Lot's of Gold at Little Corona

[JimFox]

After shooting wildflowers up in the hills in Newport Beach California yesterday I had time to run down to Little Corona and shoot just before sunset. It was nice getting the gold in the foreground and the gold in the background with this. I took about a dozen shots up here on the cliff before heading down to get a little closer to the action. It was an awesome sunset that I cam glad that I didn't miss.

This was shot with the new Sony A6400 with the 18-135mm lens. It seems a lot of the lens for those small Sony's do not have an AF/MF switch, like I am used to on my Nikon lenses. So it's great that the 18-135mm does have it as it makes it easier to focus, and then switch the MF so that the camera doesn't change my focus. The small body of the Sony being small doesn't have room for all of the switches and buttons I have gotten used to on my full frame Nikon camera bodies, and so the AF/MF on the camera body is missing on the Sony's and available only as a menu option.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

 

[Ben Egbert]

Nice scene and light here Jim.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice result even if the process to get what you wanted seemed convoluted.

Are you using a tripod with this camera or just handheld? For handheld with Canon cameras I have used I can aim at something in the focal distance I want, do a partial shutter press to get it to focus and set the exposure and then while still holding the shutter button move the camera to the desired framing of the scene and squeeze off the shot. That technique isn't really useful with tripods but I have gotten spoiled by using Live View where I can just touch the screen to select the focal spot.

 

[JimFox]

Nice result even if the process to get what you wanted seemed convoluted.

Are you using a tripod with this camera or just handheld? For handheld with Canon cameras I have used I can aim at something in the focal distance I want, do a partial shutter press to get it to focus and set the exposure and then while still holding the shutter button move the camera to the desired framing of the scene and squeeze off the shot. That technique isn't really useful with tripods but I have gotten spoiled by using Live View where I can just touch the screen to select the focal spot.

Thanks Alan. That’s the method I use on my Nikon even when it’s on a tripod. I is the AF to focus where I want in the foreground for DOF and then compose and tighten down my tripod. And yep, I have been doing it for years when I hand hold too.

But the Sony has a ton of Focus options in its menu, and I tried to eliminate it from focusing constantly but wasn’t able too without causing other issues. The whole thing would be solved if the smaller Sony bodies simply had an external AF/MF Switch. I am sure there are work arounds, but being as they don’t include a manual with the camera, which is pretty dumb by the way, makes it a lot harder to find a solution.

So for now, having this lens with a AF/MF Switch solves it for me. The purpose of this Sony is pretty limited in scope, though I am having fun playing with a new toy. It simply isn’t going to come close to replacing my D850 or D810.

I will probably just get one more lens for this, and that’s an ultra wide, but it will be manual focus anyway, probably a Samyang, though I haven’t decided for sure.

 

[JimFox]

Nice scene and light here Jim.

Thanks Ben. The quality from the small Sony A6400 is pretty good.

 

[Timmeh]

Hey Jim,

The fine details in this composition is great. There's a place for each flower that extends into the water.

Tim

 

[teelermeeler]

Looks warm there , nice shot jim

 

[JimFox]

Looks warm there , nice shot jim

How did you know Tyler? It had gotten up to 80 that day.

Thanks so much!

 

[Alisa]

Lots of beautiful colors! It’s going to be awhile before all this snow melts here... but hopefully will make for an awesome wildflower season!

 

[Nilo Photography]

Very nice sunset...I like how the sky matches the flowers in the foreground.

 

[JimFox]

Lots of beautiful colors! It’s going to be awhile before all this snow melts here... but hopefully will make for an awesome wildflower season!

Thanks so much Alisa! Yeah, you still have a few months to go over there, maybe even a little longer this year.

 

[JimFox]

Very nice sunset...I like how the sky matches the flowers in the foreground.

Thank you Lenny!