GoodEye Photography + Design Blog » Nature

Photos of Japanese Tsunami Hitting the Santa Cruz Harbor (Natural Disaster Photography)

Chris Schmauch — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:56:55 +0000

I woke up this morning to helicopters overhead, thinking – hmm, that can’t be good. Bleary eyed, I picked up my iPhone, loaded Facebook and realized that Japan had had a massive earthquake, and tsunamis were headed to our west coast. My wife had already left to take our eldest daughter to school, so I grabbed my cameras, laptop and youngest daughter (sans shoes) and rushed away from the coast to where my wife was. After we determined amongst the other parents armed with iPhones that we weren’t in imminent danger, I went back home, donned my cameras and walked down to the harbor by my house.

There were tons of people lining the waterway and on the bridge that spans the harbor. Immediately I realized something odd – the water, normally still, was running like a swift river. It was dark with mud and debris, and I could tell some docks had gotten loose and some boats were adrift, running into other boats and the pillars of the cement bridge. After a few minutes the water came to a standstill, then reversed direction, setting off more bumper-boat action. I walked around for a couple hours, talking with people and documenting the event. Here’s a few of the photos, there’s more to see on my main website, www.GoodEyePhotography.com.

Debris wraps around a boat in the harbor

iPhones and cameras snapping away - it was hard to connect phone calls

Spectators on the bridge watch as the current draws the boat near the bridge

A good reason to take a break from the bike ride

Seconds before the boat hit the bridge

Buster Long (far left) and fellow Santa Cruz Yacht Club members rush to save some docked vessels from being hit by a runaway boat coming under the bridge (they succeeded)

Buster Long (right) and friend keeping an eye out for rogue vessels

A loose sailboat gets snagged by its topsail under the bridge - later the current reversed and this boat runs into some docked boats and mostly capsizes - then later rights itself, but with a list

Colors tweaked a little to show the turbulent water and mud

Hey, this is Santa Cruz people...

The same boat that got stuck under the bridge. Here it is righting itself after the current reverses (it was mostly capsized when the surging waves crushed it against the docked boats)

Finally the Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol attempt to control things

No shortage of police presence. The crowds remained calm.

Lucy the Goose, and controversial long time resident of the harbor, swam around honking at everything - abviously flustered about her typically quiet environment. Glad to see she was okay.

It's hard to get a sense for the swiftness of the current in a still photo - but look at the water moving around the vertical wooden poles - I wouldn't want to be floating in it!

For all intents and purposes, a calm, beautiful day in Santa Cruz.

Whirlpools and eddies of water were abundant when the current reversed direction.

Beautiful mud and water

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Louis and Freneau – Musicians (San Francisco Portrait Photography)

Chris Schmauch — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:55:57 +0000

Louis and Freneau are a loving couple that also happen to create some great spiritual music. Their goal for the photo shoot was to get some cover-worthy art for their next album. They picked the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco for the grand setting, where we met near sunset for our session. They were very easy to work with – playful, fun and didn’t take themselves too seriously (my kind of clients!). The Palace of Fine Arts has this amazing dome and lots of colossal columns, begging to be photographed. I’m glad we stayed long enough to see the deep orange glow of sunset gracing the pillars and dome – it was a beautiful site indeed.

View some of my favorite photos from the shoot below, or click through to see all 120 edited photos at www.GoodEyePhotography.com.

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PotD (Photo of the Day) – Painting Nature with Light

Chris Schmauch — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:21:15 +0000

PotD: 2010.10.13

Date Taken: 2010.07.05

Photo Specs: Nikon D700 + 28-70/2.8 lens @ 50mm, 30 sec, f/8, ISO 1000, no flash (lighter photo taken @ 28mm, ISO 200)

Why it’s cool & how I got it: OK, so I’m including two pics – the second photo is the one I originally wanted to write about, but that alone doesn’t give you much context of the location since it’s so dark. My buddy Miguel Valenzuela and I were vacationing with our families up at Lake Almanor, CA this summer, and we wanted to get some cool shots of the nearby river (Deer Creek?). So after the sun set, we drove about 20 miles to this location off highway 32, hiked down to the water with our gear, and proceeded to explore the possibilities.

These are both 30 second long exposures using a tripod, of course, which is why the running water looks more like flowing mist. When there’s no wind to blow the other plants around, it makes for a really surreal effect.

By the time we got to the second shot below – it was really dark. Miguel busted out his flashlight, which we used to “paint” the water while the camera shutter was open. It’s definitely a matter of trial and error, but the end result looks like the river is populated by lively streams of bioluminescent organisms. The white balance is also tweaked to taste – I think it works well. Drop a comment below if you’ve got something to say!

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Walton Lighthouse @ Seabright Beach (HDR)

Chris Schmauch — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:35:51 +0000

I walked to the beach this late afternoon with my family, and took 10 minutes away to walk around and get some handheld five-shot HDR photos of the lighthouse and surrounding area. Usually I do HDR with a tripod because all the photos have to line up, but I managed ok for most of the shots; hi-speed shooting mode on the D3 definitely came in handy I am not a landscape-y type of photographer, but I’ve been known to dabble from time to time if I see something that piques my interest! Enjoy the pics below, printable hi-res shots here.

Hint: Click Slideshow for Full Screen Presentation

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Almaden Quicksilver County Park, A Photo Essay

Chris Schmauch — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:11:00 +0000

My Wave Magazine coworker Mitchell Alan Parker and I took a half day break from cubicle-land to “research” one of the locations in our upcoming Sports & Adventure hiking story. If you drive south down Almaden Expressway, it turns into about three different versions of Almaden roads before you finally get to “New Almaden” – which is actually a really old Almaden, the most famous current business being the excellent french restaurant La Foret.

Just past New Almaden on the right is a big parking lot, the “Hacienda” trailhead for Almaden Quicksilver County Park. The park itself is expansive; there are many miles of trails, most of which appear to be fairly well maintained fire roads. The park is named for its mining namesake Mercury, the metal that is in liquid state at room temerature (a la, “quick silver”).

Our intent was to find the old mining area and get some cool photos. Unfortunately we neglected to grab one of the free maps at the base so we basically ended up wandering around for a few hours. We did find “Englishtown” which was a base camp of sorts back when the mine was in full-operation (see: when Abe Lincoln was commander-in-chief), the only current residents being the alleged Hanta-infested rodents (if you are to believe the ubiquitous signage at every historical site).

The weather was overcast, cool, but not rainy – although it had been raining for several days. The result was a ton of new growth – lots of fresh green grass and lush plant life. Mitchell and I had a great time enjoying the beautiful wilderness, so close to silicon valley – we were even rewarded with some great views of the valley once we hiked for an hour or so. Here’s a few pics from the adventure. All the pics are here.

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San Jose from High

Chris Schmauch — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:00:00 +0000

When location scouting for a place to shoot the cover of The Wave Magazine for the ”Downtown San Jose Issue,” it really came down to two options: helicopter, or the Capital Club at the top of the Knight Ridder building. The choice was obvious: helicopter. But alas, it was not to be. So I called the fine folks at the CC and scheduled a time to come by and take some shots of the little people from high above. In retrospect I should have waited a tad later for sunset, but there are schedules to consider. I got a few good shots from both ends of the building, but I could only use one for the cover. There are a few fun ones where I shot straight down while standing on a ledge pressed against the clear glass railing – feint of heart, take heed. I think it turned out pretty well, and you can’t ask for a better location to encompass downtown in one photo (unless you’re a helicopter pilot or an astronaut).

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