visit during a time when the weather is stormy and unpredictable. You can almost always expect the weather, along the Oregon coast, to be unpredictable but you can never be sure what to expect. The summer months are the most predictable unless the fog stays enough offshore that you aren’t able to get a good sunset shot. This is usually the only thing that you will ruin your shots. However, if they are predicting stormy weather, you can have a much better chance of being surprised by some crazy sunset opportunities. It’s important that you closely watch the weather predictions and then adjust for the chance that they will get it completely wrong. However, if you’re wanting to get some crazy sunset weather, you don’t really need to check the weather unless you want to be sure and pack the right clothes. I find that rainy and stormy weather offers photographers the chance to really step up their game and allows you to really step out of the box. I try not to be a storm chaser but rather choose a location that will create the best canvas for some stormy weather shots. Utilizing rocks, sand and trees can really enhance your photo and if you can include the clouds and sun, you really have a winning shot. I took this shot and it shows how I took advantage of the offshore rocks, beach, clouds and sun cutting through the clouds. To get this shot I set the camera mode to shutter priority and set the speed at 10 seconds. I wanted to get the movement of the clouds and make the ocean look frothy. You can’t really see the beach but it’s in the foreground and the beach is made of medium sized black rocks. I attached my CIR-PL, warming filter and ND filter in order to increase the shutter speed and not have too much glare from the sun. I also wanted to capture the reflection of the sun beaming off the frothy ocean in order to create a biblical type of photo. I also set the ISO at 100 and put the white balance at +1. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length at 55mm.
Tag Archives: beach
Cannon Beach sunset
[/caption] Cannon beach is not only one of the best places to photograph sunsets but it’s also one of Oregon’s busiest spots to shoot sunsets. Haystack rock, the needles and the large tide pool makes it a no brainer why its so popular. This is one of the few spots that lure dozens of photographers trying to capture the perfect sunset. I took this shot on 9/09. September is always a great time at the Oregon Coast. The days are long and the weather is usually perfect….Sunny, warm and always offering a great sunset. I usually start with several ND filters and then start removing my filters as the sun sets and it gets darker. I have sometimes stacked two ND filters (8 and 4) along with my warming filter and my CIR-POL filter. The sun is usually so intense that I need to block out the intense glare. For this picture I had used my ND-8, warming filter and my CIR-POL. I had set the camera on auto with a 1 sec shutter speed. I set my ISO to 100 and F-16. I used my 18-55mm Canon kit lens at 39mm. I have several sunset pictures of the Needles. I usually choose the Needles over Haystack rock since I find them more interesting and they are just past the breakers allowing more personality in your photo choices.