California's Central Coast

01 02 03 04 June 2021

Introduction

These are photos from a secret workshop my friend Dave Wyman and I led in June 2021. After a year and a half since our last mind-blowing outing to Yosemite and The Eastern Sierra in October 2019, Dave and I had been planning this trip since early 2020 — which of course went nowhere. In early 2021 we figured we'd start easy, inviting just a few friends who'd been on earlier outings for a fun trip rather than a formal tour. We went to the same sorts of locations all day and night as usual, we just had much fewer people: just 9 including Dave and I. I had forgotten how tiring it is to be out shooting from before dawn to late at night each day; even taking it easy these four days were exhausting after shooting in my backyard for the past year and a half.

I traveled light; bringing just my Nikon Z7 II, Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR for everything.

I shot my Nikon Z7 II in VIVID Picture Control with +3 Saturation (U1) with AUTO1 white balance unless otherwise noted.

I shot everything as BASIC ★ JPG files, not NORMAL or FINE and certainly not in raw (I get everything I need with JPG and can edit everything about my JPG files if I need to).

Of course I also brought my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I copied the JPGs into my Mac Pro (late 2013) either from a card reader from my Nikon Z7 II's SD card (or a dock with my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with my Mac's Image Capture app). I sorted and picked the winners with Photo Mechanic.

Each pick received significant artistic input in Photoshop CS6 and the Perfectly Clear v.3.7.0.1551 plugin until each completed work looked as I originally imagined it. Many of the iPhone shots were optimized in the free Snapseed app on my iPhone first. Like all art, it first exists in my mind, and I do whatever it takes until the final result matches my original vision. For instance, I often add deliberate edge-burning (darkening or vignetting) and perspective corrections or split-toning. Photography is a creative art, not an application of rules; you have to know what the picture is going to say and how you want it to look before you take it. See also my articles at How to Take Great Pictures.

 

01 June 2021, Tuesday       top

I met my friend Dave Wyman along with Jim and Iris in Los Angeles and we headed north together at about 10:30 AM.

We made it to San Luis Obispo at 3PM and checked into our motel where we met Mark. We rested, and then the five of us headed out to an early dinner at Giuseppe's downtown:

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California, 4:53 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 95mm at f/6.3 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

Charlie, who flew up separately in his Cessna and rode his bicycle to the motel, met us at Giuseppe's for dinner and the rest of the trip.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California, 4:55 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 185mm wide-open at f/6.3 at 1/800 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

After dinner we headed to The Oceano Dunes:

Oceano Dunes, San Luis Obispo County, California

Oceano Dunes, San Luis Obispo County, California, 7:05 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 7.5mm telephoto camera (65mm equivalent) at f/2.2 at 1/1,251 at Auto ISO 20 (LV 12.6), Snapseed. bigger.

 

Wind Waves in Sand, Oceano Dunes, San Luis Obispo County, California

Wind Waves in Sand, Oceano Dunes, San Luis Obispo County, California, 7:17 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 51 mm at f/11 hand-held at 1/50 at Auto ISO 500, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 10¼), Perfectly Clear and strong contrast increase with a curves layer (set to Luminosity blending mode) in Photoshop CS6. It's trivial to do all this with JPG images. bigger.

The original image as shot under complete overcast was very flat:

Oceano Dunes

As Shot. bigger.

Then to Pismo Beach:

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, Pismo Beach, California

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, Pismo Beach, California, 7:55 P.M. Nikon Z7 II in square-crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 75mm (180mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) wide-open at f/6 hand-held at 1/20 at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 9.5), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

Catch that? 1/20 of a second at 75mm is easy to hand-hold with stabilization.

 

Wooly's Bar & Grill, Pismo Beach, California

Wooly's Bar & Grill, Pismo Beach, California, 8:01 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 77mm wide-open at f/6 hand-held at 1/10 at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 8.5), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

Even better, this is shot at 1/10 hand-held at 77mm. These sharp stabilized slow speeds let me shoot at clean, slow ISOs like ISO 100 here and forgo the noise of the higher ISOs I'd need without stabilization.

 

Backlit LED PISMO BEACH Sign

PISMO BEACH Backlit LED Sign, 8:08 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 39mm wide-open at f/5 at 1/25 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 9.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

This sign changes colors randomly, but I didn't realize that when I first started to shoot it and my playback image was a different color than this! The first shot came out as PISMO BEACH and I thought I had overexposed it! It took a few moments for me to realize that the sign, which had been the same colors for a while, had started to change.

