Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz, CA

The Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz compresses numerous coastal attractions into a small, protected area. Here you can visit one of California’s Monarch Butterfly Sanctuaries, watch migrating whales, spot a sea otter, discover amphibian life in the tide pools, view wildflowers or just take in the spectacular cliffs of the California coastline.

Natural Bridges State Beach is easy to photograph and a pleasure to explore. The visitor center offers a free map and valuable information about the park. The beach is easily accessible and the coastal climate is pleasant, even on hot days. The park is also a Mecca for beach lovers. It bustles with beachgoers and BBQ parties on warm days. Bring your bathing suit if you are up for a little refreshment.

How to get there

Natural Bridges SB is located in Santa Cruz, close to scenic Highway 1. Turn south onto Western Drive at the intersection of Coat Road (Highway 101) and Western Drive. Then immediately turn right and then left onto Natural Bridges Drive. Follow the road until you see the closed gate of Natural Bridges State Beach. Turn left on Delaware Avenue and right again on Swanton Boulevard. The entrance into the park will be on your right at the end of the road.

GPS position

• N36 56.992 W122 3.470

How to photograph Santa Cruz Natural Bridges State Beach

Butterflies

The park is home to about 100,000 monarch butterflies each winter. The butterflies start to arrive in late October and stay until February. Walk along the planks of the Monarch Boardwalk for a view of the amazing clusters of butterflies living in the eucalyptus grove above.

You need a long lens to photograph the butterflies. The photograph above has some distracting blue highlights that were difficult to eliminate. If you can, look for flocks of butterflies with a dark background.

The light below the treetop is not ideal. You may need a tripod or an image stabilized camera / lens. Do not expose longer than 1/125s. The flapping of the butterflies’ wings will otherwise create motion-blur.

During the spring, I highly recommend the Moore Creek Trail and Monarch Trail, which lead through the forest, marsh, and a meadow. The trails are popular with bird watchers for their exceptional variety of birds you can spot here. The resource section below contains a link with more information on the subject.

Natural Bridges SB, Beach and Arch

Two of the three natural bridges responsible for the parks name have collapsed. The only bridge left forms a natural arch near the shore. The arch is a nice backdrop for a tranquil beach scene. The difficulty will be to frame a shot that does not include hundreds of people. Owing to its beauty and sheltered location, the beach is one of the most crowded beaches of the Monterey Bay. After a few moments of waiting, I got lucky and the scene cleared. It got even better when a surfer waded through my picture. When you drive along West Cliff Drive, you will notice that Santa Cruz is world famous for its exceptional surf. On a good day, hundreds of people ride the waves off shore.

Egret fishing in the tide pools

Photographing tide pools is challenging, especially in this environment where children chase after birds and crabs, dragging the poor creatures out of their wet pools. I have seen some crabs, but the shy creatures were very aware of things above the surface and hid behind Sea Anemones.

It takes patience to photograph the crabs. Bring a tripod and use a cable remote or even wireless remote. Step back and sit down waiting for the crab to come out from its hiding place.

Photographing anything below the surface requires a circular polarizing filter. This will eliminate the glare from the picture, but it will also reduce the amount of available light. Photographing close-ups requires a small aperture too, reducing the available light even more. This means you need to adjust your ISO speed accordingly, even when you use a tripod. The wind and the water produce movement that would cause blur otherwise.

A few white egrets showed up, hunting little fish in the tide pools. I got good results using a long lens and underexposing the shots by about one stop, to preserve detail in the feathers of the birds.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

If you want to see the butterflies, you need to come during the winter months. Spring offers warmer temperatures, wildflowers, and lower tides more suitable for tide pool photography. Come early if you want to avoid the crowds.

Time required

The small park is very diverse. Despite its size, you can easily spend an entire afternoon photographing the park.

Equipment

• Macro Lens
• Normal Lens
• Telephoto Lens
• Tripod and Cable release
• CP Filter
• Binoculars

Fees

The “parking fee” in the park is $10, which is odd, since you can usually find free parking somewhere on Swanton Boulevard or Delaware Avenue. There is also a free 20 minute overlook parking near the entrance booth. This is where I took the first picture of this article.

Difficulty Photographing

The beautiful park is a favorite retreat for Bay Area residents. As a result, it is always crowded on the weekends, making photography very difficult. You need to be patient. Unfortunately, I have also seen people maltreat the creatures that inhabit the tide pools.

