Sea Stripes

Inspired by Katherine Gendreau, these pictures was taken at Spring Lake and Belmar Beach in New Jersey. The idea is simple, just by panning your camera horizontally over the long exposure. The composition is simple too, with just a few elements - sky, sea and sand. Yet, the creativity are endless - it is the weather, time of the day, lighting condition, movement of cloud and tide that create the infinite combination of color, pattern and mood.

If you have a chance, take a look at the sea stripes series by Katherine Gendreau. Her works are magnificent! 

Pipe Creek Vista Revisit

This is definitely the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life. Pipe Creek Vista at the Grand Canyon National Park offer a majestic view of the already amazing geological formation. The view is absolutely breathtaking, although the photographing and post-processing render a big challenge for me. The high contrast of the sky and canyon forced me to take two different exposures and then blended in Photoshop. Further, the hazy view of canyon and the high contrast color at dusk render another challenges for post-processing. 

This was the 5th time I processed the same photos. When I review my earlier processing, they look quite different but I felt that the current version is getting closer to what I envisioned and how I feel at that short but excited moment when I stood on the edge of canyon. Perhaps this is due to the vision change - your skill changes, your "mind eye" is evolving, your mood at the time of processing, and/or perhaps something arose your feeling on the moment when you press the shutter.

Sunrise at Sunset Beach

Sunset beach is a tourism hotspot in Cape May, New Jersey. From here, you can see the famous wreckage of a concrete ship SS Atlantus and Cape May Lighthouse. Besides, a flag raising-lowering ceremony which takes places every morning and evening from May through September. This ceremony has been taking place on Sunset beach since 1973.  

As the name implied, Sunset beach is famous for its beautiful sunset. Nevertheless, I was here to capture the beauty of Sunset beach during the sunrise. When the sun gradually climb up the horizon, upper part of the pier pilings were lit up by the warm light. This combined the cool color of the sea and sky, producing a strong contrast of color. Although this magical moment doesn't last long, I still used the 10-stops ND filter to smooth out the water.

July 4th at Manasquan Reservoir

In the morning of July 4th, I woke up at 3 a.m. and drove to the Manasquan Reservoir County Park for the sunrise shot. It is a beautiful little park in the Howell Township, Monmouth County of New Jersey. Manasquan reservoir is an important part of the water supply in Monmouth County, with a 4 billion gallon water capacity, it supply up to 30 million gallons of water a day for the resident of Central New Jersey. The reservoir is part of the larger county park of 1204 acres that include woods and wetlands, a 5-mile trail, fishing and boating areas, and a environmental center.

Other than recreational and outdoor activities, Manasquan Reservoir is a charming place for photography, thanks to the dead trees that are standing still in the water. We arrived at the reservoir half an hour before sunrise and I still had some time to scout around for good composition - the point is to have the dead trees well separated on the picture. About 10 minutes before sunrise, the color of the cloud and sky getting incredibly vibrant - it was the most dramatic dawn I have ever seen since I moved to US. The color doesn't last long and it was totally gone in just a few minutes, I was fast enough to capture the right moment. We stayed for a while and walked around the park in hope of finding another good spot for the next photography outing.

Under the Pier

The fishing pier in Belmar Beach is a popular photography location in New Jersey. Indeed, it is a beautiful place to spent your day in the summer. Last Saturday, I took a trip to Belmar Beach to shot the sunrise at the fishing pier. I start driving from my house at 3am and it took me an hour to arrive. Although I am not quite satisfy with my sunrise shot, I do have some shots of the beach and the fishing pier that make my day. 

This is one of my favorite of the day. I was standing under the pier. With the incoming tide and fast moving cloud, I decided to use the 10-stop ND filter to capture their movement. This ends up in a 100 seconds exposure which smooth out the tide and create radiant pattern of the cloud. In addition, the low angle sun casts some nice shadows on the beach and the soft morning sunlight cast some warm light on the rim of pillars.

Exhibition in SohoPhoto Gallery

 

My image "The Polygon Land" (Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park) was selected for inclusion in 2014 SohoPhoto Gallery National Competition and Exhibition. The exhibition will be held at SohoPhoto Gallery, 15 White Street, New York, NY 10013, from July 2 through July 26, 2014. The opening reception will be on July 1, 2014, from 6 to 8 PM. 

If you have a chance to visit Manhattan, welcome to see my work in SohoPhoto Gallery:)

Exhibition in Gallery 14

Here's come another photographic exhibition! Three of my images were selected for the 5th Annual National Juried Photographic Exhibit at Gallery 14 (New Jersey, USA) from June 27 to July 27, 2014. This time I am thrill to show you my recent seascape taken at Sandy Hook and Cape May, the northernmost and southernmost part of New Jersey, respectively. The above picture shows the framed images ready to deliver to Gallery 14.

I will be present for the opening reception on June 27, 2014, 6-8 pm and I would love to meet you there to show you my works. Hope to see you soon in Gallery 14!

Highlights from NVAL 2014

I would like to share a few pictures (with permission from show chairman, Charlotte Bryson) from "The Full Spectrum", International Juried Photography Show at North Valley Art League (April 29 - May 31, 2014, California, USA). One of my work "Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park" was chosen as a Gold Selection for exhibition. You may click on the link above to see the works of other talented artists around the world. 

Despite I wasn't able to attend the show, it is always a great pleasure to see my work display in public. A picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps photographic exhibition is one of the best way to tell the audience about the artists themselves and how they feel the surrounding world. That's why I enjoy participating in photographic exhibition.

Exhibition in BelmarArts

 

My work "Trajectory" was selected for the "Art on the Edge 2014" Annual Juried Exhibition and will be exhibit in Belmar Arts Council (New Jersey, USA) from June 11 to June 27, 2014. More information about the gallery and activities can be found on the website of BelmarArts.

This is one of my favorite shot, which was taken on the trip to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah. Check out the story behind in the previous post. Worth mention, this is the first exhibition image printed with my new Epson Stylus Pro 3880 on Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte. The 14"x9.3" image on 18"x14" frame looks pretty elegant!

Different Faces of Dante's View

Dante's View at Death Valley National Park is a place with full of surprise. To the west, you can see the best panoramic view of Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range, as shown in the previous post. This is not all you can see! Move your feet! To the east is the beautiful mountain range - the view is magnificent at dawn, where back-lighting make the silhouette stand out. To the south is another lovely view - the soft light at dawn cast beautiful contrast on the hillside as well as golden rims on the grasses.

BTW, there is a cool article on USA Today - 20 reasons to visit dazzling Death Valley. Check this out, Death Valley maybe your next trip! I am sure you won't regret, this place is truly awesome!