 

Under the Pismo Beach Pier

Under the Pismo Beach Pier, 8:13 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 135mm wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/8 at Auto ISO 640 (LV 5.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

It was pretty dark; this is right at sunset in the fog.

 

Under the Pismo Beach Pier

Under the Pismo Beach Pier, 8:25 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 7.5mm telephoto camera (65mm equivalent) at f/2.2 at 1/27 at Auto ISO 1,600 (LV 3.0), split-toned print. bigger.

This is even darker; 12 minutes after sunset under a pier in fog — and my iPhone 12 Pro Max works great hand-held!

 

Under the Pismo Beach Pier

Under the Pismo Beach Pier, 8:31 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 1.5mm ultra-ultrawide camera (13mm equivalent on 24×24mm square-crop full-frame or 30mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) at f/2.4 handheld at ¼ second at Auto ISO 1,250 (LV 0.8), Snapseed, Perfectly Clear, horizontal perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

Of course it's noisy; this was shot in the dark in the fog under a pier 18 minutes after sunset (LV 0.8), and my iPhone 12 Pro Max's JPG images still saw colors under the pier that were invisible to the naked eye that I brought out in Snapseed, Perfectly Clear and Photoshop CS6. Here's the original shot:

Under the Pismo Beach Pier

As shot. bigger.

On my Hasselblad SWC I wouldn't have quite as wide an angle, I'd have to have brought a tripod and exposed wide-open at f/8 for two-and-a-half minutes on ISO 50 Velvia, considering reciprocity failure.

Sure, if I had lugged my SWC and still had the energy to shoot this it would have been sharper, but this softer grainy image will sell just as well because this image is about color, lines, rhythm and motion; not sharpness or cleanliness.

 

Pismo Beach Hotel at Night

Pismo Beach Hotel, 8:44 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 18.5mm at f/2.8 hand-held at ¼ second at Auto ISO 200, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 4.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

I've been shooting at night for almost 50 years. Back in 1971 it was a real pain in the neck, requiring a tripod and having to guess at exposure because most CdS meters couldn't read this low unless you played some tricks with them (meter the white and subtract two stops, for instance).

These night shots are easy hand-held today with this gear: just point, hold still and shoot! Metering and auto exposure and and auto ISO all work great once you set them to taste. Also back in the day there were no lenses this wide, and even if there were in other formats, they certainly weren't f/2.8 and there were no stabilized lenses or cameras. Today we can leave our tripods at home.

A trick I use to get all this dynamic range from bright neon to dark shadows is to expose for the highlights (use the most exposure I can that doesn't lose the highlights) and then use Perfectly Clear to bring up the shadows without losing the highlights. Easy, and as you can see it works great from BASIC ★ JPG files, no raw needed!

 

02 June 2021, Wednesday       top

We rose before the dawn and headed to The Irish Hills:

Orange Fog at Dawn, Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California

Dawn, Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California, 6:36 A.M. Nikon Z7 II in square-crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 92mm (210mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) at f/10 at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 17¼), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Insane Pavement Sealing, Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California

"Insane Pavement Sealing" or "Road Into Fog," Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California, 6:51 A.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/1,575 at Auto ISO 32 (LV 13.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Fog Lifting over the Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California

Fog Lifting over the Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, California, 7:02 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 75mm at f/11 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 64, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.5), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

A bad thing about Nikon's mirrorless cameras is that their "Matrix" meters aren't as good as DSLR Matrix meters when we have snow, fog or sand in daylight. For some unknown reason Nikon now allows their mirrorless cameras to set exposures above LV 16⅓ (probably because some software coder thought that was a mistake that he "fixed"), letting things that should be white now look like gray. In the photo above I had to add +0.7 stops of exposure compensation rather than my usual minus 0.7 stops. In other words I added 1⅓ stops more exposure than usual to make the photo look they way it should, which my DSLRs and SLRs made since 1984 all do properly.

 

Tree Bridge at Dawn, San Luis Obispo, California

Tree Bridge at Dawn, San Luis Obispo, California, 7:50 AM. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 24mm at f/8 hand-held at 1/10 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 10.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

I pulled two tricks here. First, I had to force White Balance to SHADE to warm it up; otherwise AUTO1 got fooled by the warm morning light and tried to render it too blue (cool). I could have used AUTO NATURAL LIGHT which might have been better, but I preferred to force it where I needed to get the look I wanted.

