End of the Year

(December 31st) Some things about 2008 were great and some were regrettable. But in terms of photography, it was a genesis. Starting out the year, I knew nothing. But thanks to some great training, I learned what I did not know. Now I still know next to nothing, but I have a starting place to learn. I can't think of a better way to end the year than taking pictures in the central California coast. Of course I may have been the only one up at 4 and asleep by 8pm... I started the day trying to capture the sunrise over the water. This was one of my better attempts from the morning, looks like I need more attempts over the next few days.

Then it was on to the seals. The seals were great in the early morning light. One of the common behaviors the male will do is to rear up and call out in a low-pitched pulsing call. From the pitch, you can tell the size of the males. So when an old adult calls out, nearby males will scramble to move out of his territory. Here is a younger male calling from the surf.

The great conditions were not to last. Very quickly a thick fog rolled in. This shot of a female with a muddy face was one of the last ones I was able to get before it became unshootable.

With the fog looking like it would never clear at 9am, I decided to scout out other potential locations I had heard of. Everywhere I went it seemed the fog followed. Finally I found some sun 4 hours later up in the mountains. This red-tailed hawk gave me a flyover near San Antonio Lake.

For the afternoon I drove down to Morro Bay. I spent a few hours literally lying in the mud. I was able to get a few low shots, like this Marbled Godwit who was feeding in the mud flats.

A short drive over to a nearby beach yielded some more mud to wade through. Here the shorebirds were having a field day. This Least Sandpiper was hanging around through the last of the light.