Sunset Fine Art Photography of Bird Rock along 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach
This April evening out at Bird Rock on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California was a rare to the horizon sunset view. I took just my Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM lens, for a different perspective from the typical wide sunset shots. As I was letting the sun go down, I photographed these small flowers first (see the photo story). Many large rocks just off shore in this area function as bird rookeries, so I wonder why this one gets the distinction as bird rock? Maybe it was the first to be named so? As you can see in the background of some of the photos, there are lots of birds that do not get to live this close to where they go hunting during the day and have to fly further down the coastline. How did these birds get to be so lucky? All questions I ask myself!
Using shallow depth of field for Pebble Beach sunset photography
It was a beautiful evening here in the Pebble Beach area so I took my camera to one of my favorite spots along 17 Mile Drive, Bird Rock. I already had the Sony 50mm f/1.2 lens on my camera from a shoot the day before, so I left that on, to get a different perspective for sunset photography, and I knew before going there I did want to shoot at f/1.2 for shallow DoF shots. Then I saw these flowers growing atop a small cliff, and used them as the focal point and let the sun go out of focus. This extreme difference in foreground and background focus interests me and I feel reveals a different world.
Bird Rock is one of the best sunset viewing spots along 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach California
There are many scenic viewing points along 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California. I discovered Bird Rock because of a cycling group I was riding with stopped there one evening. Besides the great view, this lookout point has lots of parking and picnic tables and even a restroom. I decided to grab the camera and head out there, by car this time, to get a few shots of the sunset and twilightsky. It’s named Bird Rock for the big rock just offshore that is used as a rookery. Lots of birds were coming home from their day of work to spend the night on Bird Rock.