Secondly I exposed for the highlights and used Perfectly Clear and a curves adjustment layer in Photoshop CS6 to bring the grass back up to green rather than black as it was in the original JPG file. By "exposed for the highlights" I simply made sure that I didn't overexpose the highlights; I don't bother with the Highlight Priority exposure option.

Now down to Avilia Beach and Port San Luis for breakfast at Fat Cats Café:

Aztec Calendar on Red, Port San Luis, California

Aztec Calendar on Red, Port San Luis, California, 8:34 A.M. Nikon Z7 II in 4:5 crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 24mm (90mm equivalent on 4x5" film) at f/8 hand-held at ⅛ at Auto ISO 320 (LV 7⅓), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

After breakfast we explored the Avila Beach Pier:

Colorful Boat, Port San Luis, California

Colorful Boat, Port San Luis, California, 9:51 A.M. Nikon Z7 II in 4:5 crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 130mm (450mm or 500mm equivalent on 4x5" film) at f/8 at 1/160 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Floating Boat, Port San Luis, California

Floating Boat, Port San Luis, California, 9:55 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 97mm at f/8 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.6), Perfectly Clear, split-toned print. bigger.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Colorful Stools, Avila Beach Pier, Port San Luis, California, 9:56 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 54mm at f16 hand-held at 1/25 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.3), Perfectly Clear, unneeded color removed with an adjustment layer in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

Need f/16 for depth-of-field with a long lens? No problem hand-holding at 1/25 at super-clean ISO 64!

 

Inside the Avila Beach Pier, Port San Luis, California

Inside the Avila Beach Pier, Port San Luis, California, 10:01 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm at f/7.1 at 1/10 at Auto ISO 64, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 9.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Traps, Avila Beach Pier, Port San Luis, California

Traps, Avila Beach Pier, Port San Luis, California, 10:08 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 15mm at f/8 at 1/30 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 11.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

I added deliberate vignetting in Photoshop CS6's Lens Correction Filter to keep your eyes trapped in the traps, otherwise they'd be drawn to the top right corner which was white. That's not the lens getting darker up there; it's me doing it.

From the pier we headed inland to the famous Octagon Barn:

Inside The Octagon Barn, San Luis Obispo, California

Inside The Octagon Barn, San Luis Obispo, California, 11:17 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm at f/4 hand-held at ⅛ second at Auto ISO 360 (LV 5.2), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

The slight softening in the corners seen in the full-resolution file are from the limitations of sensor-shift stabilization in this ⅛ second hand-held exposure. While in-camera stabilization works great in the center, it can't do much in the corners at 14mm because the geometry is such that the sensor would have to move about 50% more in the corners with this ultra-ultrawide lens than in the center — which it can't do.

After the barn we headed back to the foggy coast of Los Osos:

Canoes and Rolling Fog, Back Bay Inn, Los Osos, California

Canoes and Rolling Fog, Los Osos, California, 2:10 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/5,376 at Auto ISO 32 (LV 15.4), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Dancing Oak Party, Elfin Forest, Los Osos, California, 3:25 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max panoramic mode, cropped from a 270º sweep down to about a 210º sweep with the 5.1mm standard camera at f/1.6 at 1/397 at Auto ISO 125 (LV 9⅔), Perfectly Clear, split-toned print. bigger (original file is a 60 megapixel, 48 MB JPG.)

Just a little bit inland we found plenty of agriculture:

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Happy Cows Facing Away, San Luis Obispo, California, 4:29 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 103mm at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Fog, Mountain, Mustard and Cow, San Luis Obispo, California

Fog, Mountain, Mustard and Cow, San Luis Obispo, California, 4:44 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 55mm at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 64, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

Back to downtown for dinner:

Paella Del Mar, San Luis Obispo, California

Paella Del Mar, San Luis Obispo, California, 6:39 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/121 at Auto ISO 32 (LV 9.9), Perfectly Clear, made warmer in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

After dinner we walked around the creek and the mission downtown:

Old Mission San Luis Obispo at Dusk

Old Mission San Luis Obispo at Dusk, 8:41 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 16mm (38mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) wide-open at f/2.8 hand-held at 1/15 at Auto ISO 450 (LV 4.7), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

I so love being able to point-and-shoot this night work rather than having to hump my Hasselblad and a tripod all over. I'd have to expose for f/16 at 32 seconds on Velvia 50, and it's a pain trying to muscle a tripod into exactly the right point in 3D space to get this composition, which is trivial hand-held.