Close Locations

• Cliff Drive and Lighthouse
• Santa Cruz Wharf and Boardwalk
• Capitola
• Moss Landing Sea Otters
• US-35 Skyline Boulevard
• San Juan Bautista Mission and city
• Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf
• Pacific Grove
• Big Basin Redwoods State Park
• Ano Nuevo State Park
• Pigeon Point Lighthouse
• Filoli
• Winchester Mystery House

Useful Resources

Official Park Website

Tide Prediction for Santa Cruz

Bird watcher’s guide for the park

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Sunset at the tide pools of Shell Beach

The affluent beach community of Shell Beach, north of Pismo Beach provides a convenient scenic stop along Highway 101. The sunsets here are more vivid than elsewhere, the air is fresher and the water cleaner.

Gorgeous ocean-view hotels, seaside restaurants, and large residences occupy the small space between Highway 101 and the cliffs of the Pacific Coast. Below these cliffs, tide pools reveal an intriguing variety of amphibian life.

Nearby, at Pelican Point and Shelter Cove, you will find a colony of Pelicans and have superb views of the sea and Pismo Beach.

How to get there

Shell Beach Road runs parallel to Highway 101 and connects the two locations. Driving north on Highway 101, take the Shell Beach exit, driving south take exit 193 towards Shell Beach Road.

GPS position

Best Western: 35° 8’58.85″N 120°39’13.92″W

Tide pools: 35° 9’22.54″N 120°40’41.36″W

How to photograph Shell Beach

Pelican at Pelican Point in Shell Beach

The Best Western Hotel occupies the best real estate in Shell Beach. Park your car and walk to the gazebo overlooking Pelican Point. The cliff extends out towards the sea. It offers superb views of Pismo Beach to the south and the rocky cliffs to the north. The gazebo itself is a romantic subject for sunset shots and a favorite for wedding photographers.

At the cliff below, you will see flocks of Pelicans. You need a medium telephoto lens to photograph the animals. Unfortunately, these comical birds live in a filthy environment. To keep the dirty rocks in the foreground out of your picture, try to catch them in flight or at the edge of a rock.

Just north of Pelican Point, you will find Shelter Cove, a small beach with an unusual amount of round rocks. Unfortunately, there is no access to the beach, giving you very limited shooting options.

Shelter Cove

If you have the good fortune or foresight to arrive at a low tide, you can take advantage of the tide pools. Many of the most fascinating creatures live underwater in these small pools. Be aware that the water creates glare, which you can eliminate with a circular polarizing filter. Unfortunately, this also means reduced light sensitivity by up to two stops.

To emphasize the alien nature of the creatures, get up close and use a small aperture (large f/number), keeping everything in focus. Together with the filter, this results in longer exposure times. Use a tripod, but keep in mind that the slight movement of the water means you should not exceed times of 1/10s. Choosing a higher ISO sensitivity will keep the exposure times short. Experiment with the settings and verify sharpness and exposure.

The tide pools also provide a spectacular foreground for a Southern California Sunset. Look for a section that reflects the sunlight to you. The golden glare will add interest and emphasize the foreground.

Put your camera on a tripod and pre-focus to maximize the depth of field. Use aperture priority mode, to keep the same depth of field as the light changes. Enable mirror lockup on your SLR or use live-view shooting mode. This avoids camera shake and keeps your pictures sharp.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

The time before sunset until sunset is best. The sunset is most spectacular with cloud cover above you but an opening in the west for the sun to shine through it. When I travel north/south, I often take Highway 101 if there is a slight chance for good cloud cover. Even clear days can be good.

You need a low tide to explore the tide pools (see link below).

Time required

You can spend just a few moments photographing the sunset or up to 3 hours photographing everything else.

Equipment

• Telephoto Lens (birds)
• Wide-angle lens
• Normal Lens
• Tripod cable release
• CP Filter
• Split ND filter
• Tripod and Cable release
• lens cleaning kit to clean off the salt water

Fees

There is no fee to see these places.

