Tag Archives: Pier

Santa Monica, CA – Sunset at the Pier

Santa Monica Pier_Talke
My good friend Jim Nix from Austin, TX was in LA last nite and we took the drive up to meet him for a sunset photo walk in Santa Monica. Check out Jim’s fantastic blog at Nomadic Pursuits. Jim is a great photographer!

I had never shot in Santa Monica and it was on my bucket list. Easy to get to and one packed place during a late summer afternoon. The pier is large and has lots of entertainment. A roller coaster, ferris wheel, bumper cards, shops, restaurants and pier performers. Def will keep you busy for an evening. Being honest, there is not much to shoot in HDR other than a few on the pier shots, under the pier shots and this photo above….the iconic Santa Monica photo. Great reflections on the beach add a nice effect! Great to see and chat with ya Jim! Hope to see you in Austin soon!

Newport Beach, CA – Balboa Pier (HDR)

balboa pier_talke
Life is a beach! Balboa Island is a great place to relax and forget the hustle and bustle of the world…sit on the cool sand, listen to the waves crashing the shoreline and catch a beautiful sunset! I’ll be here Friday nite…a nice way to start a weekend!

Huntington Beach, CA – Under the Pier (HDR)

Huntington Pier_Talke
One of SoCal’s best beaches…Huntington Beach. A great place to shop, walk on the pier, relax on the beach, check out some beach volleyball, or grab some food at Duke’s. Enjoy the view under the pier…always a great location for an HDR!

Water Polo HDR Composite

Water Polo Composite
Here is the wonderful Casey posing at the San Clemente Pier in this HDR Composite. Casey plays for the local Water Polo team. They just completed their season and are now CIF Champions! Congrats to the team and Casey! Great season!! This HDR Composite uses of my my new backgrounds now available to purchase! You can find it here…San Clemente Pier. All backgrounds can be seen here…

1) Peter Talke Photography
2) Denny Mfg.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!!

San Francisco, CA (Infrared)

Infrared before and after
I have always loved the before and after shots people post on the net. Many non-IR photographers may not know how a IR photo looks directly from the camera. You can see it above! Processing an IR shot is easy…but you need to know how to work some photoshop magic. This is the full version processed shot below. Enjoy! I may post some HDR shots like this soon!
San Fran IR_Talke

San Clemente, CA – Pier (HDR)

San Clemente Pier HDR
While shooting our XMas card in San Clemente at the Pier, we finished early and I took a few HDR’s of the pier at sunset. I’m thinking of making a run of SoCal pier shots over the next year or so and possibly making a photo e-book? I’m a big fan of piers in HDR’s. Might make a cool coffee table book in my studio one day??

This shot above was a different angle and a “Photoshop Action” to give it the tone. I have learned to enjoy actions. If you use NIK or onOne…relatively about the same output…but there are so many more actions out there! Google “Photoshop Actions”…you can buy some cool ones and find some for free!

Peter Talke Photography Settings:
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/22
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS6, HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop Action

San Clemente, CA – Pier (HDR)


One more pic from my new favorite beach spot in SoCal…San Clemente. This shot was taken while in midst of my family session. Kudos for the good eye Dan! Dan asked if I could snap this shot of the seagulls under the pier. I did and after processing…a favorite!! A different view of a pier! Enjoy your weekend!!