Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

This is another photo from my trip last weekend to the Oregon Coast, taken at Cape Kiwanda State Park just a moment before my last posted image. The Cape itself is a rather cool sandstone formation, someone distinct from the landscape around it. After a short but steep hike up a large sand dune you come upon views of this sandstorm formation extending out into the ocean, and doubtless eroding over time.

This was a long exposure as the sun had already set and we were in the low light of twilight already, and the layer of cloud overhead kept dimmer still. But where there were breaks in the clouds to the north (center of the frame) some nice lighter patches came through and added much-needed contrast to the sky. I actually processed the 'raw' image for this photo (something I've done less and less since moving from the Nikon D40 to the D90) and ended up producing two nearly identical images from it that I blended together. I processed one as normal, and another softer version of the image, which I blended in the areas around the sandstone - the sky and the water. In the end it was a subtle effect that I almost decided to scrap entirely, but I figured it was good to keep experimenting with new processing methods instead and kept it.

Check out the shot by Ar'alani taken at about the same moment, just to my left (and apparently a little closer to the edge than I was comfortable with).

Nikon D90 | Sigma 10-20@12mm | f/9 | 30s | ISO200 | Tripod

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