The owner of California’s richest Gold Mine and water trader William Bowers built a lavish estate south of San Francisco, naming it Filoli. It is one of the few remaining estates of that period and the only one open to the public in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even Hollywood recognized the potential of this location. They famously featured the mansion in the 1980ies hit TV show “Dynasty” and several feature films, making it one of the best-known secrets in the Bay Area.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation manages the estate with an iron fist. Volunteer enforcers stand by with a head full of facts and policies. They enjoy surrendering countless details and chastising you for accidentally stepping on the lawn or for other small offenses. Manage to avoid the drill sergeants and a Georgian mansion set in a huge 16-acre garden on a 654-acre property is all yours to explore. At least the parts you can see from the official walkways.

The official parts afford you a spectacular insight into the estate of Bowers who lived in a style incomprehensible to most of us. Along the way, you have the opportunity to photograph the mansion and the gardens from the composition restricting confines of well-established paths.

How to get there

Take the Edgewood Road exit from Highway 280, south of the Highway 92 intersection. Turn west until Edgewood Road ends in a T-intersection on Canada Road after about 0.5 miles. Turn right on Canada Road. The entrance to the Mansion is about 1.3 miles north of the intersection on your left.

GPS position

37°28’13.87″N 122°18’37.93″W

How to photograph Filoli

The House

Kitchen pots

As you cannot bring a tripod into the house, I recommend not bringing a tripod at all, especially since you cannot visit during the magic hour anyways. One exception would be for macro photography in the garden.

Inside the mansion, this means you will need to work with poor lighting conditions. I prefer to use a wide-angle lens and an image stabilized zoom lens. Like the electronic stability system of your car, the image stabilizer will extend the stable range, but you need to be aware of the limits. Image stabilizers significantly extend the useful exposure time, but you should practice and become familiar with your lens and the exposure times and focal lengths.

Since camera shake is the result of random movements, you should take multiple photographs of each scene. With this trick, you will often find some pictures that turn out well, even when you expose longer than you normally should without a tripod. Whenever I get into a situation where I do not want to push the ISO range or cannot push it any more, I use this as a last resort. In the Filoli mansion, this worked well.

Reception Room

Dynamic range is another concern in the mansion. Light shining through the open windows, illuminating a subject, like the face of the statue above, the windows themselves, and lamps all pose challenges in the surrounding dark rooms. You could expose several different shots and use software to align the handheld images in order to create high dynamic range photographs. However, many indoor compositions with close subjects, like the picture above, would suffer from parallax errors.

Simply expose on the most important elements of your image and learn how much you can push your camera. Taking RAW images, I know that I can overexpose about one stop and still recover highlights. I spot metered on the face, read the settings, and increased my exposure by one more stop to improve the shadow detail.

Boost your ISO sensitivity just enough to be able to shoot handheld, but no more. This will allow you to recover as much shadow detail as possible without creating excessive noise.

Library

Photographing indoors requires more practice. The lighting conditions change quickly and are often poor. You need to change your metering settings, take care of the dynamic range, and pay attention to your depth and your composition. A wide-angle lens makes many of these tasks easier.

Sometimes compositions require patience, especially the ballroom and the long floors. It may take a lot of time to catch a small opening between the crowds, but the resulting pictures are worth the wait. Set up your image, pre-focus, and take a couple of test pictures with people in them. This will eliminate any setup time and increase your chances of success when a small opening occurs.

A few unexpected treats, like the small hidden rooms adjacent to the library, spice up the mansion tour and keep you entertained.

The Gardens

Garden Gate

If you ran out of patience in the house, you will have a hard time in the Gardens. I waited a long time for the photograph above, as one after another walked past me and along the path into the distance. Eventually, I was able to get my photograph, but it nearly cost me my sanity to do so.

There are four good ways around this problem though.

1. Use a wide-angle lens

Wide-angle lenses emphasize foreground elements and push middle ground and background elements into infinity. People thus will be far less dominant in your frame to the point where they become invisible. You need a strong foreground, like a dense flower field, to make this work though. Depending on the season and the actual amount of people, this may not always be an option.

Tree

2. Macro Photography

Rare flowers and a countless variety of species make this garden an exceptional place for you if your heart is set on macro photography. In this case, I would even suggest bringing a tripod and skipping the mansion altogether. You will be happy in this garden and you can easily keep people out of your photographs.

3. Isolate Subjects

Use a longer focal length and isolate an interesting subject. The small round tree, illuminated in direct sunlight and set against a dark hedge, is a good example of this technique. Using a long focal length, I eliminated everything else from this picture, focusing only on shapes and light. A brighter subject in front of a darker subject works better than the opposite, since bright subjects naturally stand out and attract attention.

