According to my phone, sundown was at 8:30pm last night. I arrived at the point between “west bay” and “east bay” north of downtown Olympia just after 8:00. They aren’t kidding when they say arrive on location early. I was late! By the time I set up my tripod, the sun was already behind the hill on the opposite shore. But I got some good shots of the sky and water anyway.
I think this is really interesting. The 35mm f/2 lens has a different look than my 17-40mm f/4L. But that is partly due to the fact that in my excitement to capture the lovely sky, I failed to realize I had left the circular polarizer on from my last shoot. Duh!
I really love the angle I get with the EOS 6D, now that 17mm is really 17mm, instead of 27mm (on my old EOS 7D).
This spot was between a restaurant and a radio station. Oh! And you can see the white seagull poop on the rocks in the bottom of the frame. I might take one of these and do a single exposure HDR (as I did in previous posts), just to see how it turns out.
I do think my Tiffen circular polarizer is softening my images and possibly affecting the color/white balance. I would have taken it off the 17-40mm if I had realized it was on before shooting these. It’s not the worst grade on the market, but it’s far from being one of the better ones, and after over 10 years, it’s probably time to upgrade. I’ve been looking at the Marumi Super DHG and B+W MRC F-Pro models. Both seem very high quality with lots of satisfied customers. Getting it in 77mm thread size means it will be more expensive though. But a step-up ring would allow it to work on the 35mm also. I just wouldn’t be able to use the hood at the same time.
All in all, I was away from the house for less than an hour. After this last shot the color began to fade. Next outing to this area will be a little later in the evening near the Swantown Marina on the east bay side. Let’s really test the 6D’s lowlight capability and dynamic range on the sailboats and yachts under dock lights!
Artistic Diversions 