Sea – heath ofee dot com

Off Duty

Heath OFee — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:25:13 +0000

Well, as I write this blog post the temperature is dropping here in Calgary, and we’re waiting for yet another dump of snow in what has felt like a never-ending winter. As terrible as the winter has been here, I know that a whole bunch of you have had a trying season as well, so I figured I’d post a nice sunrise shot from Mexico to warm us all up!

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, 5 sec

Salton Sea – The End

Heath OFee — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:43:57 +0000

Okay, last one of the series…from this trip anyway. And what better way to finish a series about a huge inland saltwater lake than with a shot of the shoreline and lake stretching to the horizon at sunset. This shot also more clearly depicts an interesting duality that exists in the Salton Sea: while fish are dying by the thousands, bird life is absolutely flourishing in this area. Apparently, the Salton Sea is right on a major migration route, and quite a few species of birds make a stop there during their annual commute.

Thanks so much for all the amazing feedback I’ve had on this series, I appreciate every single comment and RT! I hope to be back in the area sometime this year, and with any luck I’ll be able to resurrect the series sometime down the road.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 16, ISO 100, 1/60 sec

Salton Sea – Leaning

Heath OFee — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:51:50 +0000

I’m not entirely sure what this old, rusted barrel would have been used for back in the day, so if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know. This structure is one of the only things still standing on the waterfront at Bombay Beach. Most of the other old houses and trailers have completely caved in and decayed over the years…I should have a couple shots of those coming in the near future.

The one thing that made it difficult to shoot at this location was the nasty ground conditions. From the photo below, it may appear as though the ground is just a firm, salty crust, but what you don’t see is the one or two inches of soft mud that lies just below the surface. The day I went to Bombay Beach, I did not have the appropriate footwear for tramping around in the mud, so I was unable to get some of the shots I would have liked. I’ll be making my way back there better prepared on my next trip to California.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 11mm, F 16, ISO 100, 1/50 sec

Salton Sea – Tripled

Heath OFee — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:57:26 +0000

So, when setting up and taking this shot, I purposely tried to get a double sunburst effect through the reflection in the water…however, I did not even see the third tiny sunburst until I got the image into Lightroom. Happy accidents, gotta love ’em.

This is a shot from Bombay Beach, home of this shot. While I was there, I ran into a former local who lived in the area as a child. She had fond memories of playing on the beach and swimming in the sea all summer long. Looking at this beach now, it’s hard to believe that people once enjoyed it as a recreation area.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 16, ISO 100, 1/100 sec

Salton Sea – Decay

Heath OFee — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:01:34 +0000

Since I still have quite a few shots from Southern California to share, I thought I’d return to my vintage ‘Salton Sea’ series this week. I really enjoy going through these images, and I’m excited to share another 4 or 5 of them with you.

Now, I apologize in advance if anyone is grossed out by the image below, but this is a common scene on the shores of the Salton Sea. As the salinity in the lake has risen over the years, a number of species of fish have started to die off. The result is what you see below…shorelines absolutely littered with dead and decaying fish. It’s really quite sad.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 17mm, F 11, ISO 100, 1/160 sec

Panoramic

Heath OFee — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:52:38 +0000

Okay, so this image isn’t a true panorama, it’s just cropped that way…sorry to get your hopes up. The image title actually comes from one of the songs on the Book of Eli soundtrack which I was listening to while editing this shot. It’s an epic soundtrack and I find myself listening to it at least a couple times a week while editing photos. Oh, and make sure you check out Mike Olbinski’s movie title Wednesday photo from this week inspired by the very same movie.

So, after seeing all the hullabaloo on Twitter today about the release of Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, I decided I should probably give it the old college try. I downloaded the 15-day trial last night, and produced the image you see below. I was very happy with how the software worked and I can definitely see myself shelling out some cash once my trial version has expired.

Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L, 24mm, F 11, ISO 100, 300 sec