Newport Beach Pier, California.
This was captured just 14 minutes after yesterday’s post – amazing what can happen in just a few minutes!
{ 6 comments }
From the category archives:
California
Newport Beach, California.
A 4 second long exposure turned the waves into a soft blur on this stormy evening. You can see Catalina Island on the horizon.
{ 6 comments }
Dana Point, California.
I meet up with Richard Wong for fun a evening of photography down in the cool Orange County coastal town of Dana Point.
{ 8 comments }
Balboa Pier, Newport Beach, California.
This was captured during a beautiful sunset last week.
{ 10 comments }
Downtown San Diego, California.
Here is another photo from my aerial shoot. The Aircraft Carrier in the foreground in the U.S.S. Midway. The U.S.S. Midway is no longer active, it is actually a museum parked near downtown.
{ 10 comments }
This is looking down on the roller coaster in Mission Beach, in the mid ground is Mission Bay, and further out is downtown San Diego, California.
Last week I got a phone call from fellow photographer Phil Colla offering to split the cost of a helicopter charter flight over San Diego. I jumped at the opportunity! I love flying and photographing from a helicopter; you can pretty much go anywhere you want, and most importantly, you can do so with the doors removed. This is really important, as you often need to use a polarizer to cut the haze, and polarizers add funky rainbows for some reason when you use them through Plexiglas. Not to mention, shooting through Plexiglas is a great way to end up with soft photos, so doors removed is the only way to go.
Well thanks to the Santa Ana off-shore winds, we had wonderful clear conditions – I ended up with a lot of images of the area to add to our existing coverage of San Diego photos.
{ 11 comments }
The finals of the Katin Pro/Am in Huntington Beach, California were amazing as the surfers continued to throw down huge tricks as they out did each other. Above is a 9 frame sequence that caputures Brett Simpson’s winning wave as he came from behind to win the title. I wish I could have had a lower perspective, this was shot from above on the pier, and the high perspective tends to minimize the appearance of just how high he was on the maneuver. What I thought was cool, but may not be visible in the small version I posted here - in the second to last photo where Brett is completing the landing, he already has a huge smile on his face.
Here are a couple more photos of the Katin Pro/Am.
{ 13 comments }
The 14 year old surfer Kolohe Andino emerging from the "green room" during the Katin Pro/Am surf tournament, Huntington Beach, California. His young age and amazing abilities have already earned him appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The surfing conditions have remained great, and the addition of some of the best surfers in the world thanks to the Katin Pro/Am surf competition keep me busy. Watching such phenomenal surfing was a real treat! I may have to go back for the finals today. Here is a post of the winner of the Katin Pro/Am.
Below is surfing vetran Rob Machado who has twice finished ranked number three in the world.
Rob Machado
.
{ 6 comments }
With big waves hitting Southern California yesterday, I had to go to the place known as Surf City USA – Huntington Beach, California!
Water is one place that seems to consistently fool in-camera meters. What I usually do when photographing around water is switch to manual mode. Here, I set my ISO at 400 because I needed the speed. I then set my aperture wide-open, which was 5.6 with my lens, because again, I needed maximum light. I have my camera set to blink when I over-expose and blow out any whites, so I began trying different shutter speeds until I blew out the whites, and then increased the shutter speed just slightly until I didn’t have any “blinkers” , in this case, 2,000th of a second. This method gives me the maximum possible exposure, so that the surfer doesn’t turn to a black blob, and yet the whites don’t get blown out and lose detail.
Had my shutter speed been a number below 1,000 – I would have increased my ISO setting a little more in order to get a bit higher shutter speed to help freeze the action.
{ 7 comments }
This is the entrance to the walkway that leads to the historic Casino building in Avalon, Catalina Island, California.
{ 5 comments }
Avalon, Catalina Island, California.
Earlier this week we moved over to campground in Newport Beach, just in time for a favorable, warm, off-shore weather pattern. I say favorable, because the off-shore winds blow much of the air pollution often found in this area out to sea, providing clearer then normal views of the buildings, surrounding mountains and bright blue skies. We have been running around like crazy taking advantage of this situation. We have hiked the hills around Irvine searching for cityscape locations, been up to Griffith Park on the other side of LA, and spent the last two days out on Catalina Island.
I’m running a bit behind on the blog, but decided to jump ahead and post a photo of the town of Avalon on Catalina Island becuase that is such a cool little town on a pretty island.
{ 7 comments }
Salvation Mountain
This part of our visit to Slab City was sure a colorful surprise! This 50 foot high mountain made of straw, adobe and lots and lots of paint is constructed into a hillside near the entrance to Slab City. It is amazing what can be constructed with enough time and effort. This mountain is the creation of Leonard Knight. We were able to meet Leonard while we were there, he was very friendly and passionate man who was nice enough to take the time to give us a nice tour of Salvation Mountain. For a photographer like me who is attracted to bright, bold colors, this spot was a dream! Below is a photo of Leonard while leading the tour. [click to continue…]
{ 8 comments }
Slab City, California.
Personally, I think those rims are a bit over the top, but that’s just me. 
Slab City is an interesting place. It is a formal military base not far from the Salton Sea. It really isn’t a city, there aren’t any services, utilities or city government, it is pretty much just a collection of snow birds and squatters who are attracted to the free parking, and, well the lack of government. I have a friend from Seward who told me he used to hang out here. Now that I have seen the place, I have lots more questions! There were some interesting things there, but photogenically speaking, it was Salvation Mountain that really stood out – but I will save that for tomorrow.
{ 11 comments }
Anza-Borrego Slot Canyon, California.
