I've seen a lot of sunrises, in my pursuit of landscape photography. But sometimes, it's my wife's idea. This was one of those times. She wanted to wake up early and watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean, something we don't do often enough despite living minutes from Fort Lauderdale's beach. Every time we plan a sunrise, she asks what time we should get there... five, ten minutes before sunrise? No way! At least an hour, I say. Sunrise is great, but I prefer the moments before. The way the light changes, slowly at first, then building into a crescendo as the sun gets closer to the horizon. And the way this crescendo is mimicked by the increasing activity, both human and wild, as the world wakes up... it's just a beautiful time to be awake

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For some of my photographs, I record and post the entire Photoshop editing process from start to finish. This is one of those photos, and you can see watch the recording here: "Golden Hour Off Florida Coast" editing procedure on Youtube.

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A beautiful tranquil sunrise brings dawn to South Florida. This location is right off the coast of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Despite its proximity to the city, this is actually Las Olas Beach, with Fort Lauderdale Beach being further north. The term "Las Olas" tends to bring to mind the iconic strip of restaurants and shops, not the beach. However I chose to use it in the title to pay homage to what the words actually mean: "the waves". As I sat on the quiet beach waiting for the sun to rise, clouds and sky ever changing, the only constant was the persistent drum of the waves lapping the sand. It made for a beautiful morning that appealed to all the senses. Usually a bustling tourist attraction, at this hour there are only a few people on the beach, and a few ships dotting the Atlantic Ocean.

Higher resolutions of this image are available (the maximum resolution for this image is 5846x2910). For usages that require a resolution higher than 3000px, or are otherwise beyond the standard terms and conditions, please email me directly at matt@matttilghman.com to discuss use-specific pricing.

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Before our trip to Iceland, we were anxiously watching the weather reports. We knew how bad the winter storms can be, and I'm not exactly a seasoned winter veteran. The week before we left, the weather was perfect. But I didn't put much stock in it, because the locals constantly talk about how fast the weather can change, and that the weather report isn't accurate more than two or three days out. Well, they were right. When I took off from New York, the weather reports looked decent. When I landed in Reykjavik, it looked markedly worse. I opened it up and the ominous headline read: "The Storms Return." Great. The first day was fine, but this photograph is about when it started to turn. Our time at the iconic Reynisfjara black sand beach was not the stuff of fairy tales that most travel blogs would have you believe. 75 mph gusts of wind saturated with entrained sand painfully blasted any exposed skin. I didn't even take out my camera, out of fear the sand would scratch the lens. This photograph is taken from the elevated lookout at Dyrhólaey, where the winds were even worse but at least there was less sand. The white-out blizzard hadn't arrived yet... that was to come tomorrow.

Higher resolutions of this image are available (the maximum resolution for this image is 6667x3802). For usages that require a resolution higher than 3000px, or are otherwise beyond the standard terms and conditions, please email me directly at matt@matttilghman.com to discuss use-specific pricing.

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Montara Beach is a beautiful state beach near Pacifica, California. We chose this beach as the location for a friend's birthday picnic. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very picnic friendly. It was foggy and cold all day... and very windy! This wasn't all that unexpected, since such conditions are pretty common along Central/Northern California's Pacific coast. The location was chosen more in hopes of ending the picnic with a beautiful sunset. The fog seemed really socked-in all day, so we were pretty sure that those hopes were dashed, too. But right as the day was ending, the fog broke up just enough to give us a stellar sunset, with the perfect amount of clouds (which is pretty rare for California).

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Just let it go. That's the way I felt when soaking in this sublime scene of Martini Creek flowing into the Pacific Ocean at sunset (located in Montara State Beach, near Pacifica, California). So that's the way I approached the post-processing of this piece, too. Specifically, the highlights. All too often, photographers spend hours upon hours obsessing over "controlling" the highlights, or bringing them down in brightness. I'm as guilty as anyone, and sometimes it certainly is necessary, since our eyes can observe a much wider dynamic range than the camera. But on this day, even to my, eye, the highlights were blown. The sun was piercingly bright. So why try to fight it? Just let it go.

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Beaches in California are so different from beaches in Florida, where I grew up. The sand is yellower and coarser, unlike the soft white Florida beaches. The sun is just as bright, if you're looking for a tan, but it's often still not enough to make it a truly warm experience. On the day I took this photo at Montara State Beach (near Pacifica, California) none of us even took off our fleece, even though it was April! The cold Pacific Ocean keeps the air chilly all year long. That's another thing -- the water is too cold! In all my excursions to California beaches, I think I only swam once, and it was miserable. Those statistics are unthinkable in Florida. But for all their differences (downsides, to me), watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean easily makes up for it all.

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This scene from Panther Beach, California, near Santa Cruz, is one which embodies the chaos in nature. On this morning, it seemed the so many forces were in direct competition with one another: the land, the sun, the fog, and the water. And all the four forces were in constant motion. You could actually see the fog bank racing forward and then retreating, as if to mimic the waves but in slower form. And you could almost feel the erosion in real time.
It felt like the land was turning into sand right before your eyes, and whipping you in face from all around.

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The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most famous suspension bridge in the world, and very possibly the most famous bridge period. What impresses me most about it is how long ago it was built, and how little technology existed at the time. Construction started on the bridge in 1933. When built, the bridge held the record for longest suspension bridge span (the length between towers supported by the cables). It continued to hold that record for almost thirty years. The surprising depth of the Golden Gate (the strait that the bridge crosses) is what necessitated such a long span. Constructing supports in such deep water would have been even more difficult. I love this view because with the Marin Headlands in the background, you can easily see the geological features which made construction so tricky.

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I tend to try to shy away from iconic scenes that are overly photographed. But when you live somewhere a while, you just have to check out the famous scenes at least once. And this view from Baker Beach, on San Francisco's Presidio, is indeed one of the most famous views the city has to offer. It gives a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as the Marin Headlands beyond, while hiding San Francisco itself. It's a nice alternate view, because without the city in the scene, one really notices the stunning landscape more. And despite living in the Bay Area for five years, I really did only visit this beach once. I was lucky to experience such great weather... but if I hadn't, I'm sure I would have visited again.

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The humid subtropical climate of South Florida is a unique place. In fact, while most sources classify South Florida as subtropical, many also classify it as tropical. Whatever the classification, it's clearly closer to tropical than any other of the subtropical regions in North America. This has its pros and cons. A well-tended landscape in South Florida can look like the Garden of Eden. Massive live oak trees drip with verdant resurrection ferns. Palm trees from around the world easily grow tall and proud. Vibrant tropical trees and shrubs can be found flowering year-round. But, a non-well-tended landscape can quickly get out of hand. Especially in summer, when intense sunlight combines with copious water, plants grow at an astonishing pace. When not kept in check, vines and weeds can quickly take over. One can see this easily by traveling to the hardwood hammocks of the Everglades, where nature has free reign to run its course. The thickets there are so dense and impenetrable, hardly anyone would liken them to Eden. But unchecked nature on the coast is a different story. Because of the storms, salty air, and poor soil, it's hard for the plants to get too out of control. In fact, I think the natural Florida coastline is prettier than when the beach is meticulously landscaped. The plants, while the growth somewhat stunted, abound in high variety. They hug the ground, creating a sort of marbled green over the beautiful white sand, with a few dune wildflowers thrown in for good measure.

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