4. Integrate People

Integrating people into your photos is the most difficult technique due to their erratic behavior. Combined with the isolating technique, this can result in some of the most powerful compositions. Imagine a child touching the funny tree above or a parent and a child looking at a flower together.

pool

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

The Gardens are best during the spring when countless tulips, daffodils, and roses burst into life and paint the gardens in vibrant colors.

The Mansion is open between 10am and 3:30pm Tuesday to Saturday and from 11am to 3:30pm on Sundays. It closes during Federal holidays.

Time required

The Trust, who has little heart for unique compositions, also does not care about good lighting conditions, restricting the opening hours severely. I recommend you arrive shortly after 10am, since you have a lot of ground to cover. Plan at least three hours to see the mansion and the Gardens.

Equipment

• Small Camera Bag or Slingshot Bag
• Wide-angle lens
• Macro lens
• Zoom Lens

Fees

The entrance fee is $15. Seniors receive a $3 discount and students and young children pay $5. You can also choose to become a member, pay a hefty yearly fee, and enjoy free visits whenever you like.

Close Locations

• Devils Slide
• Skyline Blvd
• Stanford
• Half Moon Bay
• Pacifica
• Ano Nuevo
• Pigeon Point Lighthouse
• Roaring Camp
• Big Basin Redwoods State Park
• Capitola
• Santa Cruz Natural Bridges State Beach
• Santa Cruz Pier and Boardwalk
• Mission San Jose
• All San Francisco Locations

Useful Resources

Official Website

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Santa Ines Mission is located between Santa Barbara Mission and Mission La Purisima Concepcion. The Mission was built as an afterthought to relieve overcrowding at these two nearby missions and to “serve” (exploit) the friendly Chumash Indians that lived in the fertile Santa Ynez valley.

Although the Mission does not stand out next to its two famous neighbors, you will still find many unique compositions and wonderful subjects that are worth the time and effort. The pleasant city of Solvang and their delicious sweet Danish treats can always help you justify the side trip.

Whether you are in the area to satisfy your sweet tooth or not, you should not miss the opportunity to visit the Mission and see its splendid, rich garden and its typical mission church.

How to get there

Santa Ines Mission Map

Head north on Highway 101 from Santa Barbara. Take exit 101B (State Street) toward CA-154 / Cachuma Lake and follow CA-154 for about 24 miles. Turn left on CA-246 (Mission Drive). The Mission will be on your left after about 5 miles.

Heading south on Highway 101, take exit 140A toward CA-246 in the town of Buellton, about 30 miles south of Santa Maria. Follow CA-246 for about 3.5 miles, through the town of Solvang to the Mission on your right.

GPS position

34°35’40.37″N 120° 8’10.54″W

How to photograph Mission Santa Ines

Santa Ines Garden

During mass, the Mission Church is not available for photography. After mass, it may take a very long time until you can get a clear photograph of the church, the front view of the façade or the long colonnade. Depending on your arrival time, I recommend taking these shots whenever you can. Don’t wait until later, as patrons of the church may obstruct your view. Having a fair number of people in a photograph is not necessarily a bad thing, considering that the mission is still serving the nearby communities. The art is in finding a good balance of persons that enhance a photograph rather than destroy it.

The church is small as it is typical for California Missions. I usually prefer a wide-angle lens, as it gives me sufficient field of view, covering the entire nave, and also allows me to expose longer without a tripod. I can also use a wider aperture and still achieve a good depth of field, further helping with the dim light. The old buildings are usually very dark.

Make sure your pictures do not turn out blurry though. Boost ISO speed if you have to and use Image Stabilization if you use longer lenses to isolate details of the altar.

Fountain

The garden is much more photogenic than the charming, but small and unassuming church. Lush green walkways, a smaller number of visitors, and pleasant shade make the garden my favorite part of this mission. Here you will find flowers, palms, and cacti that are typical for most missions.  Use a circular polarizing filter to bring out the green in the plants and enhance definition in the sky. Carefully judge the effect of the filter. You can easily become addicted to the blue skies and get into a pattern of overuse or abuse, using the filter whenever you can. Resist the temptation to use the filter at its strongest effect, as that often results in unnatural looking skies.

cross

I took this last photograph on the graveyard.  The shape of the large cross that is mirrored in the small crosses and the cross on top of the roof of the church attracted me to this composition. The strong shadows draw our attention to the gate in the background that seems to look back at us with two glowing eyes. The tree is making this image a bit too busy though, but finding a good composition is often challenging. Try changing your position and keep experimenting. Sometimes I discover photographs such as this one on my hard drive that didn’t strike me as particularly interesting while I took it.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

You can take a self-guided tour daily between 9am to 4:30pm except on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. There are several masses on Sundays and on Holidays. Avoid those days if you can, since your access to the mission church will be restricted.

