[/caption] I decided to upload another one of my photos that I took at Cannon Beach, OR on 10/13/10. This day was one of the best sunset experiences that I’ve witnessed while shooting at the Oregon Coast. The sun was intense and the sand and water were perfect. The Needles seemed to just float in between the horizon and the sand as if they were sails from a ship or from the dorsal fins of a huge shark. Fall is by far the best time to get great photos along the Northern Oregon Coast. You are almost guaranteed sunny and mild weather as well as mostly clear days. The sun also sets between 6:30 and 7:00 pm. This allows you to have plenty of time to pursue some great day shots without having to wait until a 10:00 pm sunset. The sun was so intense that many of my shots that I took with the sun above or next to the rocks are so bright that it’s almost painful to look directly at the photo without having to squint. This photo was taken with the sun directly behind the left rock which gives a nice silhouette. You can really see the sunburst of the suns rays bursting out from the needles in all directions. Another great thing about photographing along Cannon Beach is that you can continue to shoot well after the sun sets. Since the sun was still pretty intense I wasn’t able to use the shutter on my camera. Even with my ND8 and ND4 filters, the sun was just too bright to set the camera in shutter mode. However, I did use my UV, warming and CIR-PL filter. I was also using my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to ensure that there was no camera shake. I had the camera in Program mode so the shutter speed was at 1/100 second and the F stop was at F-7. I was using my Canon Rebel T1i along with my 18-55mm Canon lens. I had the focal length maxed out at 55mm and had the ISO set at 100 due to the intensity of the glare. I also set the white balance at -1.3 step. The tide was pretty high so I wasn’t able to get as close to the rocks as I normally can when the tide is low. In fact, I had to chase the tide as it receded and then swelled back up the beach. I spent a good part of my evening trying to get as close to the rocks as possible. The one good thing about high tide is that when the water recedes it leaves the sand in amazing shape. The sand almost looks like its moving and gives off a great glare from the rocks and color of the sunset. The tide will also wash away any debris that may ruin an otherwise perfect photo.