Close Locations

• Pismo State Beach
• Guadalupe Dunes Park
• Point Sal State Park
• Santa Maria
• San Luis Obispo Mission
• Montana de Oro State Beach
• Morro Bay
• La Purisima Mission
• Santa Ines Mission

Useful Resources

Tides in Pismo Beach

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Death Valley Flowers

Even the hottest and driest place in California harbors life. Wildflower seeds hibernate years below the surface waiting for a tiny drop of water. After the El-Nino rains shower the desert, life shifts into overdrive. Colorful flowers pop up and cacti put on a show, competing for pollinators, spectators, and photo-creators.

Within a few weeks, the resourceful plants have fulfilled their life’s destiny, sprang new seeds, and withered away in the unforgiving, scorching heat of Death Valley. This is the time of the year to visit and clearly, everyone knows this. If you come prepared, you can improve your odds and walk away victorious.

We even met Lucky Luke, the Coyote, who came to pay his respects. He kindly posed for a few shots before trotting off into the sunset.

How to get there

I found most of the wildflowers around Ashford Mills, just north of Mormon Point and on Highway 178 (Jubilee Pass Road) near Virgin Spring Canyon. I recommend taking this route into Death Valley from Barstow.

Highway 190 and 178 from the west have to pass two steep mountain ranges into Panamint Valley and then into Death Valley, making this route slower in most cases.

GPS position

Cacti near Virgin Spring Canyon:  N35 54.360 W116 37.494

Ashford Mill: N35 55.162 W116 40.989

How to photograph Wildflowers in Death Valley

Death Valley Blooming Cactus

Read my previous blog post on Wildflower Photography in Death Valley for more general tips and a list of good locations.

I used my favorite lens for most of the wildflower shots, the Tokina 12-24mm. This ultra wide lens gives me the chance to get very close to the blossoms. I can achieve a very large depth of field, by choosing a small aperture and a wide-angle lens, letting me place the flowers in the foreground and the dramatic mountains in the distant background.

Kneeling or laying flat on your stomach, you need to pay close attention to your horizon. With a wide field of view, tilted horizons are common. In the cactus photograph above, you can see that the horizon is straight by looking at the distant mountains. However, the first inclination would be to align your shot with the left tilt of the small hill. I used the built-in electronic level of my Canon 7D. For a few dollars, you can buy a level that attaches to the flash shoe of your camera. It performs the same function. If you did not bring one, turn on live view and the grids that most cameras provide. That should help you keep the image level visually.

Consider the placement of your main subject. I put the cacti flowers in the lower right third of my image. I also placed the flower in the lower right corner, about one third away from the right edge. According to the golden rule of photography, the lower right corner holds our interest the longest. We “read” images, similar to the way we read books and often end up in this position with our eyes. Any off-center placement like the golden rule or the rule of thirds creates strong dynamic images.

Coyote

When we met Lucky Luke, I placed him in the left part of the frame, since he looked to the right. Never let your subject, man or beast, look out the corner of your frame. Always have them look into the picture or leave sufficient room in the line of sight.

Lucky Luke was a nervous fellow, who kept looking around and moving. If you practice your composition, you will greatly improve the chances to be able to act fast when a situation presents itself. Become familiar with your camera so that you can operate it without looking and can adjust the settings while you raise the camera to your eye or while you peek through the viewfinder.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

March to April is the best time for wildflower photography. Late afternoon to sunset offers the best light.

Time required

A trip into Death Valley is a major undertaking. It takes a long drive to get here, so make sure you book an overnight stay in or around Death Valley.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• Macro Lens
• Tripod and Cable release
• Zoom Lens
• Diffuser and Reflector
• Flash Diffuser
• Polarizing Filter
• Kneepads, a blanket or some foam for kneeling

Fees

To enter Death Valley National Park, you need to pay the fee at any of the self service machines or show your park pass at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center where you can also ask about current conditions.

Close Locations in Death Valley

• Wildflowers in Death Valley
• Badwater
• Badwater Basin
• Salt Pan Polygons
• Zabriskie Point
• Dante’s View
• Ashford Mills
• Mesquite Flat Dunes (near Stovepipe Wells)
• The Racetrack
• Lost Burro Mine

Close Locations outside Death Valley

• Ballarat Ghost Town
• Kelso Dunes (Mojave National Preserve)

Useful Resources

How to photograph Wildflowers in Death Valley (previous post containing many useful tips)

Death Valley Wildflower Report

Death Valley Morning Report

NPS Death Valley Pages

My Death Valley Photos

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Check the links in the resource section for current conditions and inspiration.