 

RAINBOW Trees, San Luis Obispo, California

RAINBOW Trees, San Luis Obispo, California, 8:43 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm wide-open at f/2.8 hand-held at ⅛ at Auto ISO 250 (LV 4.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

Yes, I LOVE the colors I get from my Z7 II! Check this out:

 

Carnegie Library, San Luis Obispo, California

Carnegie Library, San Luis Obispo, California, 8:47 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 18 mm (40mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) wide-open at f/2.8 hand-held at ⅛ at Auto ISO 1,400, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 2.2), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

I would have to expose Velvia 50 for two and a half minutes at f/11 in my Hasselblad. I don't have the time for this, and certainly no patience to haul a tripod around downtown all night when I can get the same results hand-held with a Z7 II — and much better color than scanned Velvia.

 

03 June 2021, Thursday       top

Today Chuck from Chico met us at the hotel for just today's shooting. All of nine of us had breakfast at The Village Cafe in Arroyo Grande, then over to Morro Bay:

Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California

Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California, 9:48 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 24mm at f/6.3 at 1/160 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.3), Perfectly Clear, split-toned print. bigger or full-resolution.

I added deliberate vignetting in Photoshop CS6 to keep your eyes on the rock and not out in the corners.

 

Wave Mural, Morro Bay, California

Wave Mural, Morro Bay, California, 10:33 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 37mm at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

Automatic distortion correction works well!

 

Harbor Hut Restaurant, Morro Bay, California

Harbor Hut Restaurant, Morro Bay, California, 10:34 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 69mm wide open at f/6 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.5), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Ford Seat Sculpture, Morro Bay, California, 3:25 P.M. Nikon Z7 II in square-crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 29.5mm (65mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) at f/7.1 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 64, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.9), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Three Stacks, Morro Bay, California

The Three Stacks, Morro Bay, California, 3:25 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 200mm wide-open at f/6.3 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 15.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Yes, You Can Get "VAJ" on Your Woody's California License Plate, 11:19 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 115mm at f6.3 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.6), as shot. bigger.

I shot this in SHADE white balance to warm it up; otherwise it was too blue.

Now up to Cambria:

Iceplant Flower, Cambria, California

Ice Plant Flower, Cambria, California, 11:54 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 200mm at f/6.3 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 64, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.92 Columbus Day), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

After Cambria we went to see the seals at Ragged Point, and then headed back to Harmony:

Old Truck Sealed-Beam Headlight and Sign, Harmony, California

Old Truck Sealed-Beam Headlight and Sign, Harmony, California, 5:34 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 1.5mm ultra-ultrawide camera (13mm equivalent) at f/2.4 at 1/232 at Auto ISO 25 (LV 12.4), Snapseed and Perfectly Clear. bigger.

From Harmony we headed to Cayucos:

Under the Cayucos Pier, Cayucos California

Under the Cayucos Pier, Cayucos, California, 6:11 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 1.5mm ultra-ultrawide camera (13mm equivalent on 24×24mm square-crop full-frame or 30mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) at f/2.4 handheld at 1/122 at Auto ISO 80 (LV 9.8), Snapseed, Perfectly Clear, horizontal perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

It had been socked-in all afternoon at the coast, so I suggested we head back to town in search of sunlight before we hit the SLO Farmer's Market. We headed a block over to Mo's Smokehouse BBQ for dinner.

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, San Luis Obispo, California, 7:30 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/120 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 8¼), Perfectly Clear, burned and dodged in Photoshop CS6 with adjustment layer masks. bigger.

 

Ribs, Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, San Luis Obispo, California

Ribs, Mo's Smokehouse BBQ, San Luis Obispo, California, 3:25 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 80 (LV 7.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

We walked around downtown after the Farmer's Market:

Hotel San Luis Obispo at Dusk

Hotel San Luis Obispo at Dusk, 8:31 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm wide-open at f/2.8 hand-held at 1/15 at Auto ISO 220, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 5¾), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

We returned to our basic motel, then I walked back downtown by myself to see what may have been going on afterwards. I was charmed at how many people I saw on bicycles.

