Joshua Tree National Park

Over the holidays I had the pleasure of spending a few days camping in Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.  The park offers world class rock climbing and bouldering as well as a spectacular desert  landscape.   I ended up spending a good amount of time in the Hidden Valley area where I found a nice mix of large groves of trees and interesting rock formations.  I also spent time at Arch Rock, the Cholla Cactus Garden, and Jumbo Rocks. I found that the Joshua Trees (a tall growing variety of Yucca) were best photographed as silhouettes to better emphasize their unique shape.  I did, however, play around with some light painting techniques using a variety of light sources at night that yielded some interesting results.

Joshua Tree on a Starry Night ~ Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Tech: Canon 5DMKll with 17 - 40mm @ 23mm, tripod
Exposure: 25 sec., f/4, iso 3200
Note: I used a mini maglight to paint the tree and rock during the exposure.

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

Aggregating Anemone ~ Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Moss Beach, CA
Tech: Canon 5DMKII, 100 macro, tripod
Exposure: 1/2 sec @ f22, iso 500
Notes: Polarizer and bounce light from reflector.

Tidepooling

With negative tides happening late in the day, the weekend was spent tidepooling at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz, and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve just North of Half Moon Bay. Tidepool photography can be especially challenging since most of the interesting activity is happening a couple of feet underwater in dark little pools. Not the best lighting conditions by any stretch.  My goal setting out was to capture tidepool life as part of the surrounding landscape with nice sunset light in the sky. Not too much to ask for I’d say. In 2 days of poking around I found only one pool that set up the way I envisioned. I was able to include the Monterey Peninsula at the south end of the Bay along the horizon line as an added bonus.

Tech: Canon 5DMKII, 17 - 40mm, tripod

Santa Cruz County Bank presents Birds of a Feather

Look for a collection of my bird photographs in the upcoming Santa Cruz County Bank’s Birds of a Feather exhibit that kicks off later this month.  This exhibit runs in conjunction with the Monterey Bay Birding Festival and will focus on the varied habits and habitats of birds on the Central Coast. The exhibit will include my work along with 6 other local artists.

You’ll be able to see the work by visiting Santa Cruz County Banks in Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville.

There will be a Reception and Mixer August 3rd from 5-7 pm at Santa Cruz County Bank, 595 Auto Center Drive, Watsonville.

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Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of assisting my good friend Jason Bradley with his annual elephant seal workshop.  Our trip was timed to coincide with the peak of activity at the rookery near San Simeon.  It’s truly one of North America’s most spectacular wildlife experiences.   On a typical day you can expect to see several thousand seals on the beach, vicious territorial battles between males, mating, nursing pups, and possibly a handful of births.  This year we had the rare opportunity to witness a small sea lion sneak into the rookery and feed off a nursing mother alongside her pup.  The mom did notice something was a bit off, but allowed the sea lion to nurse for a few minutes before chasing it off.  For more info about these amazing marine mammals and the rookery… http://www.elephantseal.org/