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Millers Point, Pt Reyes

The rugged, windswept peninsula of Pt. Reyes protrudes into the Pacific Ocean just north of San Francisco. The elements have shaped the unprotected cape into a delightfully beautiful landscape. Rocky and sandy beaches, grasslands and a fantastic seascape make this a favorite getaway for Bay Area residents. Most of the weekenders concentrate on the beaches close to the main parking lots. Trail traffic can be quite low, considering the amount of visitors who enjoy this wonderful place.

In this article, I will take you on a long trail along the coast of Drakes Bay, to Arch Rock, a sea arch. We will follow the longer and more scenic route as opposed to the shorter Bear Valley Trail. The journey is the real destination, as you will hike along a beach, through forests and follow the rugged steep coast.

How to get there

Olema is a small city located on Highway 1. In Olema, turn west on Bear Valley Road from Highway 1. The exit is hidden behind some brush and easy to miss, despite the road sign indicating the Point Reyes turnoff (Google Street View).

After the turnoff, drive 1.8 miles and turn left onto Limantour Spit Rd. Follow this road for 7.5 miles until the last road leading to the left. Follow this road to the end to a small parking lot. This is the starting point of our tour.

Pt Reyes Trail Map (click to enlarge)

This is a 13 miles round trip hike, but you can turn around at any time, since it is not a loop trail.

Shortly after the turnoff in Olema, you will pass the visitor center on your left. Stop for a map!

Download the gpx file to study the trail in detail.

GPS position

Parking Lot (start your trail):

• 38° 1’33.96″N 122°52’36.12″W

Miller’s Point:

• 37°59’13.08″N 122°48’47.70″W

How to photograph Pt. Reyes Coastal Trail

We left our car in good spirits, but without enough water and too late. With the sun still high in the sky, I underestimated the distance, despite sophisticated charting methods (topo map).

Drakes Bay, Pt Reyes

The coast trail starts further north-east on Limantour Spit Rd. However, driving down to the parking lot will save you some distance and also keep you from having to hike uphill on your way back.

From the parking lot, head towards the beachto get past the inland water hole. As you hike across the dunes, you can catch a glimpse of the terrain ahead. This is also a good spot to photograph the dune grass and the beach (photo above). You can greatly improve the feeling of this image if you return in time for sunset. The dune grass will have a golden hue and the cliffs will glow in the light of the fading day.

Follow the beach for about 0.4 miles and then turn left to get back on Coast Road. Follow Coast Road for another three quarters of a mile until it turns left, following a small ravine. Take the Woodward Fire Rd toward Coast Campground. The trail leads through the camp and slightly uphill, following the coastline.

Deer behind bushes

Follow the trail and in case of doubt, always pick the trail leading back to the water and along the coast. As you pass through the brush, keep an eye open for deer. The shy animals peek through the bushes.

Brush

The brown background vegetation blends with the deer and is very distracting in your images. It is very difficult to get a depth that is shallow enough to blur the background sufficiently. Some post processing may be necessary to obtain the results you like. There are also scores of little comical birds running around, but they are very hard to photograph.

I saw an egret in one of the small rivers, shortly before the wooden bridge, but the shy animal knew how to keep brush between itself and me. Maybe you have more luck than I did. I took a few photographs of the brush instead.

Follow the trail until you get to Millers Point (photograph at the top of the article). From here, you can take a short trail down to the beach to see Arch Rock, a natural stone arch in the ocean. From Millers Point, you have a superb view of Drakes bay to the north, the windswept rocks and the crashing waves. The Sea blows ice-cold winds into unprotected Millers Point, making our early October visit feel like an arctic adventure.

On our rush back home, I took a few more photographs of the warm sunlight hitting the trail at various locations.

Trail Sunset

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Any time of the day, as long as you don’t leave too late. Late spring will have the most color.

Time required

Depending on your pace, you should plan between 4 to 6 hours hiking time. We left too late and I took my time taking photographs. We left Arch Rock about one hour to sunset and despite our grueling pace (we made it back in 90 minutes), we had to find our way back in the dark. Bring a flashlight, even if you think you have enough time.

Equipment

• Flashlight (I got stuck in the dark)
• GPS and extra batteries (stuck in the dark and no batteries)
• Water
• Dress in layers (sweater + wind jacket)
• Zoom Lens
• CP filter

Fees

No fee is required for Point Reyes.

