The chilly winter rain almost discouraged me from going out with my camera, but then the clouds lifted slightly.
Winter sunset on the Bay. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
The first day of the New Year brought heavy, leaden clouds and chilly rain, but by late afternoon, the sky brightened, and I ventured out with my camera. It is a short drive to the Bay with an expansive view of the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea to the west.
The uniform cloud cover broke into parallel bands, and the western sky displayed soft pastels as the sun approached the horizon. It was low tide. The bay's water and wet sands reflected the subtle colors.
The drama was in the sky, however. I used a wide-angle lens to exaggerate the cloud patterns and drop the horizon to the lower fifth of the image. The lens's upward tilt caused the conifers' convergence on the distant hills.
Taken shortly after the previous photo, I merged two side-by-side exposures to create this panorama. This composition emphasizes the vast amount of sky involved, but, in my opinion, the former composition is better at emphasizing the dramatic pattern of the breaking clouds. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
Shortly after these images were made, the clouds merged again, and the interesting light disappeared. I drove to the bay's south side and photographed the colorful beach rocks.
It is always good to be out in nature, so I enjoyed this New Year's Day outing. Besides, maintaining a good eye for composition and muscle memory to quickly handle the camera settings requires frequent practice. The resulting photos may not be portfolio quality, but they are an excellent start to a brand-new year.
Granitic rocks, rounded by frequent collisions between themselves, crowd together at the water's edge. Photo: © Donald J. Rommes
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