Night Light of the North Coast: Eel River Delta from Table Bluff

A bench looks south from Table Bluff across the Eel River delta, where lines converge beneath the Milky Way at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The sun had set at 6:30, and this photograph was taken at 7:58 PM, just catching the tail end of a colorful sunset along the horizon. Humboldt County, California on October 17, 2017.

If you have ever driven to the South Jetty of Humboldt Bay, then along the bluffs just before the road descends to the ocean level you will have passed by Table Bluff County Park. The park is graced with trails, a broad field, trees, benches, and of course great views over the Pacific Ocean and out across the Eel River delta. Information signs provide historical and ecological context. And at night you can see the Milky Way.

The clearest skies for stargazing usually aren’t along the coast, but coastal folks aren’t left entirely in the dark. I have found many a night sky crowded with stars along the Pacific, and when the Milky Way is out it is plainly visible once one’s eye has become accustomed to the night.

On the evening that I took this photograph it was my pleasure to accompany Erica Botkin’s Digital Photography class from College of the Redwoods on a field trip to share my nighttime photography expertise as a guest photographer. We chose Table Bluff for its proximity, with the hope of catching a view from the bluffs of the stars over the Pacific.

Much about night photography is different from shooting in the daytime, and there is a good deal of seat-of-the-pants estimation during shooting. I won’t attempt to teach the whole of it in these few words, but I’ll mention some of the things that came up for us.

The camera’s light meter is fooled by the low light and gives completely false readings, which if one doesn’t compensate will lead to dark images. How much to compensate will be a matter of experimentation. Light has a very different palette at night, both in the extremes of brightness and shadow and in the quality of colors, and it requires some experimentation to get a feel for it before one can predict results. Fortunately, we are spoiled in this age with the ability to see the image immediately, so trying different settings doesn’t take long. I began my own photographic journey using film, which was expensive both to buy and process, and it took hours or days to see the results. I don’t long for that.

It is too dark to focus easily at night, especially at infinity, which is where the stars are. The camera’s autofocus can’t lock in on the stars, so one must disable it and focus manually. Focusing on the stars is not necessarily as simple as turning the focus ring to the farthest. It may be that some lenses work like that, but I find that I need to back my focus off a “smidge,” which is photographic jargon for “a little bit.” So how much is that? Well, it’s not much. All I can say is, take a shot and then examine it for focus on the camera’s LCD. When examining your LCD for focus be sure to zoom in to 100% because if you view it too small it’ll appear that the image is sharper than it really is.

An unexpected focusing issue we encountered was that on some lenses the focus ring turns infinitely, never stopping at infinity. This required a little more shooting to find the right focus, as one couldn’t simply turn the focus ring until it stopped and then back off a tad.

A good camera support is crucial. The low light at night often requires very long shutter speeds, which necessitates a tripod or other support to keep the camera stable while the shutter is open for many seconds or minutes at a time. Immobilizing the camera during long exposures is very critical, and for that I recommend as sturdy a tripod as you can afford. If possible, avoid touching the camera by using a remote shutter release, or use the self-timer so that any vibrations caused by pressing the release button will be stilled when the shutter opens.

Some of the history of the Table Bluff Light Station, including old photographs of the many buildings of the installation, can be found at Lighthouse Friends, http://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=62 . Note from the Google Earth image that no buildings remain. Wikipedia had an entry as well with additional information.

Google Earth view looking south from Table Bluff County Park in the foreground, with the Eel River delta in the distance. Humboldt County, California. Google Earth screen shot fall 2017. 

Aerial view of the Table Bluff Light Station shows the numerous buildings that used to be there. No structures currently remain. Unknown date. Image source: anyplaceamerica.com.

To see previous entries of “Night Light of the North Coast,” click on my name above the article. If you’d like to keep abreast of my most current photography or peer into its past, you can follow me on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx . I update my website mindscapefx.com less frequently, but you can contact me there.

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Willie Caso-Mayhem
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5 years ago

🕯🕯Thank you David for your great photography and contribution to our imaginations.

Rosemarie von Boomhower
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Rosemarie von Boomhower
5 years ago

Willie you have a good heart and mind and thank you David.

David Wilson
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David Wilson
5 years ago

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words. I am grateful to have the opportunity to share my images with everyone here, and I have a lot of fun doing it.

I know me
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I know me
5 years ago

Great photo!!!! I really love this one…………Thank you for all the info and sharing.

Ivan B. Nobody
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Ivan B. Nobody
5 years ago

Good recap of night shooting…one trick is to hang a weight like a ‘water camel’ or other portable weight from the tripod for those long exposures.

Kittyhawk
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Kittyhawk
5 years ago

If it weren’t for you, I’d miss the beauty of the ‘moment’.

Lost Croat Outburst
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Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago

Fantastic shot. Converging lines of Milky Way, surf, and horizon. Another classic shot for the record and a great poster or calendar image. Another ho-hum night in Humboldt. Terrific colors and it looks like a meteorite was captured in a small streak to the left of the Way. Used to see scenes like this, but generally on psychedelics. You’ve captured the image. The daylight shot toward Ferndale and the aerial shot are also keepers, google shots or not.

Lynn H
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Lynn H
5 years ago

Thank you David for the photo and explanation. Your work is inspiring. One of these nights I’ll try night photography, but yes, completely different from day photography, lots more planning and I don’t have a clue. Well… thanks to you I do now. & Nice composition on that photo, one’s eye moves all around the space and back again.