Mexican Sunset, a photo from Jalisco, Pacific Coast

Photographer's Note

I took quite a few sunset photos in Mexico and have posted most of them in August on Trek. I refrained from posting this one because I wanted the human element. But I thought that this photo has its own natural beauty on its own. It has a focal length of 126 mm on the Canon 70-200 F4 USM L series lens. I know there are alot of Trek members with the Rebel 300 and 350 XT. This lens is very sharp but you must remember to shoot at a high enough shutter speed to avoid lens blur on the photo. The partner zoom 70-200 F2.8 IS Image Stabilization would capture a much darker photo at a much slower shutter speed. I have found the key is to know the limits of your lens
The Canon 70-200 F4 autofocus is nearly instant. This makes the 70-200s great lenses for street photography. Despite the lenses' near-instantaneous focusing, Canon included a focus range switch. The settings are "1.5m to infinity" and "3m to infinity". In theory, if you were photographing lions in Africa, you'd want the 3m-infinity range set so that when the camera lost focus it would spend less time hunting.
All in all I have to say I don't know what I would do without this lens. Enjoy!

WorldGuru, singuanti, Roly, lucbus, Galmeida, ChrisJ, banyanman, Emile has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

WorldGuru (176) 2005-10-20 21:57 [Comment]

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singuanti (15250) 2005-10-20 22:30

Hi Paul. I'm glad you posted this since it's so great. And you should rightly be happy with the zoom lens since it gives such consistently good results. Perfect shot Paul!!

danielswalsh (13591) 2005-10-20 22:36

Nice shot Paul;

I must admit, I squinted looking at my screen- almost as if I was actually there staring into this vibrant sunset.

Nice composition with the silhouetted sand, and great amount of detail.

Nicely done!
- Dan

Roly (2024) 2005-10-21 1:15

It is certainly a great sunset but to be honest, this time I prefer the note. I am interested in this lens, and am not prepared to chip in the extra money for IS. So I am glad you like it. I'm trying to decide between this one and the 50/1.4. This image is good but I think it doesn’t stand out quite as much as your regular posts – it is not quite that special.

kclai (2267) 2005-10-21 3:01

Hi Paul
That's the coolest and warmest sunset. Yeah, Mexican, being the warmest region, gives the best reddish sunset. And the coolest-look one, too.
Eric Lai

Leni (165) 2005-10-21 4:40

Excellent shot Paul. This is one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. The landscape is wonderful, the colors are incredibly vibrant and your timing is just perfect. The dark, shady beach in the foreground and the specific frame really give a very special tone to your picture. Welldone!

poulinp (4528) 2005-10-21 7:42

A beautiful sunset. I like the shape of the curves on the beach, in the foreground, and the sun reflexion on it.

jocasta007 (0) 2005-10-21 9:43

Wow the glow of that lovely setting sun nearly blinds you, you can really feel the warmth in this pic, it's a beautiful setting which only required a simple composition which you have achieved to great affect. well done Paul!!!

weswang (18223) 2005-10-21 11:40

Hi Paul, I wonder that how many excellent shots you have in your reserve like this one. This is an excellent sunset shot. I guess taking sunset is about the same technique as taking sunrise except that you don't need to get up early :D.
I enjoy the composition, the color, the silhouette view of the coastline, and the reflections of the lights very much. Thanks for sharing.

Ina (2687) 2005-10-21 14:53

Lovely warm colors and a very nice contrast with the black beach and the palmtrees... TFS...Ina...

Cormac (26545) 2005-10-21 17:28

Hi Paul - the colour on this is amazing! The reflection off the water gives the photo some balance, as do the trees on the far right. Beautiful spot, well captured!

Galmeida (12559) 2005-10-22 3:32

Hi Paul,
You are going fast in your posts like the Sun in is daily life, but now in this so comunication and facility world that it's really to fast ;-))) It's okay and I jumped some by that fact. Not your fault but Internet Speed possible. I like very much this picture at Sunset moment with a excelent point of view and in a nice place to capture. Splendid the contrast you did with the Red-Orange sun rays and the black shadows and silhouettes in the foreground. Fantastic and beautiful. Thanks for visiting me.

Have a nice weekend.
Fernando

banyanman (7772) 2005-10-22 6:26

Hi Paul. There are so many sunsets on TE these days that I rarely give them a second look, but the thumbnail of this one caught my eye. It looks to me to be grossly over-saturated and too much contrast - but having said that, I have to admits it works! It would make a great calendar shot. Cheers . . . David

lucbus (11) 2005-10-22 22:29

Hello Paul,
I like these warm red colors. The composition with the siljouette of the trees on the right and this excellent sun reflections is great. Even the clouds show us clearly their details. Great sunset shot.
Luc

ChrisJ (86876) 2005-10-23 3:43

Hi Paul

A superb sunset from Mexico, with excellent sharpness, but perhaps the highlights could be burnt in slightly, &/or contrast reduced? Color is sensational. Tfs!

Emile (20348) 2005-10-24 1:02

Hola Paul.
Impressive sunset picture, the sky colors are great plus the reflection on the water and specially on the wet sand. Very well captured. Very good composition.
Well done.

smash2707 (3216) 2006-03-24 9:06

Beautiful sunset. The colors are amazing. I like teh small silhouettes to the right and the reflection of the sun on the sand. Regards, Yvonne

Mikeysqueeze (0) 2008-09-16 8:33

Great photo, Paul! I have a song Mexican Sunset and would love to use your photo on my myspace music page http://www.myspace.com/mikeysqueeze Listen to the song and let me know if I may use your wonderful Mexican Sunset photo.

Maximum Respect---

Michael