Category

California

Beautiful Views of San DiegoLa Jolla

Photo of UCSD Library at Night

This is Geisel Library, the central library at University of California, San Diego (alma mater). These two particular photos are composites, each consisting of three images with varying exposures, combined on the computer. Without using this approach, known as HDR (high dynamic range), the shadows would be totally black and…
January 11, 2008
CaliforniaPhoto of the DayWildlife

Double-Crested Cormorants Go To War

These two juvenile double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are fighting by clicking their beaks against each another. A tempest in a teapot. Juvenile double-crested cormorants sparring with beaks.Image ID: 19932Species: Double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritusLocation: La Jolla, California, USA
December 11, 2007
CaliforniaCarlsbadPhoto of the Day

Surf Check

We went for a walk on the beach yesterday late afternoon, getting back to the car just before sundown. There were no good waves but the tide was out and the beach nearly deserted, so it was good to be there. The pullout just south of Palomar Airport Road almost…
November 22, 2007
California

Plumes

Another interesting shot of the smoke plumes viewed from space. Look, there's Guadalupe Island down there too! No, I didn't take this photo. NASA did. They have better cameras than me.
October 24, 2007
CaliforniaSan DiegoSurf

Santa Anas — Good News, Bad News

Santa Anas whipped up strong yesterday, sending offshores out to meet the clean swells coming ashore. Every wave had a rainbow trailing it. Just as each wave was poised to break, the wind would rip the lip off with impressive sound, sending spray aloft only to fall back around me…
October 22, 2007
CaliforniaPanoramas

Lake Tahoe Panoramic Photo

Last summer we went to Lake Tahoe for a wedding. Lake Tahoe in summer is beautiful. I found a turnout on the highway above Incline Village which offered this view. This is a panoramic photograph obtained by stitching 6 separate images together on the computer. If you like this you…
August 17, 2007
PanoramasSierra Nevada

Minarets Panorama

On our way to a wedding in Tahoe last summer we stopped for a bit of fishing at Mammoth Lakes. I got up early and made a sunrise visit to the Minarets overlook, and got this view. This is a panoramic photograph, composed of 10 separate images stitched (on the…
August 9, 2007
CaliforniaPhoto of the DaySan Diego

Photos of Common Dolphins

Common dolphin.Image ID: 00071Species: Common dolphin, Delphinus delphisLocation: San Diego, California, USA These common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) are gathered just under the surface of the water in front of my boat. We'll motor slowly, leaning over the bow, trying to get a good picture of them without it looking like…
June 27, 2007
Beautiful Views of San DiegoSan Diego

Del Mar Cobblestones

We used to live a few miles from Torrey Pines and Del Mar, and walked on the beach there fairly often. As they erode, the cliffs above the sand supply the beach with cobblestones. Depending on the season and recent surf energy, the beach ranges from nearly stone-free to being…
June 24, 2007
CaliforniaPhoto of the DaySan Diego

Common Dolphin Gliding

Common dolphin.Image ID: 00066Species: Common dolphin, Delphinus delphisLocation: San Diego, California, USA This is a common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), sometimes called a short-beaked saddleback dolphin, gliding under a glassy ocean just in front of the bow of my boat, with overcast skies reflecting back.
June 5, 2007
CaliforniaDesertThe American Southwest

Photo of 17 Palms Oasis

17 Palms Oasis is located in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, several miles down the lunar-looking Arroyo Salado wash. The drive along Arroyo Salado is fun and relatively simple, although a four-wheel drive car is recommended. Seventeen Palms Oasis, consisting of (not surprisingly) 17 palms, appears out of nowhere as you…
May 23, 2007
CaliforniaPhoto of the DayWildlife

Bad Hair Day

This double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is displaying typical winter mating plumage. Sweet do. Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), mating plumage.Image ID: 18549Species: Double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritusLocation: La Jolla, California, USA
May 7, 2007
Pelicans of La JollaSan DiegoSeabird

Photo of a Brown Pelican Soaring

See our Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla. This brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is soaring over the ocean, riding the morning updrafts along the cliffs of La Jolla, California. Brown pelican in flight. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the…
March 7, 2007
CaliforniaLa JollaPhoto of the DayWildlife

Photos of Cormorants in Flight

Cormorants (Phalacrocorax sp.) flying low over the ocean, speeding offshore before sunrise to forage for food before returning to rest on cliffs later in the day. La Jolla. Double-crested cormorants in flight at sunrise, long exposure produces a blurred motion.Image ID: 15280Species: Double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritusLocation: La Jolla, California, USA…
February 16, 2007
CaliforniaPhoto of the DayWildlife

Sunrise Seagull

A Western gull (Larus occidentalis) in pink predawn light, 30 minutes before sunrise, La Jolla. Western gull, early morning pink sky.Image ID: 18394Species: Western gull, Larus occidentalisLocation: La Jolla, California, USA
February 15, 2007
CaliforniaElephant SealWildlife

Happy Valentines Day

Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) showing extreme sexual dimorphism (difference between sexes). Male elephant seals can be 3-4 times as massive as females. Central California. Elephant seals in the surf, showing extreme dimorphism, males (5000 lb) are triple the size of females (1700 lb). Central California.Image ID: 15497Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga…
February 14, 2007
CaliforniaLa JollaSurf

Boomer Beach Bodysurf

Some heavy surf this morning in La Jolla. It's difficult to get a good shot of this wave as it is crumbly and not particularly attractive, the angle from shore is straight on and the wave is not hollow. Here are a couple guys who took off while I was…
February 2, 2007
CaliforniaCarlsbadSurf

Jetties, Carlsbad, December 23

Sunny and offshores, beautiful morning. Got to a spot I have wanted to try for a while but just never got around to it before. There was some size this morning. As I checked the surf from shore it seemed that most of the larger barrels went empty (perhaps they…
December 23, 2006
CaliforniaIconsTreesWhite Mountains

Photos of Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees

Ancient Bristlecone pine trees (Pinus longaeva) live in a relatively restricted area of eastern California, Nevada and Utah, typically at altitudes above 9500'. The ancient bristlecone pine tree is considered to be the world's oldest species of tree (and indeed the world's oldest sexually reproducing, nonclonal lifeform). A number of…
October 8, 2006
CaliforniaCarlsbadStoriesSurf

South Carlsbad Reminiscing

When I was a kid, my family would drive down from Newport Beach to spend a week or two each summer camping at South Carlsbad State Beach with two other families. This was going on 30+ years ago. (Now you know how old I am; everyone looks like a grom…
September 25, 2006
CaliforniaCarlsbadSurf

Fire Breathing Dragon

**As of August 2012, I am using Delmar Housing Projects for my Canon 5D Mark III. The lens I prefer to use is the 16-35 f/2.8 II. The first couple sessions with this rig: first and second.** More surf photos. My approach to photography is not particularly rigorous or diligent.…
September 24, 2006