Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact

California's Pacific Coast Highway
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 January 2014

22 January 2013, Wednesday      top

Today we headed to Hearst Castle, about an hour up the PCH from San Luis Obispo.

Hearst Castle Façade, 1:31 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/6.4 at 1/900 at ISO 200.) Full-Resolution.

Woman and Heart, Hearst Castle, 1:31 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/5.6 at 1/850 at ISO 200.)

Hearst Castle, 1:32 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/8 at 1/900 at ISO 400.) Camera-original © LARGE NORMAL JPG file.

Hearst Castle with Sunburst, 2:12 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/11 at 1/800 at ISO 800.)

I flicked the X100S to f/11 for a better sunburst. The X100S' Auto Dynamic Range chose ISO 800 to lower the actual exposure to prevent the highlights from blowing-out with this extreme contrast. Innocents may think there's something wrong with ISO 800, but that's how the Auto DR feature works. Nikon does something similar, but doesn't change the ISO in the EXIF as does Fuji.

Kids by the Indoor Pool at Hearst Castle, 2:17 PM. (Fuji X100S panoramic mode, f/2 at 1/125 at ISO 1,000.) Much larger (the original is still much larger).

Katie with Her Goodies outside Hearst Castle's Visitor Center, 3:08 PM. (Fuji X100S with flash, f/10 at 1/850 at ISO 800.)

Ryan Snaps Katie with a Garfield Camera at El Chorlito Mexican Restaurant, San Simeon, 4:12 PM. (Fuji X100S with flash, f/5.6 at 1/800 at ISO 400.)

This was the nicest day ever in San Simeon. It was sunny and 73ºF (22ºC), unheard of even in summer.

Ryan Shows the Lengths of the Dada, Mama and Baby Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas, 5:15 PM. (Fuji X100S, flash ON, f/5 at 1/150 at ISO 800.)

Elephant Seals Lounging in the Sunset, Piedras Blancas, 5:18 PM. (tightly cropped from horizontal Fuji X100S shot, flash ON, f/5 at 1/140 at ISO 800.)

Ryan Checks Out the Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas, 5:19 PM. (Fuji X100S, flash ON, f/4 at 1/150 at ISO 800.)

Katie Checks Out the Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas, 5:20 PM. (Fuji X100S, flash ON, f/2 at 1/125 at ISO 800.)

Dada and Katie at the Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas, 5:23 PM. (Fuji X100S, flash ON, f/4 at 1/140 at ISO 800.)

Pointed and shot from arm's length: prefect exposure and flash-fill level, all automatic as I hold a wiggly kid.

Now if I can get her to smile without the binoculars:

Dada and Katie at the Elephant Seals, Piedras Blancas, 5:25 PM. (Fuji X100S, flash ON, f/5 at 1/140 at ISO 800.)

The Stone Upon the Water, Madonna Inn, 7:16 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/2 at 1/30 at ISO 1,000.)

I simply flicked the X100S to 1/30 to render the water as I wanted it, and everything else was completely automatic to get this shot.

Katie and Ryan Have a Party, 7:34 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/2 at 1/70 at ISO 6,400.)

Not only did my wife find a bargain on these awesome rooms, she never stops. She found these closed-out New Year's Eve party sets almost for free while shopping today, and brought them back for the kids. Note that as a college town, the Madonna Inn made us sign an agreement when we checked in that NO parties were permitted in any room!

Yes, that's real, thick shag carpet. It was vacuumed every day and was super clean and comfortable.

Ryan Watches Dad's iPad in the Jungle Rocks Room, Madonna Inn, 8:04 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/2 at 1/30 at ISO 1,600.)

Katie Watches Mama's iPad in the Jungle Rocks Room, Madonna Inn, 8:05 PM. (Fuji X100S, f/2 at 1/30 at ISO 1,600.)

Luckily the Madonna Inn uses real light bulbs, not those crappy fluorescent bulbs used by the dumpier places, so even with the insane colors all over I was able to get good color.

That's all for today. NEXT ->> 23 January 2014, Tuesday

Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact