Ramblings of an outdoor photographer...

    November, December and January trips to Victoria Beach -  South Laguna Beach. Low tide sessions there are fantastic if the clouds are good. Low tide is required to get to and around the spire starcase. Recent images are posted in the Sescapes galleries.   

    October 15th through the 21st adventures along the Northern California coast. Joined by Scott Mathews we had some great captures, meals as well as beers in San Simeon, Big Sur (finally found the "Golden Door"), return to Point Lobos, Monterey - Pacific Grove - Carmel, Santa Cruz, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero, Muir Woods, Gallaway - Bowling Ball Beach, Point Arena, Salt Point - Fort Ross, Russian Gulch - Fort Bragg and a nice old barn find outside of Willits on the return. Decided Northern California Coast galleries are needed and are now posted for viewing. Keep an eye on these as I have a lot more additions to make.

   June 6th through the 8th 2011 revisit to the Oregon coast and Crater Lake. Crater Lake National Park galleries just posted with a nice series from the south rim. Managed to put together a nice panoramic of the lake as well. Rounded out the coastal vistas from the past year revisiting a few spots under different lighting conditions. A great sunset at Whaleshead should yield a few good keepers. I still need to get these posted, where does the time go?

    March 14th through the 18th 2011 travelled to Northern California visiting Big Sur, Point Lobos, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Davenport. This trip really will round out the collection of seascape images nicely once I get through editing and processing. I must extend a big thanks to Scott Mathews for giving me a heads up regarding the Highway 1 closure between Carmel and Big Sur that occured about 5pm on Wednesday the 16th. The roadway near Rocky Creek bridge gave away over a fifty foot section dropping the south bound lane down a sheer cliff. This was not good news for the businesses in Big Sur who have had a slow start to spring with all the heavy rainfall this year. I had passed over the spot about 48 hours prior heading northbound to Monterey. Point Lobos in particular yielded some great images this trip. I spent all day Tuesday the 15th at Point Lobos and highly recommend this state park for any visit to the area whether a photographer or not. Point Lobos is one of those places we are fortunate that has been preserved otherwise it would have likely been developed into a golf course riddled high priced real estate view lots such as nearby Carmel and Pebble Beach. The terrain was very green in March and the coastlines spectacular. Well maintained trails make access simple for all hiking skill levels and the most amazing Cypress groves in the world reside here. Lots of wildflowers in bloom and wildlife abound. Viewed grey whales migrating in the distance, elephant seals resting in a protected cove, stellar jays in the wooded areas as well as a few deer. After a couple nights of great food on Cannery Row and the Monterey Wharf, I headed north to Aptos, Santa Cruz and Davenport. Finally was able to manage a low tide session at the S.S. Palo Alto at Seacliff Beach in Aptos. This is an old beached oil tanker that is rusting away. It was intended to be an amusement spot cemented down in 1930 but did not survive the great depression as well as a storm that damaged its main support structure a few years later. Access is limited although a pier was constructed right up to it. I was able to obtain a few quality sunset images of this salt air rusting tanker and the adjacent pier. Following this I continued north to Santa Cruz and Davenport. As a former resident of the area, locating my former photographic favorite locations was just like being at home. Davenport has some great tide pools and is best at middle tide cycle at sunset. Luckily those circumstances worked for me on the evening of March 17th St. Patrick's Day. My Guinness and Jameson at Rosie McCann's on Pacific in Santa Cruz had to wait for a few hours after sunset as a great sunset-dusk session was presented. Luck to the Irish and patience to the English. Slainte! and Cheers!
 
    February 20th 2011 traveled to Eldorado Canyon - Nelson NV. February 20th 2011. Special thanks to Tony and Bobbie Werly who maintain the property at the Eldorado Canyon Mine or also known as the Techatticup Mine in Nelson, NV. The Werly's have quite an extensive collection of Americana spread all over their property. The Werly's offer gold mine tours as well as kayak and canoe rental for nearby Colorado River excursions. The artifacts collected over the years at this site are impressive and defintely take one back fifty plus years. The collection of old Chevrolet vehicles, gasoline pumps, route 66 service station signs, mining equipment and assorted vintage household items is almost overwhelming. I hope to return again soon to photograph this location in more detail as I feel I've only scratched the surface with this late afternoon to dusk outing. I highly recommend viewing the black and white versions of these images as they lend to the texture and mood of these items. These can be viewed in the Eldorado Canyon - Nelson, NV (B & W) gallery.
 
    October 10th 2010 back to Oregon to complete the northern coast and Columbia Gorge excursion that was a bit rushed in April. Returned from this trip with enough images to keep me editing and processing through the spring. Added the Oregon Waterfalls galleries and posted some favorites from Sweet Creek Falls near Mapleton, Oregon. Keep an eye on these galleries as I'll be adding some cool Columbia Gorge images here shortly. September 9th headed to the local Orange County coast to get a seascape sunset-dusk sequence at Arch Rock at the Corona Del Mar tide pools. The sunset was intense due to the reflecting clouds, lots of magenta and purple. These are posted in the Seascape galleries, one HDR image with vivid colors as well as intense contrast range and another which was a long exposure misting the surf with a pastel tone. August 20th-22nd made a short trip to Yosemite where I photographed the high country off the Tioga road between Olmstead Point and the Tioga entry gate. On the return south I was fortunate enough to catch the Yosemite Valley overlook right at sunset on the 21st where we were granted an great alpine sky show for about ten minutes. I usually don't shoot at the overlook due to all the tourists but the view was so colorful and there was only one other photographer there who was capturing it properly. These images are posted in the Yosemite galleries. On August 22nd, I made the return back to Southern California stopping at various points along old highway 99 to preserve some vintage roadside neon signs scouted earlier from the drive north. These old signs are disappearing quickly and are found in various states of decay. These captures were done with standard lenses as well as with the Lensbaby 3G. These turned out graphically stunning with HDR processing and are posted now in the Abandoned Americana galleries. Once over the Tehachipi grade I diverted east along highway 138 passing through Holiday Valley to capture the Mormon Rocks located in the El Cajon pass with late afternoon light. The Mormon Rocks galleries are now posted and have been attracting a lot of site activity.
 
    July 25th 2010 captured a great series of the elusive Golden Gate Bridge from Marshall's Beach. I have been trying to get a shot of the bridge from this location for about 17 years now. Typically the weather is a factor, too much fog, not enough, tide too high or the terrain too wet to climb down to the beach. It is really one of the best locations to photograph the Golden Gate but tough to pull off. I have to caution anyone really making the climb down there, it is extremely steep and the terrain unforgiving if you slip. I've seen people scramble the rocks around from Fort Point but that is not advised if the tide is coming in. The rocks there can be swept by a rogue wave or large ship wake then you are scrambling in the Pacific. The images were well worth the wait. Additionally I have to congratulate my wife Amy for running the San Francisco half marathon the following day. She had a personal best time for the thirteen mile trek through the city.