How I Got That Shot – “McWay Falls at Sunset”

"McWay Falls at Sunset" by Joel Addams in Big Sur on California's on Highway 1. Run of 45 prints

McWAY FALLS, BIG SUR, CALIFORNIA

This place is priceless.  I had never even heard of this state park until fellow photographer Matt Kuhns from the Los Angeles area tipped me off to it while we were getting a good chill in Yosemite National Park in January 2012.  I had to go to Big Sur anyway to shoot a little bit for an unknown editorial client…so secret.  I knew I needed to hit this place up before I left so I drove all the way back down from Monterey after finishing up.  Getting there far too early in the morning, I decided to wait for the sunset, only about 8 hours away.  I meandered around the area a bit more, finished the book I was reviewing GOINGPRO by Scott Bourne and Skip Cohen and then enjoyed the golden hour.  Many of the images I’d seen of McWay were over-stylized for my taste.  I prefer a bit rougher or RAW feel to the landscape and I chose a wide angle lens a bit more to tell the story of these killer falls that pipe right down into the water.  Admittedly, I was going for a money shot as I have been forcing myself to shoot wide more often.  This forces me to think more about composition and not just zooming into what is interesting.  The Singh-Ray filters always come in handy for these sky scenics and a 4-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter alone seemed to hold back enough light in the sky. Check out the image on the website.

Camera: Canon 5DMarkII,
Lens: 17-40 mm lens at 20 mm
Settings: ISO100, f/22, 4.0 seconds
Filters:  Singh-Ray 4-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter, LB warming polarizer
Other: Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod, Cable Release

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