Close Locations

• Pt Reyes Lighthouse
• Inverness and Earthquake Trail
• Fort Ross
• Bodega Bay and Bodega Head
• Bodega Dunes
• Bodega Cliffs
• Mt Tamalpais
• Muir Woods
• Point Bonita Lighthouse
• Secret Views of Marin Headlands
• Marin Headlands Bay Views

Useful Resources

Point Reyes National Seashore Website

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Sunlit Temple

As the only survivor of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts echoes the grandeur of past times in a modern city whose defining character is progressive thinking and high technology. The Palace of Fine Arts resembles a Roman ruin with purely decorative purposes. It is in strong contrast to the hypermodern and functional Downtown but fits the diversity of San Francisco, a city that has room for everything, despite its small footprint.

The Palace is visible from many points in the city. It attracts curios visitors to its tranquil lagoon with fountain and swans and to its seemingly misplaced architectural style, reminiscent of Greek historical places.

How to get there

Palace of Fine Arts Map

Follow Highway 101 / Lombard Street / Van Ness Street north towards the Golden Gate Bridge.  Take Baker Street shortly after Lombard Street turns right and becomes Richardson Avenue.

Take Marina Blvd if you are coming from the Marina or from North of the Golden Gate Bridge and turn right on Baker Street.

You will have to hunt for parking in any of the side streets. If you cannot find a spot, park across Marina Blvd on the large lot at 37°48’24.14″N 122°26’51.59″W.

Palace of Fine Arts areal photo

GPS position

• 37°48’10.39″N 122°26’52.88″W

How to photograph the Palace of Fine Arts

Palace of Fine Arts lawn

Using a wide-angle lens inside the structure, include people in your photographs to demonstrate the size of the building, the rotunda. Photographing inside will cause dynamic range problems, since the interior is several stops darker, especially on bright sunny days. Creating HDR photographs is one possible solution, but it is difficult due to the people in your photograph. You can generate an HDR from a single RAW frame or you can take several exposure compensated images and use software to remove people. Photo Acute Studio and Photoshop CS9 Extended both can automatically remove moving subjects from static frames. Floodlights illuminate the rotunda at night, causing much less dynamic range issues during the twilight hours.

Reflection

Evaluate the exposure on your histogram. If you photograph single exposures, expose for highlights by making sure the histogram is as far right as possible without clipping it at the right side. You can always recover shadows but clipped highlights are lost beyond the one stop you can recover during RAW processing.

Take your time to explore all the angles of the Palace and the surrounding landscape. Use a wide-angle lens and get really close to the pillars, crouch down and photograph up to create interesting distortions. Try to stand back further and use a normal lens to reduce distortions. Compare the results on your LCD to come up with new and intermediate ideas. Always experiment, even after you got all the shots you came for.

The lagoon works like a reflecting pool to the Palace. The sidewalk across the lagoon from the Palace offers some of the best options to explore reflections. Sometimes less is more. Using the reflections of the pillars together with the seagulls (or swans if you are lucky), we can let the imagination of the viewer fill in the gaps. Images like this are often most powerful, since people can choose for themselves how to fill the missing information. Imagination is often more powerful than reality.

Fountain

The lagoon is also home to a flock of swans. Stereotypical or not, swans are a welcome subject. They help to give the place a romantic touch and add to the mood of certain pictures.

During the summer months, a fountain will spew water several feet into the air. Use a tripod and set your camera to a small aperture to increase exposure time to 1/5 seconds or longer. Use a neutral density filter if it is too bright. This setting will create a blurred fountain look. Try a fast shutter speed as well (1/125s or faster) to freeze the waterdrops in the air. See which picture you like better.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Mornings are best to photograph the Palace with the lagoon in the foreground. During the afternoon, you have to shoot against the light. Late afternoon and evenings are good too.

Time required

You need at least 2 hours to walk around the lagoon and the structures, maybe longer to wait for the swans to move where you want them. It takes at least one hour to take a few interesting shots.

Equipment

• Wide-angle Lens
• Normal Lens
• Tripod and Cable Release
• Neutral Density Filter (blur the fountains during the day)
• Polarizing filter to remove the glare from the water

Difficulty Photographing

Usually there are too many people here making it hard to get decent photographs. Sometimes reconstruction crews are at work or wedding photographers stage their subjects in one of the archways. Be patient and flexible by working around those obstructions, focusing your attention on what is available to you, or including them skillfully into your photographs.

