Caribbean – heath ofee dot com

The Calm

Heath OFee — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:57:56 +0000

Last week I posted one of the many shots I took of the decrepit pier that was conveniently on the beach of our resort. Today I’m sharing another shot of the same pier, but this image was shot using my 10-stop ND filter. I really love how the super long exposures (4 minutes in this case) create motion in the clouds and completely glass over the waves of the ocean. I’m still trying to get a feel for the filter, but I’m pretty pleased with how this shot turned out.

Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L, 24mm, F 16, ISO 100, 242 sec

Another Palapa Sunrise

Heath OFee — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:06:42 +0000

What better way to start off a -21 C morning than with a warm shot of a beach in Mexico! I really love going back to these shots I took in December because it brings all the great memories I have rushing back. That’s part of the magic of photography though, right? It enables us to capture a moment and hold onto it forever.

One lesson I’ve slowly been learning when out on a shoot is to always look back when walking away from a scene, because you never know what you might be missing. On this morning, I was absolutely exhausted from waking up to catch the sunrise and after the show was over, all I could think about was getting back to the cozy bed in my room for a little more shut-eye. But, I forced myself to look back at the sunrise as I was walking back…and boy am I glad I did!

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 20mm, F 16, ISO 100, 5 Exposures

Footsteps

Heath OFee — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:29:46 +0000

Before I went to Mexico, I bought myself a B+W 10-stop ND filter with the hope of capturing some cool images while down there. It definitely took me a while to get the hang of using it, but it was a fun learning experience and I think I was able to get a few decent shots. The hardest part for me was getting these long exposures with no cable release, since I forgot to pick one up before I left. Basically I was stuck like an idiot holding my shutter button down for minutes on end trying to stay as still as possible to eliminate camera shake…not cool. A few of the long exposures came out a little fuzzy because of this, unfortunately.

Something about footsteps in the sand on an empty beach is very peaceful. This image brings me back to the morning I took it and the feeling of solitude I had while shooting. I hope you enjoy it.

Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L, 24mm, F 11, ISO 100, 221 sec

Caribbean Sunrise

Heath OFee — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:27:04 +0000

I’m back! As most of you know, I was away in Mexico for the past two weeks getting married and celebrating my honeymoon. We had an amazing time hanging out with family and friends for the first week, and were able to enjoy some time to ourselves at a different resort for our honeymoon in the second week. As soon as we get our wedding photos back I’ll be sure to post a few of the highlights here, but in the meantime I’ll be sharing some of the shots I was able to take while away.

This first photo is actually the very first frame I took on the beach. It’s part of a bracket series that I had intended to process as an HDR, but the silhouette of those palm trees against the first morning light was just too good to pass up! I made a few adjustments in Phototools, but nothing too dramatic…this is very close to what the shot looked like in-camera.

Despite being on vacation and really wanting to make use of the time to get some quality sleep, I did manage to haul myself out of bed for 4 sunrises over the course of the two weeks. It was definitely worth it, and I should have a few more decent sunrise shots to share in the coming weeks!

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, 30.0 sec