Time required

You can easily see the Mission in one hour. Driving the alternate route between Santa Barbara (south) and San Luis Obispo (north) does not cost you any additional driving time.

Equipment

• CP Filter
• Variable Zoom Lens
• Wide-angle lens

Fees

The entrance fee to Santa Ines Mission is $5. Children 11 and younger get in free.

Close Locations

• Solvang Danish Town
• La Purisima Mission
• Nojoqui Falls Park
• Santa Barbara Mission
• Santa Barbara Presidio
• Santa Barbara Courthouse
• Santa Barbara Beach and Pier
• Guadalupe Dunes
• Mission San Luis Obispo
• Shell Beach
• Mission San Buenaventura
• Ronald Reagan Library
• Southern California Wildflowers

Useful Resources

Mission Website

Santa Ines on About.com

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Mono Lake Nautilus

Mono Lake is one of California’s most prominent photographic icons. Countless photographers travel to this remote area to photograph the alien landscape, courtesy of Los Angeles’ unquenchable thirst for California’s precious water resources. Avoiding the dry death of Owens Lake, Mono Lake levels are rising again, thanks to the tireless efforts of conservationists.

Tufa, the dramatic rock spires protruding from the seabed, stand testament to the value of the water resource and the ecologic systems depending on it. Yet, in its unnatural state, the lake is most beautiful. Photographers appreciate the unusual formations, reflections, and colors.

Easily accessible, Mono Lake is a treasure that everyone can own. Showing up is all it takes to take good photographs. If you are willing to stay after dark and bring your own light source, you can create bizarre yet gorgeous masterpieces.

How to get there

Mono Lake is located east of Yosemite National Park, in a basin between the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the White Mountains, and the Excelsior Mountains. The nearest city is Lee Vining, located at the T-intersection of Tioga Pass (Highway 120) and Highway 395. The nearest larger city is Mammoth Lakes, which is also your best bet for an overnight stay in the area.

You can reach the South Tufa area via a short dirt road from Highway 120, east of Highway 395. Drive 4.7 miles south from the Tioga Pass intersection, then turn east on Highway 120 (following the brown South Tufa sign). The dirt road turns left after another 4.7 miles (brown South Tufa sign with binoculars). Link on Google Street View.

GPS position

Visitor Center: 37°58’1.49″N 119° 7’11.94″W

South Tufa Parking: 37°56’19.29″N 119° 1’37.37″W

How to photograph Mono Lake South Tufa

Mono Lake Sunrise

You can find good photography spots all around Mono Lake, but the Tufa formations that everyone associates with the lake are at the Mono Lake South Tufa State Natural Reserve, a Federal fee area at the south of the lake. A small fee gets you past the booth to a beach where you will find the famous Tufa. All the pictures on this page are from this area. I recommend focusing your efforts on this place.

I took the picture above about 20 minutes after sunrise. Arriving in the dark night, on an empty parking lot in a remote area, we hopped out of the car, paid the fee and started the walk down the beach. It was pitch black when we suddenly heard the howls of coyotes surrounding us. At first, the howls were far away, but soon they started to close in. Grabbing my flashlight in one hand and holding on to Dani with the other, we tried to orient ourselves to find the beach, hoping to fend off potential predators with sturdy tripods.

Ghost Ship

A few years ago, there was only a trampled path to the shore, but now it is a wooden boardwalk, making it hard to get lost and easier for photographers to find their way. This area of California is still one of the most remote, making Mono Lake and its fantastic Tufa a great place for star trail photographers, provided you do not mind to share it with the wildlife.

I recommend arriving early for your sunset session or staying one or two hours after sunset and painting the rocks with light. I created the picture above with this technique as well as the picture at the start of the article.

I “painted” the rocks with a strong flashlight, while I had my camera on a tripod, set to a long exposure time. This illuminates the rock, or the parts you chose to paint over, and gives very eerie effects that work extremely well with this subject. I prefer to have a little more light in the sky (very first picture), but the darker one looks spookier. Once more, we had to walk back in the dark while memories of our encounter with the coyotes haunted us. It seems coyotes prefer the morning hours though.

Tufa after sunrise

The light is good for at least 1.5 hours after sunrise and nearly 2 hours prior to sunset. Since the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada are immediately west of Mono Lake, you can expect the sun to disappear behind the mountains about one hour prior to the official sunset time. Make sure you arrive early and do not leave too soon. If you are so lucky to have clouds, you should stick around at least until 30 minutes after the official sunset time to ensure that you get color in the clouds.

Creating attractive photographs is not difficult. Pay attention to your composition and make sure you keep clutter out of your frame. Stones, bushes, and other subjects can either enhance or destroy your picture. Sweep your viewfinder and pay attention to every detail. Many small things distract from a perfectly good photograph. Sometimes it pays off to change your position slightly to keep unwanted pieces out of your frame. Simple pictures are often more beautiful. Take multiple pictures and use horizontal and vertical formats.

In the image above, I had the good sense to emphasize the symmetry of subject and reflection, but I did not notice how the reflection connects to the stone in the foreground. Fortunately, I soon realized it and took another, very similar photograph, leaving the same distance between reflection and frame border that the subject enjoys from the top frame border.

Bush

Foreground elements do have their purpose though. As the lake level rises, it reclaims area previously overgrown. The high salinity turns the bushes white, adding to the strange nature of this place.

Mono Lake is a landscape photographer’s dream come true. Simply open your mind to the possibilities and let your style of photography and your experience take over.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

This area gets a lot of snow in winter, and since you will not be able to cross the Sierra Nevada, you will find it very difficult to get here. Spring is a good time. I hope that you will have more luck than I did on all my visits and encounter some clouds for your sunset / sunrise pictures. Summer and fall can be good too.

Sunset and sunrise are clearly best. Plan to arrive early, since you have to drive and walk about 0.4 miles and since the Sierra Nevada blocks direct sunlight about one hour prior to the official sunset time. I recommend scouting the location the day before your sunrise shot to find promising locations.

Time required

Although you can snap a few pictures in one hour, I do not recommend it. It takes a considerable investment of time to get here, which is why you should at least stay a while to make the most of your trip.

Equipment

• Normal Zoom Lens
• Tripod and Cable release
• High powered flashlight
• Snacks and water
• Solid footwear, hiking shoes or boots
• Layers (hot days, cold nights)

Fees

The entrance fee for adults over 16 is $3. It is free for children. You need to pay at the start of the walking path. Bring exact change if you come for sunset or sunrise, since the station is not always manned, but you still need to pay at the drop box.

Difficulty Photographing

The rising water levels make it more and more difficult to get close to a good position, especially at the east side of the beach, where I took the Nautilus picture. You should avoid climbing on the Tufa, to preserve the formations for future generations. The stones are sharp and you can easily hurt yourself.

Mono Lake is popular. This means that you will find a lot of competition. Do not let that intimidate you or distract you from your own compositions. Avoid the temptation to check what the other people are doing! A big camera does not make a professional photographer.

Close Locations

• Bodie Ghost Town
• Chemung Mine and Masonic Town
• Mono Craters
• Mammoth Lakes
• Devils Postpile National Monument and Rainbow Falls
• Mammoth Consolidated Mine
• Tioga Pass
• Tuolumne Meadows
• Mono Craters
• Carson Pass and Monitor Pass
• Crowley Hot Springs
• June Lake Scenic Loop
• Convict Lake
• Crowley Lake
• McGee Canyon

Useful Resources

South Tufa Information Page

Tufa SNR park page

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Carmel River State Beach

The attractive community of Carmel by the Sea retained its small town charm in spite of a booming real estate bubble. It encompasses two of the finest beaches in Northern California and the most expensive housing market outside Malibu, turning Carmel into a playground for the rich and very rich.

Upscale Carmel also attracts affluent tourists, who pamper themselves in the expensive cottages and spend their days shopping in boutique stores.

Despite the public show of status and prosperity, Carmel still offers a lot of value for photography, even if it is mostly recreational. Carmel hosts many famous artists. Local photographers clearly have the advantage of being able to time their shots for perfect weather conditions and they have the advantage of possessing the location knowledge.

How to get there

Carmel area map

Carmel is located just south of Monterey along scenic Highway 1. Take Ocean Avenue from the west and follow it to the beach. Consider parking along Ocean Avenue for a few photographs of the city, its boutiques, and inns. Parking at the beach is limited, but you can always walk a few blocks, and take photographs along the way.

Take Scenic Road south, from Ocean Avenue near the beach. It winds along the coast and ends at the Carmel River State Beach (image above).

GPS position

36°33’18.05″N 121°55’41.94″W

How to photograph Carmel by the Sea

Carmel Tea House

When you come to Carmel, you should consider visiting the very photogenic Carmel Mission first. The Mission is a pleasure to photograph and without doubt the best subject in Carmel.

Carmel is also a popular star hideout, but the days when Clint Eastwood was Mayor and Hollywood stars invested in the rising real estate bubble are gone. Leave your Paparazzi gear and focus on the city instead.

The attention to detail that storeowners use to decorate and advertise their businesses stand out in this city. Keep an open mind and walk with your eyes wide open. I often find it hard to see these little details when I have my mind already set on a certain type of photograph. Carmel demands your full mindfulness.

Stairs at Carmel Plaza

Carmel Plaza (above) impressively demonstrates a shopping experience that you can find only here. Countless seating with leather upholstery keeps your feet happy and wallets in spending mood. The decoration and planting is tasteful and the architecture pleasant to photograph.

Since this is a mall and therefore private property, I recommend that you try to blend in. Most people do not mind a quiet photographer.

Carmel Door

You can find good compositions along Ocean Avenue and a few blocks to either side of it. Narrow, flower-lined passages, flowerbeds, and beautifully maintained gardens add an astonishing amount of color to this city. Fairytale houses, like the Tuck Box, located on Dolores Street, south of the Ocean Avenue intersection, define the cityscape of Carmel.

Despite the very rich amount of intimate details, Carmel still offers grand scenic vistas of rugged cliffs and white sandy beaches, drawing crowds in summer.

Carmel Beach

Take the short drive along Scenic Road, south of Ocean Avenue, to get a glimpse of the long Carmel Beach. It is nearly impossible to park here during weekends, when countless surfers occupy the spots. You may have better chances a few blocks away.

Initially, the road is a one-way road, but it turns into a two-way road toward the end of the beach. Watch out for oncoming traffic!

Keep following the road until you get to a very sharp left turn with the cliff on the right side and no view of oncoming traffic. Just after the turn, you will get to Carmel River Beach, where I took the photograph shown at the start of the article and the alternative view shown below.

Carmel River SB

The gentle curve of the beach leads toward the mountains of Point Lobos Ranch in the background. I took both pictures on this page with a very short focal length (wide-angle lens), crouching close to the ground. Alternatively, you can emphasize the mountains and the beach more by using a longer focal length and by photographing from the road instead, which gives you a higher point of view. Both perspectives work well.

If you have a couple of hours to spare, I recommend that you park your car either at the side street to your left or at the Carmel River State Beach parking area a couple of turns later. Take a walk south on the beach, toward the mountains until you get to Monastery Beach, at the foot of the Carmelite Monastery, another exceptional sand beach. Along the way, you will encounter different perspectives of this superb stretch of beach.

In case you have trouble finding a parking spot, I recommend to get back to Highway 1 and to turn south. After a few hundred meters, you will see Monastery Beach on your right, with a large turnout area where you can safely pull over. Simply hike in the opposite direction toward Carmel River Beach.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

The weather in Carmel can be unpredictable. The unique weather conditions along the Northern California shore often create fog during the late afternoon hours, which can result in good pictures if the fog is dense with openings.

The winter is often rainy. I prefer spring and fall due to the lower angle of the sun compared to summer.

Time required

The drive takes about 30 minutes. You can photograph both beaches in about 45 minutes and the rest of the city and malls in about 1.5 hours. You should plan some additional time for a relaxing beach stroll.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• CP Filter
• Zoom lens

Close Locations

• Carmel Mission
• Carmelite Monastery
• Point Lobos State Reserve
• Pacific Grove
• Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary
• 17-mile drive with the famous Lone Cypress Tree
• Monterey Fishermans Wharf
• Andrew Molera State Park
• Point Pinos Lighthouse
• Moss Landing Sea Otters
• San Juan Bautista
• Capitola
• Santa Cruz Natural Bridges SB

Useful Resources

Overview of Carmel

Carmel Website

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Charming beach communities like Capitola are rare in Northern California. The city is famous for its laid-back atmosphere, surfers, and hip downtown bars at the water’s edge. Capitola is the perfect escape for busy Bay Area residents who slip out of their business suits for the weekend, partially envious of the aging surfing hippies that never sold out.

Fun in the sun, a beer at the beach on Zelda’s patio, the best slice of pizza you can get with sandy, naked feet, or a late night flirty Margarita at the Margaritaville, these are some of the simple pleasures Capitola has to offer. You will not have any trouble convincing your family members to join you for this trip.

Do not forget to pack your camera! Between family entertainment and surfers, there are plenty of good pictures waiting.