Close Locations

• Marina, Crissy Field
• Fisherman’s Wharf
• San Francisco Presidio
• Baker Beach
• Lincoln Park and Legion of Honor
• Stow Lake, Strawberry Hill, Botanical Garden
• Golden Gate Park West Side
• Beach and Cliff House
• Lands End and Sutro Baths
• Twin Peaks
• Pier 39
• Pier 7
• Fort Point
• Baker Beach
• Kirby Cove
• Golden Gate North Views part 1 and part 2

Useful Resources

Palace of Fine Arts Theatre website

Exploratorium (museum) official site

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Hiker on Sentinel Dome

From Sentinel Dome, you get a 360-degree view of Yosemite Valley and the backcountry, making it one of the most popular hikes in the park. It is relatively easy, even with lots of photography gear. The accessibility, combined with a completely unobstructed view of the sky and the remote location make Sentinel Dome a favorite amongst star photographers. It is only second to Half Dome in height, but much easier to climb.

How to get there

Click to see large version

Unfortunately, you have to go through parts of Yosemite Valley to get to Glacier Point Road from Highway 140 (Merced) or Highway 120 (San Francisco). Since Glacier Point Road only opens in summer, this means long delays and heavy traffic. Take Highway 41 into the Park, if you come from Fresno (or Los Angeles), to avoid the craze. No worries San Franciscan’s, usually Tioga Pass opens just one month later. Leading to spectacular backcountry scenery, Tioga Pass takes you to Glacier Point Road without having to go through Yosemite Valley.

The trailhead parking for Sentinel Dome is clearly marked. At the start of the trail, you will see a map of the hike.

GPS position

Sentinel Dome:

• 37°43’24.51″N 119°35’1.78″W

Trailhead:

• 37°42’45.22″N 119°35’10.28″W

How to photograph Sentinel Dome in Yosemite

Deer on the Sentinel Dome Trail

For the most part, the hike leads through forest and semi rugged terrain. Keep your camera ready with your longest lens attached. When I ran across a herd of deer, I had to fumble to switch lenses. Fortunately, the deer seemed relatively tame and I was able to capture a few good shots. Keep an eye open for the cheeky chipmunks that are roaming these areas and often decide to stand on their hind legs for photographers. If you are lucky, you may also see bears, bobcats or mountain lions.

The views from Sentinel Dome are breathtaking. You can take one of the better views of Half Dome and Nevada Falls from the bare rock facing them directly. I asked Dani to stand in the picture and look towards Nevada Falls (first picture). This adds foreground interest and her line of sight guides us into the frame. If you are patient, you can always find some hikers who stand in just the right spot, after you changed your position.

Although the views from Sentinel Dome are astonishing, you can find better views from other points on Glacier Point Road. You could leave your telephoto lens behind and focus on near-far wide-angle compositions only if you do not care about wildlife.

Jeffrey Pine

The Jeffrey Pine, made famous by Ansel Adams, died and collapsed. Even the ghostly claw has fallen down. What is left is a log, mutilated by hikers and the elements. In the frame above, I tried to balance the knob of wood with Half Dome in the far distant background. The wood draws the viewer deeper into the picture, since it seems to reach towards infinity. Although the tree is relatively short, you can use a wide-angle lens to stretch the foreground.

From where the pine now lays, the views are not very good and the pine itself is a rather ordinary photographic subject, despite its fame. Other trees are still alive. If you come during the morning, you can incorporate them into compositions including Yosemite Falls and Half Dome.

Use a short focal length for hero shots of yourself and the rugged terrain, giving your friends at home the impression that you conquered a much larger granite dome. Depending on the angle and your point of view, you can make the incline look steeper and the dome bigger with an appropriate wide-angle.

Sentinel Dome is an excellent location for stargazing and star trail photography. You need to stay at least until after Astronomical Twilight when the last bit of the daylight has faded away and the stars will be at their brightest.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Avoid the valley floor during the summer months. I advise to drive up here as soon as the Glacier Point Road opens. Depending on conditions, this can be as early as the first week of May or much later. The road usually stays open until November, but may close sooner. You can check the road conditions on this page. I prefer any of the main views from Glacier Point Road as early in the year as possible when the waterfalls are full.