Just Before Bike Night, Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, California

Just Before Bike Night, Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, California, 9:31 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm at f/2.8 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 1,250, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 3.2), Perfectly Clear. bigger, or full-resolution.

Little did I realize for all the decades I've been going to the Farmer's Market that there is an insane Bike Night on first Thursdays after the Farmer's Market where hundreds of cyclists muster at the B of A lot and ride laps around town (down Higuera, left at Nipomo and back up Marsh to the B of A) en masse. It was pretty out of control; it was the first Bike Night since The Time Before. They kept riding at least as late as 11PM!

Woodstock's Pizza, San Luis Obispo, California

Woodstock's Pizza, San Luis Obispo, California, 3:25 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm at f/2.8 at 1/25 at Auto ISO 1,000, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 4.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

I did this shot by exposing for the highlights and knowing that Perfectly Clear would let me bring up the dark parts afterwards for the results above, especially from JPG files. HDR demands a tripod; and I'm not going to carry a tripod when I realize that I should have been on my bike and not just walking around. Here's how it looked right out of the camera uncropped and unboosted:

Woodstock's Pizza, San Luis Obispo, California

As shot. bigger.

I walked back past our motel, getting as far as this closed restaurant:

Pepe Dalgado's, San Luis Obispo, California

Pepe Delgado's, San Luis Obispo, California, 3:25 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm wide-open at f/2.8, hand-held at 1/25 at Auto ISO 14,400, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 0.4), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

It was so dark and poorly-lit that this grainy and off-color shot reminds me of 35mm C-41 film shot back in the 1980s! I copied the background layer, blurred the original and used a layer mask to blur just the sky to hide all the noise.

 

04 June 2021, Friday       top

Today we had breakfast at Louisa's Place in SLO and then headed towards home, stopping at Oso Flaco Lake:

Green Alaska, Oso Flaco Lake, California

Green Alaska, Oso Flaco Lake, California, 10:55 A.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 200mm at f/16 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 720 (LV 12.8), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

I knew it looked familiar, so I flipped the image in Photoshop CS6 et voilà: Alaska.

 

Wooden Walkway over Oso Flaco Lake, California

Wooden Walkway over Oso Flaco Lake, California, 10:58 A.M. Nikon Z7 II in square-crop mode and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 60mm (150mm equivalent on 6×6 cm Hasselblad) at f/11 hand-held at 1/60 at Auto ISO 90 (LV 13.0), Perfectly Clear, image vignetted for emphasis and flipped in Photoshop CS6 to read left-to-right, split-toned print. bigger.

After these shots we bid good-bye to Mark, Chuck and Charlie. Chuck took Charlie back to the airport.

From Oso Flaco Lake Dave, Jim, Iris and I kept heading towards home, stopping at Mission Santa Barbara:

Mission Santa Barbara, California

Mission Santa Barbara, California, 3:32 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 24-200mm VR at 80mm at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.

I shot this deliberately with SHADE white balance to make things much warmer. AUTO1 White Balance rendered it as it looked: cool and much grayer and not the way I wanted to see it. Most folks don't realize that this SHADE white balance trick (or an 85 filter with film) makes most things look warmer, but still leaves the sky blue, making it a much more inviting photograph than shot as it looked:

 

Mission Santa Barbara, California

How it looked to the eye (AUTO1 White Balance). bigger.

 

We jumped back in Jim's 1993 Suburban and headed south to Camarillo, where Iris wanted to stop for strawberries:

Gonzalez Produce, Camarillo, California

Gonzalez Produce, Camarillo, California, 5:24 P.M. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, 5.1mm standard camera (26mm equivalent) at f/1.6 at 1/12,048 at Auto ISO 32 (LV 16.6), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger.

 

Giuseppe's Restaurant, San Luis Obispo, California

Green Field and Farmhouse, Camarillo, California, 5:21 P.M. Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm at f/16 hand-held at 1/30 at Auto ISO 64, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger or camera-original © file.

After this we took the 101 through Point Mugu, Malibu and Santa Monica to Dave's house. I got in my car and headed the rest of the way Home, thoroughly pooped after my first four predawn-to-night days on the road since glorious October 2019.

Whew! Thanks for checking out my snaps!

 

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