How to get there

Capitola is located near Highway 1, east of Santa Cruz and north of Watsonville. From Santa Cruz take Highway 1 south, and then take the Bay Avenue exit. Follow Bay Avenue south toward Capitola. After about 0.4 miles turn right at Capitola Avenue and follow it into the heart of the city. Parking is notoriously hard around downtown. On your way into the city center, you will pass the police station and administrative center. Just north of it (the direction you came from), you will find a road leading up a steep hill. It will take you to a large metered parking lot with very reasonable rates.

The city center also has public restrooms.

GPS position

36°58’18.71″N 121°57’3.97″W

How to photograph Capitola

Capitola Beach Volleyball

Take your time and smell the roses! Capitola does not reveal itself right away. Start at the beach before venturing on Cliff Drive and to the Wharf.

Try not to offend anyone photographing at the beach. Although it is legal to photograph people in a public place like the Capitola Beach, you should use common sense to avoid conflict.

Find a unique angle. Walk out into the water and take a wide-angle lens to photograph the beach while standing up to your waist in the ocean. Rent a boat and go out even further to photograph the beach with a telephoto lens. Stepping back and zooming in closer compresses the distance between two objects (lifeguard tower and boats below). Walking on the wharf gives you yet another perspective (see above).

Capitola Lifeguard Tower

Make sure your photographs have a clear subject that is the center of attention and vary your point of view to create more interest. Get low on the ground and use the pattern the waves and the sand generate as your foreground element or stand on the wall to gain a higher perspective.

Use a polarizing filter to bring out color and cut the glare from the water!

Always put the lens cap on the lens when you are not taking pictures! I often see people who do not mind giving their lens a sandblasting during a day at the beach.

boats

Look for detail when you are photographing the colorful façade of the Venetian Hotel, the Capitola Mercantile, or explore the pier. You will find many interesting compositions within the clutter of activity. Separating them can be a challenge. Use a zoom lens and move around until you find a good perspective.

Capitola Margaritaville

Capitola looks even better at night when the lights reflect on the water. My favorite subjects at night are the Wharf (image at the start of the article), the Margaritaville (above) from the Venetian Hotel, and the Venetian Hotel from the bridge.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Capitola beach faces south, which makes it a great location for late afternoon and morning photography.

Time required

Plan to spend some time here to soak up the relaxed beach atmosphere. I took the pictures on this page together with others within two hours.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• Polarizing and UV filters
• Zoom Lens
• swimming gear (to walk out into the water) and towels
• Ziploc bag (to protect your camera from the sand and water)

Close Locations

• Santa Cruz Wharf and Boardwalk
• Cliff Drive and Lighthouse
• Santa Cruz Natural Bridges SB
• Santa Cruz Harbor and Walton Lighthouse
• Moss Landing Sea Otters
• US-35 Skyline Boulevard
• San Juan Bautista
• Pacific Grove
• Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary
• Point Pinos Lighthouse
• Roaring Camp
• Carmel
• Carmel Mission
• Carmelite Monastery

Useful Resources

City of Capitola

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Belmont Shore offers the relaxed Southern California Beach atmosphere you expect when you visit this neck of the world. CSI Miami fans may feel a strange déjà vu here.

Fear not, you neither are in the Matrix nor have you teleported to Florida, you simply stumbled on the secret filming locations for the show. Looking through my sunset pictures, I realized David Caruso’s hair is not to blame for CSI Miami’s characteristic orange tint, but rather the Southern California sun.

You will find palm lined promenades, spectacular sunsets, and a photogenic pier. A perfect picture, if the trash, stray dogs, and dirt would not spoil it otherwise. You can avoid most of those imperfections in your pictures, but you can find better places to hang out for the day.

How to get there

Drive southeast on E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. Follow it to the very end and park your car at the metered lot. Parking is free after 6pm (check the meter), which is perfect if you arrive for sunset shots.

A second, larger parking lot is located near the intersection of E. Ocean Boulevard and Bennett Avenue. This lot is closer to the pier area. You can also park at the pier parking lot at the southern end of S. Termino Avenue, but this lot fills up faster.

GPS position

33°45’8.34″N 118° 7’54.77″W

How to photograph Belmont Shore

Belmont Beach Footsteps

Walking along the shore, I saw these footprints in the sand. By using a very short focal length, I was able to get the footprint in the foreground and the city skyline in the background into the same picture. The short focal length makes it easier to keep everything in focus. I manually focused to 2m and used a narrow aperture to accomplish this large depth of field. On the focus ring of this lens, 2m is very close to infinity. This ensures that everything in the distance is very sharp. I rather compromise sharpness in the foreground, where a small amount of blur is the size of a grain of sand than in the background, where it can be as large as a building.

My camera was only a few inches above the ground. I used the live view mode to help me in the composition and to keep my horizon straight.

