Monterey Visit

Last weekend, while Jules was presenting at a conference, I got to wander around downtown Monterey. (I ended up shooting the presentation, but that’s a different story)

This was my first time visiting Monterey and it definitely lived up to the stories I heard. It wasn’t sunny when we were there but I didn’t let that stop me from shooting some film/digital photos during the day. One of the things I did on the digital front was mess around with shutter speeds. Shooting a fast shutter speed at the beach (especially on Aperture Priority) is not unusual as it was very bright out. Capturing the waves frozen in motion is pretty cool when done right. What’s harder is doing a slow shutter speed when you are sans tripod or ND Filter.

Somehow I made it work (mainly by keeping the shutter speeds under a second and using the rocks to steady the shot). The dichotomy between both types of shots amazed me. The sea was angry that day- waves bashing hard into the rocks on the beach. The long (ish) exposure shots made the scene slightly more peaceful, while the fast shutter speed showcased Mother Nature’s fury. Putting both styles side by side (hopefully) invokes an unusual reaction for most people (that’s what I was going for).

We plan to go back when the sun is shining, both of my digital cameras are working, and I can rent ND filters (maybe even lenses) to really get some nice shots. In the meantime, you can see the rest of the work over on Flickr.