418 - Punta Lobos
The learning curve for photography in Mexico is extremely high. Not because of the photography ITSELF, but because of the skill it takes to figure out how locations work. Today's shoot was at Punta Lobos. Kind of.
It was actually yesterday's shoot, and we showed up at the wrong time. The images on Google Maps showed these massive cliff faces, overlooking the entire ocean. But when we got there, the location pinpoint took us too a small beach packed with locals finishing up a day of fishing.
We looked over to the left, and just saw massive mountains. If I were to guess, the cliffs we wanted to be at were on the other side of those. But we sure as fuck weren't going to have time to climb those in the hour we had until sunset.
Fuck. Well, I guess that's it. No shoot today.
In retrospect, I gave up too early. I should have embraced the unknown and done a shoot right there.
But I didn't. I felt strange bringing out my camera and shooting in a place where so many locals who only spoke Spanish dwelt. I felt so out of place. People fishing for a living and I'm walking around with a $4,000 camera taking photos of them. What would they think of me? What would they say? Would they make fun of me?
I'll never know. Call me a pussy if you want, I know I was.
We went to the next beach over, which was basically empty, and slept for the night. The next day we woke up, and I had a long session by myself in the ocean.
These waves that were there were ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE. Some of the biggest I'd ever seen. And it made me feel so alive to stand in them and just get pounded by them. I even got completely knocked over a couple times. It was the first time in my life I truly understood the power of water. I'd always KNOWN it was strong, but this was a much needed reminder.
During this couple hour session, I thought about everything in my photography career. What was working, what wasn't, and what I wanted to do better. I realized I hated the social media aspect, but absolutely loved everything else. I fantasized about just deleting ALL my social media except this blog, and just posting my work on my website.
Full photography immersion.
But that was just a dream. The reality was I needed to figure out how to get to those cliffs we were at yesterday for tonight's shoot. After some research via AllTrails, we found the path. About 1.5 miles up, 1.5 miles down. The parking lot was where we were last night.
I'm starting to realize AllTrails is one of the most legitimate sources in Baha California for how to find things. Google Maps does NOT work like it does in the US out here. In Mexico, people rate entire AREAS on Google Maps, not specific attractions. For example, if you were to show up to a highly reviewed spot in the US, chances are you'd see exactly what you see in the photos at Google Maps, with information/signs about how to get there. In Mexico, if you show up to a highly reviewed map pinpoint, you can assume the photos depicted are somewhere within a 1 mile radius of that point, and there won't be any information about how to get there once you arrive.
AKA research is KING in Mexico. Google Maps Satellite View, AllTrails, scourging reviews for tips... All necessary skills out here.
So we arrived at the parking lot a few hours before sunset and began our hike. It was scorching hot, and I ran into a couple full spiderwebs along the trail. Like literally my entire knee had a full web on it, but no visible spider. It was the stuff of pure nightmares.
Finally we got to the overlook part we were hoping for and took the place in.
This place was absolutely insane. The kind of place that if it existed in the US, it would be one of the most popular trails in that area. Instead, this was a small trail for the lone tourist that stumbled upon it online. Crazy how that works.
I had a couple compositions in mind, but we had an hour until sunset. Which meant I could mess around with some non-sky shots. The first shot I got was of another cactus on a cliff:
“Triple Cliff”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 400 ~ 37mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
This seems to be a prevalent theme for me. Cacti in the clouds. That'd make a good pop-up gallery.
I messed around with some other shots, and found the composition I wanted most for sunset. Check this shot out:
“Pink Saguaro”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 640 ~ 17mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Basically from the moment I got there I knew that was the shot I wanted. The cactus on the edge with the flowers was ridiculously iconic. The only problem was that there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Good thing I've been building a MASSIVE library of clouds over the past couple years. I found my favorite and popped it on.
The key to sky replacements is to make sure the sun is in the same spot in the sky and the actual scene. To reinforce the idea even more, I'll pull out the sun colors on the scene to match the direction of the sun with dodging and burning.
It took me way too long to learn that lesson. My biggest example of this was at Palouse Falls in Washington. I blended the COLORS well, but the sun was completely in the wrong spot.
After that I was set. Knew I had a banger in the bag.
I got to do more hikes. Honestly the best shoots are always from hike-ins. I think it makes it more rewarding once you get to the scene, and it forces you to try harder to get a shot.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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