When I entered the Hopewell Rock coastal park in the morning, the tide was still at its highest level for the day. All the entrances to the beach were closed. The only way to access the coastal area was to rent a kayak and paddle around the rocks because the entire coastal area was submerged under 10 meters of water.
My goal was to explore and photograph the Hopewell Rocks when the low tide exposes the rock formations and you have unique opportunities to photograph the area from the bottom of the sea.
I had a quick lunch and by the noon park staff started to let people to the beach area. It took the featured photo at 12:30 and it was still wet and muddy on the beach, but I did not complain because it was still relatively empty with not too many people around.
Loc: 45.823139, -64.572931
Shooting
It was not my first visit to the Hopewell Rocks and I knew what to expect and what to photograph. The main challenge in the park is always the excess of people entering the coastal area during the relatively short period time when the beach is open to the public.
Camera: Sony s6000
Lens: Sony 10-18mm
Focal Length: 10mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 100
Aperture: F13
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
Tripod: FEISOL Tournament CT-3442
Editing & Processing
It was a a single RAW processing workflow.
Lightroom (80%)
First, I used the Crop Overlay to change the aspect ratio from 3 x 2 to 4 x 3 and to straighten up the image.
I used the process I outlined in the article: How to Straighten a Photo in Lightroom.
Next, I used the Natural preset from my Landscape Preset Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to boost the Contrast and the Clarity.
The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Point Lobos (2, 10, 22, 31)
Photoshop (20%)
In Photoshop, I used the Clone Tool to remove 2 tourists from the scene and cleaned up the debris in the foreground.
Initially, I boosted the details and reduced noise.
Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).
Total Time: 15min
