Friday, February 28, 2014

Nature and Music

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North Torrey Pines State Beach, San Diego, CA
The picture above was from yesterday's beach walk after work, taken in between periods of rain. I love rain, especially if we have been waiting for it, to end the threat of drought here in California. I actually love hiking in the rain. I love seeing the circle of water droplets from my rain pants to rain jacket. I love the sound of rain drops on my rain jacket. It's nature's music, in another calming and soothing form. 

I remember a colleague once told me, "I love bringing my classic beginners guitar by the beach, somehow, as I strum the guitar, I hear the blending of the strings with the splashing of the waves, it's so soothing and relaxing that takes all stress away."

Though I don't play guitar, but I could very well relate to the unending music of nature everywhere. So, what a joy it was yesterday to hear the music of soft rain with the splashing waves.

Today, is a different story. Winds are howling and rain is very heavy. What we did not have for 10 months, probably we got for one day. But nevertheless, it is still a beautiful music. Different, but beautiful.

Because today the rain is harder and non-stop, and the gusting wind is very strong it is toppling some trees, I skipped walking along the beach after work. Here are some pictures instead from a few days ago, of sunset.

It started with what I thought another flat sunset, no fluffy clouds to add more colors and drama to sky. I decided instead to use slow shutter speed in my shots to soften the water, hoping to create some drama.
Sunset, North Torrey Pines State Beach, San Diego, CA
But then, a couple walked in to the frame of my picture, the sky may not have fluffy clouds to add color and drama, but I believe this couple did! :)
After sunset, I heard some music playing, and I saw a family singing together. I did not have my zoom lens, so I took them a picture from afar. I used an 11-16 mm lens with an ND filter. Because of the ND filter, if I use the lens at its widest ( 11 mm), there is vignetting. However, because I saw in the frame a man also at the bridge looking out at the ocean and sunset, I decided to use my lens at its widest, 11 mm, thus the vignetting below. I did not crop the vignette ( the dark edges), because it seemed the vignette separates me from them and I was looking out at their world from far away.

♥♥
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13 comments:

  1. Nice post and really great to see this kind of informative blogs. i'm really surprised about your work. thanks for this astounding post.

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  2. Oh my, the photos are really beautiful! You really are a very gifted photographer. love the last two photos.

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  3. At last umulan din sa inyo Ate. I remembering reading your post about the rain dance.

    The photos are beautiful especially of the sunset and indeed the couple added drama on your shot. It is always fun to play guitar near the beach. It is somewhat relaxing and a good way to bond with family and friends too. Bren's bringing his guitar at the beach every once in a while.

    Dropping by here to say Hi Ate. I miss being here :) Hugs!

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  4. It seems like the pictures you've taken shows no rain damage at all, everything seems to be nice too i love the sunset photography something i've miss to see here in my place.

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  5. Such beautiful photos. You have a gift of bringing out the beauty of nature at its best.

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  6. What an awesome capture of Cali sunset. It's breathtaking! It must be nice to see something as beautiful as this every single day :-)

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  7. That sunset shot is beautiful! It somehow reminds me that it's almost midnight and I need to sleep na hahaha. These are gorgeous images ateB!

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  8. These are very soft and lovely photos.

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  9. Beautiful pictures and views :-) They are breath taking especially the sunset :-)

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  10. The wonders of nature and the mystery too. Miles away from California, in the frigid cold of East Coast, snow abounds and yet, California is experiencing drought.

    I love your photos too. It's a stark reminder of no matter what mankind do, nature has to be taken cared of. And we are responsible to the only place we live in.

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  11. Oh what awesome captures these are, Ms. Betchai! So pleasing to the eyes and the sunset is breathtaking! I so miss ocean scenes now! Jon and I always chat about our walk by the beach when we were still dating and these photos you shared just added even more stories to what we will be talking about again. :D

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  12. the effect of the vignetting is just wonderful, as you pointed out, it is like viewing them from another world...sigh...music from guitar and ocean waves is a perfect blend :) love this Betchai! :)

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  13. we are currently under dry spell here in Sg. please help me pray for rain...

    breathtaking photos! love the effect of the vignette too.

    out of topic question Beth... when you resize your photos for blog posting, ilang percent?

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THANK YOU SO MUCH!!