The views toward Half Dome and Nevada Falls (see first image) are better during the late afternoon while the views towards Yosemite Falls and El Capitan are better during the morning. You could compromise and come during the day for o.k. light at all sides.

Time required

I was able to hike to the top of Sentinel Dome, take plenty of time for photography and hike back down in about 90 minutes. Depending on your fitness level, you may need longer, but the hike really is not as daunting as it looks from the road.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• Normal Lens
• Telephoto Lens
• Binoculars for wildlife spotting
• Hiking boots
• Water (at least ½ liter per person for the Sentinel Dome hike and more for the entire loop)
• Lock for bear save food storage bins
• Flashlight or Headlamp

Fees

The entrance fee to Yosemite National Park is $20. They also accept interagency passes and offer senior citizen discounts.

Close Locations

• Taft Point
• Washburn Point
• Glacier Point
• Mariposa Grove
• Views of Yosemite Valley
• Panorama Trail
• Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall
• Fall in Yosemite Valley
• Tioga Pass
• Wildlife photography in Yosemite
• Hetch Hetchy

Useful Resources

Yosemite National Park Official Site

Trail information

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Deer in Yosemite

There is something very rewarding about wild animal photography. Encounters are rare, fascinating, and therefore unique. As photographers, we always wish to shoot unique photographs. Wildlife photography is a wonderful way to fulfill that desire.

I never seek out wild animals to photograph, but in Yosemite National Park you stand a good chance of seeing wildlife.

Yosemite National Park harbors endangered species making sightings with them even more special.

The animal tolerates you with your camera only if you pose no threat. The wild animal is in full control and you are just an observer.

What you could see if you are lucky

• Bears (Many years ago I had two encounters with Brown Bears, but no camera).
• Deer
• Bobcats (I only saw one once, but it was gone very quickly)
• Coyotes are a more frequent sight than Bobcats
• Mountain Lions (same as Puma and Cougar) I have never seen one, but those are roaming around here
• Marmots
• A large variety of birds including Stellar’s Jay, Red-Tail Hawk, Great-Grey Owl, Peregrine Falcon and Golden Eagles.

How to get there

Keep your eyes open at all times, even when you are still outside the park itself. Animals know no park boarders. I have encountered as many animals outside the park as I have inside, if not more. You can see animals anywhere in the park. Coyotes often roam around the valley while some more elusive animals stay a little further away.

How to photograph Wildlife in Yosemite National Park

Isolate the subject from distracting backgrounds. In the woods the twigs and branches of the trees often disguise and confuse us. Use your camera’s depth of field preview button (next to the lens) and use a wide aperture to isolate the subject from the background. Manage your depth of field well to ensure that the entire subject is in focus while keeping distracting elements out of focus.

Change your position if you have too many bright spots in the background. Out of focus, bright spots will also distract from the main subject.

Do not place the animal looking out of the frame. In the shot of the deer that would mean including more of the surrounding area and have the deer look into the frame instead of out.

Animals can also be in the center of the frame when they make eye contact to focus the viewer on the eyes.

To tell a complete story you should include more of the surroundings. To show an intimate portrait crop closer. Always shoot both types of photographs and take horizontal and vertical photographs. Depending on the context, editors often need different kinds of pictures of the same subject.

Do not startle the animals. You do not need to sneak up on them. I prefer to approach slowly without too much noise, while making sure that the animal can see me at all times. It will indicate to you if it gets uncomfortable with your approach. Back up a little and take your photographs.

Telephoto lenses compress the depth of field and are thus excellent for keeping your distance and isolating the subject. If you need more depth, use a tripod and low ISO setting. This will let you use a small aperture (f/16 or smaller) and still keep a short exposure to freeze movement.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Winter forces many animals to lower altitudes where we can photograph them. Far less tourists visit the park, increasing the chances of an encounter. Deer often graze near meadows.

Time required

Animal encounters happen by chance. You cannot force or predict them. When they do happen, you have to be quick as they are over quickly as well. If you like to photograph wildlife, you need to consider a lot of time for scouting and stalking.

Equipment

• Telephoto lens
• Camera with high ISO capability

Fees

Yosemite Entrance Fee is $20 per car.