To continue on yesterday’s post on the Kiboko Bag - this was our final destination. This slot canyon is off of Butte Pass Road in the central portion of the park, and is listed in most visitor guides. It may not have the rich reds of a Utah or Arizona slot canyon, but it still has interesting geographic formations, and wonderful indirect reflected light.
{ 7 comments }
A self portrait of me in a slot canyon sporting my Kiboko camera bag by Gura Gear, Anza-Borrego State Park, California.
I have been using this new bag since the beginning of this trip. I wanted to give it a complete workout in many conditions before I commented on it, but I can’t wait any longer because I love this bag! It rocks! I never thought I would be excited about a camera bag, but I am.
{ 10 comments }
Abandoned trailer, Salton Sea, California.
I started talking to an old timer who was walking his dog through this abandoned waterfront trailer park – he explained that back in the day, you couldn’t find a spot in the campground without an advanced reservation. Today, there are just empty spots along with this trailer which he tells me “druggies” removed all the good stuff. He also said that from the 50’s through the 70’s Salton Sea received more visitors then even Yosemite! I found the same stat on the Internet, I don’t know if it is really true, but sounds possible. Supposedly movie stars hung out at the yacht club and and the fancy hotels. Today, there vacant, dilapidated buildings and empty roads, it is really eerie just how far this area has fallen.
I converted this to black and white, I thought it better reflected the mood on the area.
In addition, after upgrading to the latest version of my blog software Wordpress, it seems my blogs feeds stopped being sent as emails or RSS. I think I have now fixed it, we will find out with this one. If you want to see what you might have missed, take a peak at: my photo blog website.
{ 12 comments }
Dead fish and bird remains along the shore of the Salton Sea, California.
The Salton Sea can be very beautiful, I tried to convey that in my last two posts. In addition to its beauty, it is a wonderful place for birds. Not only is it a critical stop on the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, but it also is home to over 400 species of birds, a number only exceeded by one other place in the U.S. (the Gulf Coast in Texas). Many of the bird species that use the Salton Sea are threatened on endangered.
But, the lake is plagued with problems. Since it is below sea level, there isn’t an outlet. As salty water flows in and evaporates, only the salt is left behind, which is slowly raising the salinity level. That coupled with diseases and other problems has lead to some large die-offs of birds and fish, the remnants of which were visible along the shoreline when we visited. There are no easy solutions to the situation, most are expensive and controversial. Here is a website that goes into far more detail on the Salton Sea for those who maybe interested.
This is my first post with version 2.7 of Word-press – I have my fingers crossed, so far so good!
{ 8 comments }
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, California.
This is from the east shore looking west at sunset - it was a wonderful sky! For comparison, – in yesterday’s post, I was on the west shore looking east at sunset, one night earlier.
{ 8 comments }
Salton Sea, California.
These pelican seemed like they were glowing against the pink water thanks to the reflection of this wonderful sunset.
{ 7 comments }
Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, California.
Where we stay in Anza Borrego State Park, only street legal vehicles are allowed, and those are limited to existing trails and road. In the nearby Ocotillo Wells, things are very different. In Ocotillo Wells you can drive any vehicle, anywhere, at any time.
We took a look at it last week and couldn’t believe the crowds the area attracts over a holiday weekend. RV towns had cropped up everywhere, this was only one of dozens if not hundreds. And it was far from the largest, it was just the easiest to photograph thanks to the high view point.
{ 2 comments }
Indian Wells Golf Resort, Indian Wells, California.
Unfortunately, both mornings we spent in the Palm Springs area were cold, so the rich green grass was turned white in many areas thanks to frost. Between the frost on the grass, and the snow in the mountains, I don’t think this is the image this area is trying to convey - that might not make these images very marketable, but what can you do.
{ 5 comments }
La Quinta Golf Resort, near Palm Springs, California.
We spent a couple of nights in the Palm Springs area photographing and celebrating our anniversary. (Note to reader; if this is Janine, place the emphasis on anniversary, if your are with the IRS, emphasis on photography )
I have learned the hard way that resorts like La Quinta are hard to photograph because they are surrounded by security personnel who seem to only be on the look-out for photographers. Don’t they have criminals and stuff to worry about?
Well the one way around this is to stay at the place, and thanks to name your price on Price-line, and the slow economy, that is now very possible. A room on a Saturday night of a holiday weekend during the winter would have been unheard of last year even at the motel 6 – this year that is all we paid, well except for the mandatory resort fee that covers a bunch of stuff that should have been included anyways.
Well, Happy New Year everyone!
{ 7 comments }
American Kestrel
I think this is a beautiful falcon. He has been hunting around our campsite in Borrego at least once a day since we arrived here. Friday, I was finally able to photograph him! I noticed he often returned to this specific cactus, so Friday I set up on it and waited. It worked! I also have some full frame closeups, but kind of prefer this version which shows more cactus.
I have seen these guys in Denali on numerous occasions, but have been unable to get close enough for a descent image. It is fun to watch a bird like this up close.
{ 12 comments }
The Yankee Peddler, Wrightwood, California.
For me, the Yankee Peddler isn’t just a cool little photogenic store in Wrightwood, but it is also owned and operated by my sister-in-law Brenda.
We spent Christmas with family in Wrightwood, where I think they had as much snow as we did in Alaska. It is interesting what happens when it snows in the mountains so close to a huge, snow-less city like Los Angeles – thousands of people flock there to play in the snow. The traffic was pretty crazy, but it looked like people with sleds and snowballs were having a lot of fun.
{ 8 comments }
