I've gone to the birds

White-tailed Kite

Red-tailed Hawk

Barn Owl

My photography seems to have taken on a 'bird' theme recently. I find it to be very challenging to get the shots I 'see' in my mind. This is good for the most part (challenge stretches our minds - right?) but it is also frustrating at times. I miss far more shots than I get. Birds in flight are especially difficult. Many, many times the bird is not in focus and sometimes when I am panning with a bird in flight I don't even manage to keep it in the frame of the photo. When I do get an acceptable shot, I feel elated. Now add the element of low light. I have gone out in the evening multiple times attempting to photograph Barn Owls. In the Owl shot I am sharing here I got lucky. The last rays of the sun provided just enough beautiful golden light to make the shot possible. But much more often the Owls don't appear until after the sun has set. So now I am working on learning on how to use my flash. I'll just have to keep on working at it until I have some mastery. Of course, going out to sit in Nature at the end of the day is no hardship. It is a very zen experience. Something I would take pleasure in even if there weren't Owls.

 

Point San Luis Lighthouse

I made my first trip out to the Point San Luis Lighthouse last week. It was a rich experience I shared with a group of fellow photographers. The lighthouse has been lovingly restored and is a delight to see. Construction began on it in 1889 and was completed the next year. The light was first officially lit on June 30, 1890. The beam of light from the beautiful Fresnel lens was visible 17 nautical miles out to sea.  The original kerosene lamp in the tower was replaced with an electric light in 1933 and the Fresnel lens was retired in 1969 and replaced by an automated electric light. In 1974 the lighthouse was closed by the Coast Guard. It was not until 1995 that the Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers - a non-profit corporation - was formed to take on the responsibility of restoring the lighthouse to its former glory. Today that restoration is largely completed and visitors get a glimpse into the past when they visit this historic site. I plan to go back soon and take one of the interpretive tours with a docent to learn more about this treasure on the Central Coast.

WHALE almost eating a PELICAN

Last week I heard that there were Humpback Whales feeding close to shore at Port San Luis located just a short way down the coast. My husband and a friend that was visiting us went with me to Avila to check out the action. I had seen some of the photos others had taken of this happening, but I was unprepared for just how awe inspiring it was to see this phenomenon in person. It was a feeding frenzy! The Whales were lunge feeding right next to the pier. The water was roiling with Pelicans, Gulls, Dolphin and packs of hunting Sea Lions. And there were kayakers, boaters and paddle boarders added into the mix. Humpback Whales are huge! And when this one lunged up with its mouth agape I started shooting. It wasn't until I was reviewing my photos a minute later that I realized that I had captured an amazing series of photos. This Pelican was in the mouth of the Whale! As the Whale started to close its mouth the Pelican did escape out to the left. Whew! If you look closely you can see all the tiny bait fish spilling out of the Whale's mouth too. Those are the ones that got away .... this time. I will never forget that day. It was the experience of a life time for me.

 

Coastal blessings

 BLESSING

MISTY WAVES

Last Friday I went with group of fellow photographers for an evening shoot on the bluffs of Montana de Oro State Park. It was my first time joining this MEETUP event hosted by LIGHT Workshops of Los Osos. When we arrived the sky was gray and ominous looking. I took the opportunity to try out my 10 stop vari neutral density filter to make some very long exposures. This creates an ethereal dreamy look to the waves breaking on the rocks. At the end of the evening I started to walk back slowly along the bluffs. I noticed a slight break in the clouds right above the horizon. I set up my tripod and waited to see what would happen. I am sure glad I did. For a brief 2 minutes or so the sun peeked out below the clouds and above the sea. Red gold light illuminated the wavetops and the rocks below. I was blessed. When I look at this image now, I can experience that moment again - the sound of the surf - the color of the light - the feeling of the sea air as it touches my face - and the exhilaration of the moment. I am grateful for it all. 

A trip to the Sierra Nevada

 Where's the Lake?

 Down the rock

 leaping

 running

Chipmunk

We recently took a trip to one of my favorite spots deep in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. After surviving the harrowing drive in over Kaiser Pass (that's another whole story) we arrived at our destination. Lake Edison is normally a lovely, blue lake surrounded by pine forests and nestled among glorious peaks. What a shock it was to see it this year. What had been a beautiful lake was only a dry, dusty lakebed. A very low snow season and a high demand for water robbed the lake of its bounty. I was very, very sad and disappointed. The beautiful landscapes I had been hoping to photograph were just not there. Glumly we sat at the edge of what would have been the lake and looked at the exposed rocks and sand. A small movement caught my eye. What was that? There it was again. Chipmunks were scurrying over and around the rocks in the lakebed. I smiled. Maybe I wouldn't get to photograph any grand landscapes this year, but I was certainly entertained by these tiny striped creatures. 



Northern Flicker

 Female at nesting hole

 Male emerging from nest

Male taking flight

About a week ago Don and I were exploring in Montana de Oro State Park when Don just happened to see some birds flying in and out of a hole in a tree. He identified them as Northern Flickers. It was getting late in the day and the light was fading, so we planned to return to the Park on another day just to photograph these beautiful woodpeckers also known as Red-shafted Flickers. When we returned we spent a happy afternoon watching and waiting for these elusive birds. Over the course of several hours we saw only 3 fly ins and outs. It all happens very fast. Usually the parent bird arrives and perches high on a nearby branch and then swoops in to enter the nesting cavity. After a few moments inside it peeks out - checking to see if the coast is clear - and then flies off in a flash. It is very challenging to get any clear flight shots. I'm very happy with what I did get. As always the best part is the 'being there' to enjoy and relish the experience.  

Finding Paradise

WINDOWS to PARADISE

For several years I have been trying to capture this photo. I have headed up to Cayucos to shoot the sunset through the old wooden windows next to the Pier multiple times. Sometimes I have been fogged out. Or the great clouds I was hoping for never materialized. I had a certain idea in my head of exactly what I wanted my image to look like. So when I took this photograph last December, I didn't think it quite hit the mark. It wasn't until I revisited the Pier recently and found that there is now a bright yellow volleyball net in front of the windows, that I realized that I might never have the opportunity to get the shot I saw in my imagination. So I decided to go back through my old images to see if just maybe, I could make due with one of them. I was shocked to find I had already taken my dream shot. How could I have missed seeing it the first time around? It was with excitement and pleasure that I worked and tweaked this image a bit to get just what I wanted. I think the image was there all the time, but now I was seeing it with new eyes. Sometimes I let my expectation for a perfect world get in the way of seeing what I already have.