Difficulty Photographing

I consider every encounter a bonus. You need to have luck and some skill to make the animal feel comfortable around you. Do not make any hasty movements and try to stay calm despite the excitement an encounter will afford you. Remember that many animals are dangerous.

Warning

Food attracts Bears and Mountain Lions. Bears can easily break into your car and get what they are after. Keep your distance and store food according to park regulations. Do not leave pets or pet food outside your car. Do not try to approach the animals.

Do not run from Mountain Lions. Running triggers the chasing instinct in many predatory animals. When a lion approaches, lift your backpack over your head, pick up your children and try to appear taller. Back up slowly while facing the animal.

Even deer have attacked people and hurt them seriously. Never corner the animals and leave them plenty of room to escape when you approach them to take photographs.

Close Locations

• Yosemite Firefall   Horsetail Fall
• Yosemite Valley Views
• Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trail
• Fall in Yosemite Valley
• Hetch Hetchy
• Mirror Lake
• Yosemite Falls, Sentinel Bridge and Swinging Bridge
• Glacier Point, Washburn Point, Taft Point, Sentinel Dome Hike
• Tioga Pass road
• Tuolumne Meadows
• Mariposa Grove

Useful Resources

Some of my Yosemite Photographs

Yosemite Travel Guide

Yosemite National Park Official Page

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Sea Otter on Shore Leave

The sea otters of Moss Landing are marvelous creatures. Seemingly posing all day for photographers in a little bay, I even had one of them coming to shore for me. In the light of the setting sun, he seemingly wanted to afford me a unique photograph. Maybe he was curious at this strange creature with this clicking device observing him.

Once hunted close to extinction, California’s population of well over 2000 otters all stem from a single colony that survived the hunt for their fur. Most otters populate the Central California Coast between San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

I have seen otters in Monterey and Pacific Grove, but never as close as I have at Moss Landing, making Moss Landing one of the best places for otter photography.

How to get there

Driving Highway 1 from north to south, take the Moss Landing Road exit to your right and stop at the small bay full of boats. Walk around and look for the otters between the boats. The GPS location below is the exact spot where the otters often hang out and sleep on their back most of the day.

GPS position

The Otters were exactly at this spot:

• 36°48’0.35″N 121°47’4.78″W

How to photograph the Otters of Moss Landing

Sea Otter Swimming and Eating

You need a long telephoto lens to shoot the otters up close. Since I did not have such a lens, I tried to stay with the otters that were moving and I got lucky twice in a row. I followed them on foot around the little peninsula. Meanwhile the sea otters were swimming on their back and cleaning themselves or eating crab like this little one here.

I had the advantage of having the otters for myself while they were backstroking along the shore. I kept my focus on them and took a nice series of photographs, discovering much about the personality of these remarkable creatures.

If you have a lot of equipment, a long lens (400mm or more) and a tripod, stay near the spot I marked on the GPS. With a smaller setup, you can walk around the boats and discover some of the more active otters there.

The peaceful harbor offers enough photographic excitement until the sea otters show up. The nearby state beaches and Elkhorn slough are worth the trip.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

During the afternoon, the otters are most active, foraging for food, and cleaning. This is the best time of the day to photograph them. I took the picture at the top of this posting near the end of the day, where I had to boost ISO levels. This is not a sunset location.

Time required

It is hard to predict how long you will need. Just stop when you pass on Highway 1 and take some time to look around. When the otters are out, you will most likely lose track of time anyways.

Equipment

• Telephoto Lens
• Lens Extender
• Tripod
• High ISO camera

Difficulty Photographing

The otters keep their distance, which makes it hard to follow them once they get moving. Even if your lens has image stabilization, you need to keep the exposure time below 1/125s once the otters move.

Sea Otters are endangered species. No matter how excited you may get, please keep your distance and do not disturb them!

Close Locations

• Monterey Wharf
• Monterey Cannery Row
• Pacific Grove
• 17 mile drive
• Butterflies of Monarch Grove Sanctuary
• Capitola
• Santa Cruz Harbor and Walton Lighthouse
• Santa Cruz Wharf and Boardwalk
• Santa Cruz Cliff Drive and Lighthouse Point
• Santa Cruz Natural Bridges State Park
• US-35 Skyline Boulevard
• Carmel by the Sea

Useful Resources

>Friends of the Sea Otter

ML Chamber of Commerce

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