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Last weekend my dad, a couple of uncles, and some friends went abalone fishing north of Bodega Bay. I tagged along with my younger cousin Shelton to take pictures of them. We have a lot of relatives in the U.S. and Hong Kong who want to see them in action.
The trip was rough. To ensure that we were the first people out there at low tide, we had to wake up early. 1:30 am to be exact. I got nearly no sleep because by the time I went to bed at 11:30 pm, my uncle was already fast asleep and snoring like a freight train. I was hoping to catch some zzz's on the four hour drive, but the roads were very twisty, so I couldn't catch more than ten minutes of sleep at a time. It was very dark when we arrived. To get enough detail in the photo above, I needed a long exposure. To keep the camera steady, I perched my camera on a railing, turned on Exposure delay mode which delays the opening of the shutter for one second after the shutter release button is pressed. The details of the photo are: 35mm, f/20, 3 seconds, ISO 800, 5:55am.
Many hours after leaving the house, we finally arrived just before 6 am. It was very dark, but the van door light partially lit my Uncle Terrus's face and there was just enough ambient light to make out my dad in the background. The details of the photo are: 52.5mm focal length, f/2, 1/50 seconds, ISO 800, 6:00 am.
Here's a shot of my dad feeling around for abalone. Not a great shot, but I wanted to include it for reference, because most people don't know what abalone fishing in low tide involves. The details of the photo are: 300mm, f/3.2, 1/320 seconds, ISO 400, 6:58am.
This trip was a great chance for me to play with composition because there were interesting things going on in both the foreground and background. I like this shot, but I would have liked it more if there was more horizontal separation between Shelton and the boat. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing waders, so I had to stay on the rocks, which were treacherously sharp. Instead of trying to move to a better location, I just snapped the picture from where I stood. The boat in the background should have been more prominent. The depth of field was too shallow for my taste. The details of the photo are: 120mm, f/3.2, 1/320 seconds, ISO 400, 6:59 am.
This is one of my favorite pictures from today. The details of the photo are: 120mm, f/4.5, 1/320 seconds, ISO 250, 7:05 am.
I did not want to take this picture. The sun was high and was casting harsh light. Furthermore, the pose is very hackneyed, but my uncle insisted that the trip wouldn't be complete without a father-and-son-on-a-bench portrait, so I obliged him. The details of the photo are: 52.5mm focal length, f/5.6, 1/400 seconds, ISO 400, 8:26 am. I think the reason why the picture had such a high ISO was that I had been fiddling around earlier and forgot to set it back to ISO 200.
I rented a Nikkor 80-200mm lens from Pro Camera in San Francisco. I got the weekend rate which means that since I picked it up late Friday afternoon and dropped it off Monday morning, I was only charged for one day. So I got a weekend's worth of shots with this lens for only $20. What a bargain! The drawback is if I broke or lost the lens, I bought it. The entire weekend I was paranoid that I'd drop it or someone was going to jack it, so I always had it by my side. If you're not sure if it's worth it to spend serious money for a nice lens, I suggest you rent one for a day or weekend and try it out first.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I got to spend time with the family and test out a lens I could't afford to buy.
You can see the rest of my abalone photos on flickr.
Last weekend my dad, a couple of uncles, and some friends went abalone fishing north of Bodega Bay. I tagged along with my younger cousin Shelton to take pictures of them. We have a lot of relatives in the U.S. and Hong Kong who want to see them in action.
The trip was rough. To ensure that we were the first people out there at low tide, we had to wake up early. 1:30 am to be exact. I got nearly no sleep because by the time I went to bed at 11:30 pm, my uncle was already fast asleep and snoring like a freight train. I was hoping to catch some zzz's on the four hour drive, but the roads were very twisty, so I couldn't catch more than ten minutes of sleep at a time. It was very dark when we arrived. To get enough detail in the photo above, I needed a long exposure. To keep the camera steady, I perched my camera on a railing, turned on Exposure delay mode which delays the opening of the shutter for one second after the shutter release button is pressed. The details of the photo are: 35mm, f/20, 3 seconds, ISO 800, 5:55am.
Many hours after leaving the house, we finally arrived just before 6 am. It was very dark, but the van door light partially lit my Uncle Terrus's face and there was just enough ambient light to make out my dad in the background. The details of the photo are: 52.5mm focal length, f/2, 1/50 seconds, ISO 800, 6:00 am.
Here's a shot of my dad feeling around for abalone. Not a great shot, but I wanted to include it for reference, because most people don't know what abalone fishing in low tide involves. The details of the photo are: 300mm, f/3.2, 1/320 seconds, ISO 400, 6:58am.
This trip was a great chance for me to play with composition because there were interesting things going on in both the foreground and background. I like this shot, but I would have liked it more if there was more horizontal separation between Shelton and the boat. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing waders, so I had to stay on the rocks, which were treacherously sharp. Instead of trying to move to a better location, I just snapped the picture from where I stood. The boat in the background should have been more prominent. The depth of field was too shallow for my taste. The details of the photo are: 120mm, f/3.2, 1/320 seconds, ISO 400, 6:59 am.
This is one of my favorite pictures from today. The details of the photo are: 120mm, f/4.5, 1/320 seconds, ISO 250, 7:05 am.
I did not want to take this picture. The sun was high and was casting harsh light. Furthermore, the pose is very hackneyed, but my uncle insisted that the trip wouldn't be complete without a father-and-son-on-a-bench portrait, so I obliged him. The details of the photo are: 52.5mm focal length, f/5.6, 1/400 seconds, ISO 400, 8:26 am. I think the reason why the picture had such a high ISO was that I had been fiddling around earlier and forgot to set it back to ISO 200.
I rented a Nikkor 80-200mm lens from Pro Camera in San Francisco. I got the weekend rate which means that since I picked it up late Friday afternoon and dropped it off Monday morning, I was only charged for one day. So I got a weekend's worth of shots with this lens for only $20. What a bargain! The drawback is if I broke or lost the lens, I bought it. The entire weekend I was paranoid that I'd drop it or someone was going to jack it, so I always had it by my side. If you're not sure if it's worth it to spend serious money for a nice lens, I suggest you rent one for a day or weekend and try it out first.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I got to spend time with the family and test out a lens I could't afford to buy.
You can see the rest of my abalone photos on flickr.
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