I met Tom M. at Ponce Inlet last Friday at dawn.  We arrived at 6 am when the park opened and were the first ones in.  We didn’t see anyone else for about 30 minutes.  I was surprised by how few people were there.  I guess it helps to go during the week instead of on weekends.

I thought I’d share three photos along with some details on how I made them.

The moon was full on Friday for the second time in July and was just setting as we got out on the jetty.  I found this vantage point to highlight the “Blue Moon” over the water along the rocks.  This is a two exposure composite that I blended manually using layers and masks in Photoshop.  I exposed the top part for the moon (ISO 50, f/11, 1.6 sec.) and  the bottom part for the water (ISO 50, f/11, 5 sec.).  I used my Nikon 24 – 120mm f/4 lens at 120mm – it’s very versatile for these kinds of outings.

Blue Moon descends

I liked the way the area just north of the jetty looked, with the sun and clouds above the water and rocks.  I made a few exposures, and then waited for the sun to rise a bit more so it would be behind the clouds and the light would be less harsh.  I saw a pelican flying by and managed to catch it just about under the sun (52 mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/100 sec.).  I thought it would look better with silky smooth water, so I made one more exposure using an 8 2/3 stop Neutral Density filter to slow my shutter speed (52 mm, ISO 100, f/11, 8 sec.).  This image was also blended manually using layers in Photoshop.  I did have some issues with color balance.  The ND filter added a yellowish tint to the bottom that the top didn’t have.  So I adjusted it to match as closely as I could before blending.

Ponce Sunrise – Early morning, just north of the jetty at Ponce Inlet.

For comparison, here is one of the photos I made about 5 minutes earlier when the sun was lower.  This is a single exposure (50 mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/100 sec.).  I made a burst of several and picked one that best showed the sun highlighting the spray on top of the breaking wave.  I like the framing on this one better too as I can see the sun reflecting off the jetty wall.  The colors are more orange since there’s more of the sun showing through the clouds.

Ponce Sunrise too – Same place as the previous photo, and a few minutes earlier.

I’m not sure which one of these sunrise images I like best.  I’m leaning toward the second one.  Too bad the Pelican wasn’t in place when the wave broke!  Which one do you like?  Have you tried any techniques like this?

On a side note, I used my Nikon D800 camera that I’ve had for more than three years to make these.  A couple of weeks ago, Nikon sent me an email and offered to clean and inspect it and fix anything they found wrong – for free!  I took advantage of the offer, got it back, and was anxious to test it out.  It seems to work fine and it’s nice to know it’s still in good shape.  Thanks Nikon!

You can see more images from Ponce Inlet in this set on Flickr.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!  And do it more often than “once in a blue moon”!

©2015, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.