Background: Bandon beach in Oregon is likely one of the most photographed beaches in US. It is a wonderful place and is a photographer paradise. I was there in October with a group of other photographers. Typically, this beach is photographed with a wide angle to capture the sea stacks and a long exposure to creat a smooth water. Indeed, I took few images that way, but I used my photopill app to figure out the sun was going to be in a perfect position between those two rocks and decided to go for a telephoto lens to isolate the silhouette of the sea stack and capturing the sun going down. So I used my 150-600 lens for trying something different.
Technical data: image taken with the camera handheld. Nikon Z7-ii with Sigma 150-600 mm at 150 mm, f/22, 1/500 sec, ISO 800. I used f/22 to get enough depth of field and relatively high ISO to have a shutter speed fast enough to get a sharp image. I walk around to the point I could get the composition I envisioned and then just had to wait for the sun to be in the right spot. I exposed for the highlight, considering the dynamic range of the camera I know I can always recover the shadow without introducing too much noise. I took only 4-5 images and this is the one I have chosen because the seagull add a little of interest to it.
Image was cropped to 2:3 and basic adjustment were done. I cloned out a dust spot and then I just opened the shadow and the black a little (I wanted to keep the silhouette effect), taking down highlights and white. Increased clarity, saturation and contrast by 12%.
9 comments posted
Mike Patterson
You always have the most striking of images. I've seen dozens of photos of these sea stacks in Oregon. Your capture is among the best. Great composition, exposure, etc. Very smart to check the sunset to know exactly how to envision and plan your shot. I also love the gull hovering above the water. I'm especially impressed that you got such a sharp image hand-holding a 150-600mm lens, even at 1/500 second. These lenses aren't extremely heavy but they do have more weight than a more normal lens and are more apt to show camera shake. You have sturdier hands than I do! Posted: 02/04/2025 18:24:25
Michele Borgarelli
Thank you Mike for your very kind comment. One rule I have been trying to stick with my photography for the past few years, is once I get to the location start to look around and take sometime to assess different composition and opportunity. I found that this help me to get better images (sometimes...) and more importantly I got home with less images to work on. In one week in Oregon I had 350 images all together. Few years ago I would have come back with 3,500....
Best
Michele Posted: 02/09/2025 20:41:28
Spring Zhang
Beautiful image and great composition. I like where you placed the setting sun. The seagull adds some interest to the sky also. Posted: 02/11/2025 05:31:01
Michele Borgarelli
Thank you Spring, happy you like the image.
Best wishes
Michele Posted: 02/11/2025 19:24:17
John Zhu
It's a beautiful sunset. All looks good. I would crop a bit sky to increase the impact of foreground. Posted: 02/11/2025 18:34:46
Michele Borgarelli
Thank you John for sharing your thoughts. I honestly don't think the sky can be cropped more. There is not much sky in the image. If I crop the sky, then there would not been any space between the big sea stack.
Best wishes
Michele Posted: 02/11/2025 19:26:16
John Zhu
I trust your judgement. Posted: 02/11/2025 19:31:13
Tom Buckard
Michele, I put your image in PS and tried many different edits and tweaks. Disliked all of them. I personally like your image exactly as presented. It is quite striking and I wouldn't change anything. Posted: 02/14/2025 00:55:18
Michele Borgarelli
Tom, thank you for taking the time to see other options for my image. I am happy you like it as it is. I am always curious to hear from others and to see if I missed something.
