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I am a natural history photographer. I enjoy making compelling images in the ocean, on land, and in the air. I have maintained the Natural History Photography blog since 2005 and my searchable Natural History Photography Library since 1997. Here are some tear sheets and behind the scenes views. Thanks for looking!

Mavericks Surf Photo Surf

Mavericks Surf Photo

Grant "Twiggy" Baker, on his way to winning the 2006 running of the Mavericks Surf Contest. This was one of my two favorite frames of the day. I hope to get up there again for the 2007 contest. These guys are superb athletes taking on a truly impressive wave in…
February 1, 2007
Pelican Portrait Pelicans of La JollaSeabird

Pelican Portrait

See our Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla. Another stop at the California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in La Jolla before running an errand in San Diego. This time testing the sharpness of a 500mm f/4 and a 2x teleconverter. Here is a snap. Brown pelican, winter adult breeding…
January 19, 2007
Bubble Ring Photo Photo of the Day

Bubble Ring Photo

I had a request this morning for a bubble ring photo. Bubble rings are cool. Dolphins are the best at making them (seriously), having had eons to hone their skills. However, if you are a blowhard and willing to spend some time upsidedown underwater learning this amazing skill, you too…
December 22, 2006
Heaving Mini Tubes Surf

Heaving Mini Tubes

Heaving tube-lets in South Carlsbad this morning: Carlsbad morning shorebreak, heaving little 6 tube.Image ID: 17901 Carlsbad morning shorebreak, heaving little 6 tube.Image ID: 17902
December 19, 2006
Cardiff, December 14 Surf

Cardiff, December 14

Another nice morning in North County, surf was still strong and fun. Thanks to the surfers who let me poach some shots on their waves. Cardiff, morning surf.Image ID: 17884Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA Cardiff, morning surf.Image ID: 17883Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA Mike Thomas, Cardiff,…
December 14, 2006
Ponto, December 13 Surf

Ponto, December 13

Another nice morning in Carlsbad. Full sun, ocean was not too cold, glassy and calm, and a few big bottlenose dolphins swimming in the lineup. However, the water was full of sand from the lagoon so it looks sort of dingy in the photos, and there was a longshore current…
December 13, 2006
Hmmm Surf

Hmmm

Can God create a wave so big that even He couldn't surf it? Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning surf.Image ID: 17833Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA Waxing philosophical today.
December 11, 2006
Skip Stubbs at Mag Bay Skip's Trips

Skip Stubbs at Mag Bay

My good friend and diving partner Skip Stubbs, just returned from another great dive trip, this one dedicated to bluewater freediving offshore of Magdalena Bay (Baja California), in search of marlin, mahi mahi and other pelagics alongside Terry Maas, Derek Stavenger, Bob Jackson, Mike McGettigan and Nils Larsen. While Skip…
November 19, 2006
Photographer and Aspens Photo of the Day

Photographer and Aspens

This guy was shooting a large format film rig in the same patch of turning aspens (Populus tremuloides) I was in, near North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon, California in September: A photographer is surrounded by changing aspen trees, turning fall colors, near North Lake in the Eastern Sierra, Bishop Creek…
November 15, 2006
Blue Shark Photo Sharks

Blue Shark Photo

In the late 80s and 90s we used to leave the docks really early on summer mornings, motor 10-20 miles offshore in our little boats, far enough to get into really blue and bottemless water, drop a bucket of chum in the water, and make bets on when the blue…
November 11, 2006
Surfline : Rocktober Surf

Surfline : Rocktober

Surfline picked up a shot of mine for today's ROCKTOBER slideshow, check this page out. Breaking wave, Ponto, South Carlsbad.Image ID: 17679Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
November 2, 2006
Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 23 Surf

Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 23

Another nice day on the water. Click here for the shots I decided to keep from this morning. And below are a couple of larger ones. Tony Gatti, Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning surf.Image ID: 17777Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA Tony Gatti, Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning surf.Image ID: 17780Location: Ponto, Carlsbad,…
October 23, 2006
Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 22 Surf

Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 22

Fun day! I got out for an hour or so this morning. Beautiful light, offshores, size and on the weekend to boot. Click here for the shots I decided to keep from this morning . Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning surf.Image ID: 17717Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning…
October 22, 2006
Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 20 Surf

Ponto, South Carlsbad, October 20

Solitude. I had a long stretch of the waves south of the jetties all to myself. It was beautiful this morning, until the tide rose and the waves lost their form. Click here to see more from this morning. Breaking wave, Ponto, South Carlsbad.Image ID: 17679Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
October 20, 2006
Cardiff October 13 Surf

Cardiff October 13

It was overcast this morning, a storm is coming in says the weatherman. After dropping the kids off at school I got about an hour of fun and exercise in the water before a breeze arose and junked up the waves. Plus I had to get to work. Click here…
October 13, 2006
Traffic Uncategorized

Traffic

We checked out the web logs for the first time in a while. OceanLight.com is receiving about 200,000 visitors and 300,000 visits a month, not counting crawlers (e.g., Google, Yahoo, MSN), that's over two million visitors each year. It is increasing each month (probably in sync with the increase in…
October 9, 2006