3 Sunrays Sunset

What do you think that is the most wonderful light for a photographer ? The blue or rush hour after the sunset or before the sunrise, when the sky is blue in contrast with yellow-orange tones of the artificial lighting ? The magic or golden hour around dawn or twilight ? Or what is know as transient light ?

Just for me, I have it clear, the transient light. It is a light that you suddenly find for example, when some sunrays are appearing across the clouds and you see how the rays are crossing the sky and proyect their light temporarily in a determinate zone on the ground, that as consequence is the focal point of your composition, ‘cos human eye tend to look for hightlights.

The following image from Marbella is a clear example of this light and the luck for a photographer. Before I did the photo-session, I was walking to this site with some rainy intervals and seeing in the distance how the sunrays were appearing and disappearing between the clouds.

I recommend you to read a book about light quality by Ian Cameron.

El Ancon Beach, Marbella (Spain)

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 10 mm | f22, 1/6s, ISO 100. HDR from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 ..+2 EV]

Midnight Sunset At Oban Harbour

Due to the high latitude of Scotland, during summers the nights are so short and the day is so long. In fact, I think that it is a eternal blue hour after sunset, the darkness does not go to the sky.

After visiting the Isle Of Skye, we came back to the Highlands, taking a ferri in Armadale, and we finished spending our night in a hotel near Oban – the harbour in the picture.

Oban Harbour, Scotland (UK)

Panasonic DMC-FX9 @ 5.8 mm | f2.8, 1/4s, ISO 80.

Once Upon A Time, A Siren Touched The Sky

This siren is one of the 4 ones that are part of the Monument complex to Alfonso XII, at the Retiro Park. When the sunset was finishing, I found the the clouds were surrounding the hand of the sculpture, so I decided to look for a point of view where the siren seemed that was touching the sky.

Parque de El Buen Retiro, Madrid (Spain)

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM + HiTech ND 0.9 filter @ 10 mm | f11, 2.5s, ISO 100.  HDR /DRI from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]

Sunset @ Bajadilla-Venus Beaches Wavebreaker

Near the dusk, in Marbella, the fishermen go usually through the rocks on the beaches wavebreakers to catch some fish. I don’t know if it is the crisis or not, but there are sometimes a lot of them. In this case, I was between the 2 beaches, Venus and Bajadilla, that are located in the Marbella Centre, between the harbours: ‘Puerto Pesquero’ or ‘Puerto de la Bajadilla’ and ‘Puerto Deportivo’. The boy of the image was moving so fast and so much, jumping from a rock to another one, and in a moment that he stopped, I used him as my focal point and shot 3 exposures for this HDR.

Wavebreaker between Bajadilla & Venus beaches , Marbella (Spain)

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 10 mm | f16, 12s, ISO 100. HDR from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 ..+2 EV]

Sunset On The Back Of Marbella Promenade

I live between 2 cities in Spain, Madrid – where I work – and Marbella – where I usually spend a lot of my holidays. Marbella is known in the world as a classical meeting point for the ‘jet set’. But, in any case , it is currently a site that it is invaded by the massive tourism and not only the elite. From my point of view, the best of the city is the soft weather, that can be even warmer in the winters and colder in the summer than other near towns in the Sun Coast – ‘Costa del Sol’, like Fuengirola, Torremolinos, Benalmadena …

As usual in summer, there are so few chances for landscapes photography, cos the climate is hot and the sky is usually clear. But, it is usual at the end on August, that the clouds appear near the sunset. After having a afternoon with so much stormy clouds, we had finally the sunset that you see in the picture.

Wave-breaker Playa del Faro – Puerto Deportivo, Marbella (Spain)

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 10 mm | f11, 4s, ISO100 | HiTech 100 ND 0.9 filter in a Lee Wide Angle filter holder. HDR from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 ..+2 EV]

Gran Vía, A River Of Lights And Colours

Last year, it was the 100th anniversary of this famous street in Madrid, and this is one of my best pictures on my photostream and my commemoration of this event. I would like to finish some day a 10x pictures – 10x years that I tried last 2010 but I didn’t reach.

The picture was taken in the corner with the ‘Alcalá Street’, near the ‘Metrópolis’ building, outside in the picture – it would be at the left – and at the middle of the image, it can be seen the ‘Glassy’ building a.k.a ‘Rolex’ building , and at the right on the background, the highest building is the ‘Edificio Telefónica’. I wanted to show with the colorful lights trails the busy traffic that has this street, one of the veins of Madrid, and to lead the eyes of the viewer through the perspective.

Gran Vía near Alcalá Street, Madrid (Spain)

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 20 mm + HiTech ND0.9 filter | f11, 5s, ISO 100.  HDR from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 ..+2 EV ]

Two Guardians At Retiro

2 weeks without posting new stuff. I’ve just taken a break to rest from photography. It sometimes seems that it is more a job than a hobby. I have spent the time organizing my LR catalog, learning about WordPress blogs, installing my new Quad Core desktop and studying the possibilities to customize my Smugmug portfolio and to select and pay for a Premium theme for WordPress. I have been looking into ProPhoto from Netrivet. And to host the website, I am thinking in 1&1. What do you think about this ?

Meanwhile, I have chosen a picture from an old season for the daily post – I need to have time for shooting new pictures.

These 2 lions are part of the Monumental Complex dedicated to Alonso XII, at Retiro Park (Madrid, Spain).

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM + HiTech ND 0.9 filter @ 11 mm | f11, 1s, ISO 100.  HDR /DRI from 3 exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]

The Twilight Of The Gods II

This is my 1st attempt for a new a blog. Until I have clear idea about the template and hosting that I want to use, I will post at servalpe.wordpress.com.

Thx for visit my Blog and you can see my pictures at 500px