Sunset – heath ofee dot com

Hellmouth

Heath OFee — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:10:02 +0000

One of the great things about shooting with a group of other photographers is the sharing of knowledge and ideas. New techniques that you may not have tried before come to light and subjects you may not have photographed otherwise make their way onto your memory card.

One of the downsides of shooting with a group of other photographers is that, inevitably, you end up with some similar compositions. This is the case with my shot today. My good buddy, Mike Olbinski, posted a frame of this same location with a slightly different composition a little while ago. I absolutely love his shot, but I couldn’t just let mine sit on the hard drive – so Mike, please forgive me

As for the title – I thought the creepy, salt encrusted old pier could pass for the ferry dock where one would begin their journey across the River Styx into Hades. Setting off across that eerily calm water towards the burning sunset in the distance would certainly creep me out!

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10 stop ND Filter

Curvature

Heath OFee — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:10:46 +0000

My previous visit to the Salton Sea area yielded a ridiculous amount of images – none of which contained any clouds. I spent the better part of three days shooting in and around the salt-lake, and the entire time there wasn’t a cloud in sight – ridiculous.

Thankfully, for my second visit a couple of weeks ago, we were blessed with a day full of clouds that had potential to deliver a stunning sunset. We were not disappointed. As the sun started to dip below the low mountains, we were treated to some pretty great reds and oranges in the clouds.

This shot is of the curving shoreline of Bombay Beach.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10 stop ND Filter

Maui – IV

Heath OFee — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:10:16 +0000

The fourth instalment in my Maui collection. Such great memories from this trip

We stopped quite a few times along the road to Hana to see if we could find some of the waterfalls described in our guidebook. This bamboo forest was along one of the first and most exciting hikes we took to find a set of secluded falls. It was muddy, humid, and slightly dangerous – so it was SUPER fun

Waterfalls. There are plenty of those in the rainforest along the road to Hana. These are just a few that we were able to see.

We were lucky enough to be able to take a 1-hour helicopter ride during our time in Maui. This shot was taken just as we came through the clouds on the way to the top of the Haleakala crater. Such a cool sight.

One day I drove myself from Kihei all the way along the west and north coastal roads to central Maui. Parts of this road were only just wide enough for a single vehicle, so it was a pretty fun drive.

Taking this shot with the fisheye exaggerates how wide this road was. In reality, it’s a single lane, 180 degree blind uphill corner. Awesomeness.

This wreck was in my guidebook, but you really have to see it to believe it. I had to hike a good 300 yards off the road and through two fences to get to this destroyed vehicle on the coastal cliffs. Your guess is as good as mine as to how it got there.

A sunset on our beach.

A view of the rugged volcanic coastline on the far southwest tip of Maui. You can’t tell, but the wind was ridiculously strong here – I was wiping salt spray off my lenses all morning.

For some reason this view reminded me of a scene straight from Africa. Felt like I could have been on a safari.

The cliffs on the northwest coast of Maui were amazing. Such fantastic views.

I think I may have enough images for one more Maui post like this. Hope you’re not getting sick of these yet!

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon Fisheye EF 15mm f/2.8
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L

Sunset Clouds

Heath OFee — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:10:06 +0000

Sometimes you just get lucky.

The clouds during the sunset over Lake Minnewanka were just amazing – and sometimes you have to allow those clouds to be the main subject of your frame.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10 stop ND Filter

Sunset Silhouette

Heath OFee — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:47:23 +0000

This frosty weather we’ve been having here in Calgary has made me think about warmer climates – and how I’d like to be in one! So, I went back to my shots from Maui to try and warm myself up.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L

Ripples

Heath OFee — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:10:00 +0000

If any of you have used the B+W 10-stop ND filter, you’ll know that it’s actually not quite neutral in colour – it tends to have a bit of a warm cast. Most times I try to eliminate this cast in post-processing, but for some images – like the one below – it just works. The added warmth from the filter helped emphasize the tones in the sand and made those sunset colours really pop. So, when using a filter that may create a bit of a colour cast, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not just because you ‘think you should’ – you may find yourself happy with the uncorrected frame.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10-stop ND Filter

Maui Sunset

Heath OFee — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:10:58 +0000

As some of you may know, I was in Maui all of last week for my best bud’s wedding. I’d never been before and couldn’t have been more excited to spend some quality time with my friends and, obviously, shoot the crap out of that little island. As it turned out, I didn’t shoot quite as much as I had expected to, but I think I have a good sampling of material from all over Maui.

Now that I’m back, I figured the best way to start off the series of images is with my parting memory of Hawaii. I hadn’t shot a sunset all week (terrible, I know) but knew I had to before I left. So, on the last night, just a few hours before I was due to catch my flight home, I set up shop along the beach outside my condo and soaked in what was one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. Hands down. Please, enjoy.

Salton Sunset

Heath OFee — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:15:42 +0000

Even in the most barren and desolate locations, one can still find beauty. I spent a good deal of my time in and around the Salton Sea hunting for the most interesting urbex locations I could find, but it’s always important to keep all your photography options open. Bombay Beach was absolutely full of old, decrepit structures and I had an absolute blast shooting them, but as the sun was setting I forced myself to change gears and quickly switched into landscape mode. As a number of my photog buddies have mentioned in blogs before me, it can be valuable not to be pigeon-holed into one single genre of photography. Diversity is a good thing. Experimentation is a good thing. Always keep your thinking cap on, and be ready to switch gears whenever that next great opportunity presents itself.

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

Purple

Heath OFee — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:56:09 +0000

During my one evening at Bombay Beach, I unwittingly composed and shot almost the exact same scene at two different times. The first was while the sun was still up, although low in the sky and the second was after the sun had set about 30 minutes later. I didn’t realize I had duplicated the scene until I started processing the photo you see below yesterday afternoon.

While I still enjoy the first image of the scene, I absolutely LOVE this version. I opted for a cooler colour palette to accentuate the blues and purples and used FocalPoint to blur out some of the foreground to really lead the viewer to the old stanchions in the water. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 12mm, F 11, ISO 100, 0.3 sec

I Want To Go To There

Heath OFee — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:48:33 +0000

I know at least two of my readers (and probably a good many more) will get the TV reference I’m making in the title of this post, and for me this quote couldn’t be more true right now. We have had an absolutely miserable February and beginning of March here in Calgary (temps around -20C for a few weeks) and I would absolutely love to be relaxing in one of those Adirondack chairs enjoying a chilled brew. But, alas, I’m stuck here in the Canadian deep freeze for at least a little while longer

This photo was taken in a very swank house in a very swank neighbourhood in Indio, California while I was there in January. My parents in law have a place down there and are good friends with the amazing folks who live in a stunning Tuscan style home right on a golf course. I had the luxury of spending an afternoon here, and in between tours of the home and relaxing, the owners graciously allowed me to take a few shots in their amazing backyard. The view is outstanding and the stonework is nothing short of amazing. I should have a few more images to share from this fantastic home in the future. I don’t know about you, but I want to go to there!

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