Instagram - Natural History Photography

philcolla

A few flight shots from this morning, the birds wa

A few flight shots from this morning, the birds waves and wind were great.

Depths of winter on San Diego’s Gold Coast. Brrr

Depths of winter on San Diego’s Gold Coast. Brrr.

A look back at 2020, new retrospective post link i

A look back at 2020, new retrospective post link in my bio

Full moon and Christmas tree on Scripps Pier

Full moon and Christmas tree on Scripps Pier

Instagram post 17880986146977266

Instagram post 17880986146977266

Slippery when wet.

Slippery when wet.

Sea lion and spray, La Jolla

Sea lion and spray, La Jolla

Terramar this evening. I love North County’s fla

Terramar this evening. I love North County’s flat beaches, at low tide its like a mirror.

Torrey Pines view south to La Jolla, early morning

Torrey Pines view south to La Jolla, early morning

Superfly loves looking at our local reefs when we

Superfly loves looking at our local reefs when we have such huge tide swings. It's like X-ray vision only for the ocean. All the harbor seals were laying out on the reef flats in the sun like hotdogs.

My recent efforts photographing sea lions have bee

My recent efforts photographing sea lions have been almost exclusively at the waters edge. Naturally most of my shots are strewn with bubbles but I am hoping for one or two where the bubbles add to the story rather than obscure the subject. The keeper ratio is way way down this year as a result :) Bubbles are the new Backscatter.

Reef Structure, La Jolla

Reef Structure, La Jolla

- Because I was inverted. - (cough) Bullshit. - No

- Because I was inverted.
- (cough) Bullshit.
- No, he was, man. It was a really great move. He was inverted.

You there ... fetch me my sea cucumber

You there ... fetch me my sea cucumber

El Capitan reflected in still Merced River

El Capitan reflected in still Merced River

Black Oaks in fall, Yosemite National Park

Black Oaks in fall, Yosemite National Park

A path in the woods

A path in the woods

More Yellow Mellow

More Yellow Mellow

Japanese Olympic medalist Mikako Kotani and spotte

Japanese Olympic medalist Mikako Kotani and spotted dolphins, Bahamas, mid-90s.

El Capitan in #Yosemite before and during the #Cre

El Capitan in #Yosemite before and during the #CreekFire

Oil rig details

Oil rig details

Sand Harbor, NV

Sand Harbor, NV

Second breakfast? Always.

Second breakfast? Always.

Cathedral Lakes late afternoon yesterday, this was

Cathedral Lakes late afternoon yesterday, this was my spot to rest my legs and cook my freeze dried dinner (gross) before hiking back to my car at dusk. I did not see a single person on my return hike, crazy empty for Yosemite.

New blog post: “So you want to dive with Steller

New blog post: “So you want to dive with Steller Sea Lions? This is what you have to look forward To” see link in bio. #canada #britishcolumbia #underwaterphotograpy #sealion

Labyrinthine sandstone in Antelope Canyon, from my

Labyrinthine sandstone in Antelope Canyon, from my trip there in December. There were no light beams as those are only in summer, but it's still a fun place to visit.

Middle Island, Coronados, Baja California, late fa

Middle Island, Coronados, Baja California, late fall.

Young California sea lions playing underwater, Cor

Young California sea lions playing underwater, Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico

Late light on the Yosemite high country

Late light on the Yosemite high country

Comet over La Costa, viewed from Carlsbad

Comet over La Costa, viewed from Carlsbad

El Capitan morning.

El Capitan morning.

I lined up the comet over Tracy's house at Bass La

I lined up the comet over Tracy's house at Bass Lake. Luckily it came out nicely, the bright moon helped. I'll try again with a better camera the next time it lines up like this in 6800 years. Bass Lake, California #comet #neowise

Giant black sea bass in kelp. I spent several dive

Giant black sea bass in kelp. I spent several dives with a courting aggregation of giant sea bass a few years ago. The most I could get in any one photo was 6 but there were at least a dozen animals that I could identify later looking at all the photos. Often I was surrounded by them, sometimes being nudged on the shoulder by one or another. It was great, one of the best California diving experiences I've ever had. After this marathon 10 days of posting ocean photos and all this editing of old diving photos I'm sort of burned out on underwater photography. I'm not really a photographer, I'm a diver who happens to have a camera most of the time. It's time to stop looking at pictures and just go diving.

You are looking at greatest muscles in the animal

You are looking at greatest muscles in the animal kingdom. Here is a shot of a fin whale showing how seriously massive is its penducle and caudal stem. This group of muscles is, among the great whales, the most powerful musculature in the animal kingdom. Did you see how I said great twice? And also that I was redundant about it, multiple times? That’s called SEO. I posted a few other views courtesy of a few other cooperative whales on my website: https://www.oceanlight.com/log/the-greatest-muscles-in-the-animal-kingdom.html

Longbill hawkfish in black coral, Sea of Cortez. M

Longbill hawkfish in black coral, Sea of Cortez. Mike and Sherry took us to Mike's Reef, a secret spot north of La Paz with spectacularly lush life-covered reefs, a consequence of the large tidal currents to pass over the area twice a day. It's a difficult spot to anchor but Mike dialed it in and dropped us on the reef close to slack. Leonardo had shown me some of his beautiful hawkfish photos in black coral earlier in the day that inspired me to give it a shot, knowing I would have to forego guaranteed beautiful wide reefscape images in exchange for a single macro photo. I found a perfect patch of black coral with several hawkfish, and went about getting my photos. Thanks Mike, Sherry and Leo!!

West Maui mountains and the Olowalu gap, with a fe

West Maui mountains and the Olowalu gap, with a few snorkel boats enjoying a nice day on Turtle Reef.

Wedge dawn. A late summer swell from the south had

Wedge dawn. A late summer swell from the south had me out at the Wedge before sunrise. Noone else was in the water and there was no wind so the waves were clean and empty. I got some shots with the rising sun just peaking over Corona del Mar.

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