The footprints draw the viewer into the picture, to the bright sun. After we look at this image for a while, we notice the skyline of Long Beach in the distance, just where the sun sets. Bright locations usually draw our attention and since our eyes naturally wander to the lower right corner, the footprints bring us back into the picture. While the layers slowly unfold and we discover more details, the picture remains interesting for a longer time.

Belmont Shore Lifeguard Tower

Beach photographs often lack a strong subject and a focal point. There is water and sand and sometimes a sunset. You have to work harder to make the subject work. Pick a strong foreground subject and get very low with your camera to add interest or look for other subjects such as this lifeguard tower.

The skyline of Long Beach is about the same distance in this photograph, but it appears much larger, due to the longer focal length. Walking closer to the lifeguard tower and using a shorter focal length would make it smaller.

Belmont Pier by mslaura

The Belmont Pier is a good place to photograph anglers and to get a different perspective on the beach. By itself, it is not very photogenic, but its silhouette looks good against the setting sun and its lights look good 30 minutes after the sunset, when you can still get some colors in the sky.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

The time before sunset has the best light. If you are lucky enough to have some clouds in the sky, but an unobstructed view of the horizon where you expect the sun to set, you can bet on a legendary and spectacular Southern California sunset.

Time required

You need at least one hour to get a glimpse of the beach, but you can easily spend a leisurely afternoon photographing and enjoying the sun.

Equipment

• Zoom Lens
• CP Filter
• Wide-angle lens

Fees

Beach access is free.

Close Locations

• Naples Island and Canals
• Huntington Beach
• Newport Beach
• Long Beach
• Queen Mary
• Point Fermin
• Palos Verdes
• Santa Catalina Island
• Point Vicente
• Crystal Cathedral
• Disneyland
• Downtown Los Angles
• Huntington Library

Useful Resources

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Fort Tejon is conveniently located along Interstate 5, the main travel artery connecting Los Angeles to Northern California and the Central Valley. Its location is too convenient for its own good. I have flown past the Fort countless times, on my way to and from destinations in the south, always noting that the location would make it a perfect candidate to visit some other time.

On a recent trip south, I decided that it was time to follow in the footsteps of the Indians and scout out the Fort the white men built to suppress them and to protect settlers and fortune seekers.

I discovered a snake infested, arid highland paradise that suffers greatly from the reduction in State Park funding, but can still provide a pleasant diversion from hours of traveling along dull I-5. If you find yourself in one of the notorious traffic jams, or if you are about to hit Santa Clarita arriving from the north, you could easily spend a little time at the Fort, waiting for traffic to die down.

How to get there

Fort Tejon is located in the scenic Grapevine Canyon near Tejon Pass on I-5. When you travel on I-5 between Bakersfield and Santa Clarita, you will clearly see the brown signs announcing the exit. The parking lot is next to the interstate highway.

GPS position

34°52’27.03″N 118°53’38.51″W

How to photograph Fort Tejon SHP

Officer's Quarters

Fort Tejon hosts a large variety of special events, re-enactments, Frontier Days, and other shows. You should try to align your visit with these events. The Fort Tejon Historical Association (link in Resource section below) keeps a complete list of events.

These events breathe excitement into the dull collection of houses with a giant flag and make it worthwhile to come here. The Quartermaster’s shop may be open to demonstrations and re-enactors in authentic costumes will give you a sense of early life in the fort.

If you visit on a regular day, as I did, you will wonder why you bothered to stop, much less pay an entrance fee to see two old houses on a dusty dry field. Most of the other buildings are only foundations and the only buildings I could enter were the Barracks, Officers Quarters and the Jail shed.

Revolvers

The Barracks contain an exhibit of artifacts of 19^th century military life. I photographed the revolvers in a showcase. I made myself as big as possible, to prevent glare from the windows and the white walls in the background. Then I used high ISO and did not use flash to avoid glare on the glass.

Using the two cannons as my foreground and the Officer’s Quarters and mountains in the back, I could produce a couple of decent photographs. While standing underneath the flag, I waited for the wind to pick up. When it finally did, it blew the flag in front of the sun. I quickly leapt into position for the photograph at the beginning of the article. Bouncing around on the dry grass and looking up, made me nervous about the rattlers.

Vista del Lago

Nearby Pyramid Lake is a paradise for recreational boating and the Vista del Lago Visitor center offers good views of the lake. Both are located south of Fort Tejon, each with a separate exit from I-5.

The Visitor Center includes a water museum, with countless interesting facts about water and water management in California. The back porch of the museum provides the best viewpoint of the lake below.

