and onto the sand . The long exposure emphasized the motion of the white water flowing along the sandy beach . The light , texture and contrast of the image made it a good candidate for a monochrome image .
If you plan on visiting Natural Bridges , there is a fee of $ 10 per car collected by the rangers at the kiosk . The nice thing about parking inside is that it is convenient , and you can almost always find parking relatively close to the beach . The beach hours are from 8:00 am to sunset . If you want to stay past sunset , you can park outside on the city streets .
This beach park really is a nice place to just hang out . I personally like it most in the morning when it ’ s a little quieter and the light is behind the bridge , but it is also nice in the late afternoon when the sun is shining on the face of the bridge . It ’ s a good location to view shore birds , seals , and otters . An occasional migrating whale can be spotted in the distance at the right time of year . Along the right side of the beach there are public access tidepools where you can view starfish , sea anemones , and shore crabs , fun for kids as well as adults . The park does ask that people “ look but don ’ t touch ” the critters in the tidepools . Check the tide chart before you go !
Natural Bridges is home to the only State Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve . It ’ s an amazing place to photograph butterflies at the right time of year . The Monarchs start arriving in late October and leave by mid-February ; however , the best time to view and photograph the butterflies is late October through November . They are most active around midday on warmer days . If the temperature is too cool , they won ’ t leave their clusters in the eucalyptus trees . If you plan on photographing them , bring your long lens to get some good images .
If you go on a warm day in November at low tide , you can check all the boxes !!
LCD screen to monochrome . I often do this and find that it is a good tool to help visualize the image . When viewing the scene in front of you without the distraction of color , it enables you to focus on the light , texture , and contrast of the composition which can help create a more compelling and emotional image .
Jeff Bentz is a travel and landscape photographer in Gilroy . Instagram @ jeff _ bentz _ photography / jeffbentzphotography . com
Some of the great black and white photographers you can draw inspiration from are Edward Weston , Ansel Adams , Henri Cartier-Bresson , Michael Kenna , and Dorothea Lange . I encourage you to check them out and see if any of their images speak to you .
The image in this issue was taken at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz . It was a long exposure taken early in the morning when there were few people on the beach and the sun was low on the horizon . The long exposure allowed for the ocean to appear relatively flat but still show some motion in the waves . It also enabled the reflection of the bridge to show more prominently . I decided to get low with the camera to show some texture of the rocky area where I was standing and the fresh water from Moore Creek that was running over the rocks
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