Lost in Caicos
The highlight for me on our trip out to Turks and Caicos was getting away from the resorts and people. Luckily Caicos is made up of 4 main islands. Providenciales is where the resorts are and then you have North, Middle and South Caicos—all of which are almost uninhabited. After jumping on the ferry up to North, we headed out to Middle Caicos and arrived at Mudjin Harbor. Story goes, this guy bought 50 acres in '91 of this beautiful beach property including Dragon Cay rock formation. This land has it all—cliffs, caves, cool rocks, hiking, over 4 private beaches. We had the entire place to ourselves and stayed the night. An awesome experience, especially with a nice sunset looking out over the raging blue waters.

The Rising

Bandon Bells
A nice patch of calla lilies overlooking the unique seastacks of Bandon Beach. 4-stitch panoramic.

Dark Seal
The Oregon coastline just after sunset. Seal Rock, where the compositions change by the minute with the rising and falling tide, revealing interesting formations like this one. So many options to choose from. Longer 4 second exposure here and obviously other shots for the birds.

The Battle Between Light and Darkness
The amazing colors of Hawaii. This evening in Hawaii, after walking forever along the shore, I came across some interesting rocks with some brightly colored lichen growing on it. I decided to make my stand here, and glad I did. The tide was just right to get some nice movement in the water as it surged up to my little rock perch. The sky exploded with the most beautiful sunset. I took a few shots to capture various water movements and blended that foreground shot in with my sky exposure taken a few seconds later.

Flow
Another day at Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. I had some interesting clouds to work with and actually was able to use the marine layer to my advantage (along with the seastack) as it helped block the intensity of the sun and create a nice soft light thoughout the image. I used a 1/3 sec shutter to capture various movements in the water and then made sure I correctly exposed for the sky. My feet were frozen by the end of this one. In post I combined my favorite water pattern with the correct sky. I added a soft graduated filter effect and evened out the tones to enhance the nice soft light look and feel. more info

Synapse

Fishing For A Dream
North Shore Kauai: Perched on this rock ledge over the ocean was an one of my favorite experiences shooting in Hawaii. It was a show. The waves were crushing the rocks and dousing everything in their path—including me. The water flowing off of the rocks was a long-exposure dream scenario—not to mention the nuclear bomb of a sky. Now I know there is a lot going on here—sun-bomb atmosphere, Bali Hai in the distance, crashing waves, warm and cool tones, water movement overload in the rocks and why not a fisherman. Hey, hopefully it keeps the eye involved in the scene. But I think the overall composition does work, although weighted on the left, the wave to the right helps hold it all together. In post I carefully blended my sky exposure and focus on the distance with my favorite foreground shot of the rocks and water. This was a 1.3 second exposure at f/14, ISO 100.

Endure
Gorgeous sunset color on the west cost of Maui, Hawaii. This majestic tree stands alone overlooking the ocean with the north west coast of Maui in the backdrop, cloaked in clouds.

What Lies Beneath
Hawaii—Land of unbelievable sunrises and sunsets. However, I was consistently finding no interesting light at these times due to the cloud layer on the horizon. It blocked any intense color from coming through. This morning I woke up for a sunrise on the northernmost point of Kauai, Kilauea. I was actually one peninsula over above Rock Quarry beach. Got out there before sunrise and again, it was totally blocked in. I waited and enjoyed the crashing waves. I found a series of tide pools with some nice marine life like this one that were still as glass. After waiting an hour the light started breaking through the clouds creating some really nice atmosphere. I was pretty close to the water here, trying to see if I could catch some of the fish and rock detail in the tide pool. I fired multiple shots to get the right exposure in the sky and freeze some nice wave movement.

Beacon
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Survivor

North of Mars

Last Sunset
An incredible sunset from Maui, Hawaii.

Lost
Considered one of the most beautiful beaches on the Washington Coast, Shi Shi Beach is a stretch of sand featuring tide pools, sea stacks and headlands, all abutted by a coastal forest. more info

Last Kiss
Mile marker 61 off the Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur, California. I hiked to a farther point just in time for sunset and was able to capture the incredibly vibrant vegetation along the cliffs in October—like red lips kissing the sun goodbye. more info

Breaking
After days of rainy weather, I drove to the west side of the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii in search of the sun. The clouds finally broke letting slices of light through as it continued to storm in the distance. With a 1/3 of a second exposure, I was able to capture the movement in the wave. more info

Harmony
The remote Isla Saona off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Part of a protected national park, this island is uninhabited and undeveloped making it a true, untouched paradise. One of the nicest beaches I have ever been to. The lines of the surf, wet beach, and beach horizon all draw the eye into the scene towards an incredible sunset focal point. more info

Waiting Game

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Oceans

The Proposal—Skógafoss, Iceland