Warning

We visited Fort Tejon on a hot day and immediately noticed the Rattlesnake warning signs posted everywhere. Sure enough, we heard a few of them shake their rear ends at us from a bush and wood stack and we saw a young snake.

Consequently, I tiptoed through the grass in my sandals, on the way to get a better angle on the flag pictures with my eyes fixed to the ground.

Naturally, the wise thing to do is to stay out of harm’s way, which most passionate photographers will find extremely difficult.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Spring is the best season to visit Fort Tejon and Pyramid Lake. You will find California Poppies and other wildflowers in the area that will make a stop much more interesting.

During the winter, heavy snowfall sometimes forces the closure of the pass.

Time required

Unless you come for a special event, you can see the Fort in 30 minutes to one hour.

Equipment

• Zoom Lens
• Image Stabilized Lens for indoor shots
• Polarizing Filter
• Picnic

Fees

The park charges a $5 entrance fee per adult while children enter free.

Special events cost $7 and $3 respectively.

Close Locations

• Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve
• Sepse Condor Sanctuary – Los Padres Mountains
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
• Calico Ghost Town
• Getty Center
• Red Rock Canyon State Park
• Kramer Junction
• Silver City Ghost Town

Useful Resources

Official Park Website

Fort Tejon Historical Association

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Only the advent of affordable transatlantic flights put an end to the dominance of the great ocean liners. The Queen Mary, larger and more powerful than the Titanic, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 1,001 times. During one of these crossings during World War II, she carried American Troops establishing a record of the most people ever carried on a vessel that still stands today.

Impressive size, stateliness, and scenery still characterize this impressive ship, even after its conversion into a Long Beach hotel. You can tour the ship and discover the magic of the great ocean liners, of an area where the wealthy traveled in style.

Allegedly haunted, the ship also offers a variety of ghostly encounters and tours that will let your blood freeze in your veins should you believe in such mumbo jumbo. For the rest of us, the ghostly tours are still first rate entertainment and bugbears.

Ship Ahoy skippers! Step aboard one of the last grandiose ocean liners and preserve the memory in your photographs.

How to get there

Simply take the Long Beach Freeway (710) south from Los Angeles, Highway 5, Highway 405, or Highway 10. Take exit 1A toward Queen Mary and follow the signs to Queen Mary, on Queens Highway.

GPS position

33°45’11.41″N 118°11’25.90″W

How to photograph the RMS Queen Mary

Queen Mary

You can see the Queen Mary from the pier, but the number of possible compositions is very limited, with no good view of the ship. The Foxtrot class submarine and the hotel additions take away from the grand appearance (see image). A better place to photograph the ship is from the long walking pier of the Marina Green Park on the opposite side of bay.

Using a wide-angle lens, I was able to incorporate the moorage of the ship to draw the viewer into the distance, toward the ship. At first glance the submarine is not visible and does not interfere much with the composition. The space between the stones and the line frames the reflection of the ship, with the image opening up toward the top, which also draws our gaze to the ship.

Swimming Pool

You can pick one of several tours. I opted for the self-guided tour, since that gave me the freedom I needed to explore the areas that interested me. This way, I could outwait any potential disturbances. The general admission includes the guided “Ghosts and Legends” tour. The tour is funny, but kept mostly in the dark. It takes you to the indoor pool (above), boiler room and forward section of the ship where you get to witness a simulated crash with water entering the ship (image below).

Simulated Accident

The lighting is very bad in those places. The pool and the water have some light, allowing you to take a couple of shots, but if photography is your main goal and your time is limited, I recommend skipping this part of the tour. In the boiler room, a simulated steam blowout surprised me, bathing my camera in a wet fog.

Engine Room Steering Wheel

Walking toward the rear of the boat, you can pick up the audio tour. However you have to surrender your ID as collateral. I usually just skip the audio tour in favor of more freedom to explore. The rear lower decks include the propeller box, anchor and engine room. In the rear part, above the engine room, we found this steering wheel hidden behind a panel of instruments. The lighting in this area of the ship requires a very high ISO setting. Avoid flash whenever you can. It produces unsightly reflections off the brass and it produces flat unnatural looks.

Ship Propellor

The propeller box is an attachment to the ship, just above the waterline, to view one of the ships massive propellers. The lights and the blue/green tint of the water produce a surreal look, causing people who enter the room to gasp. I chose to include the waterline and some of the ship above the water, to give a better perspective.

Queen Mary Bridge

The bridge of this powerful vessel is yet another fun area to explore. Countless dials and levers in brass housing, two brass wheels, and the brass audio tubes give this bridge an antique elegance. The beautiful instruments are fun to photograph.

From the starboard (right) docking wing, next to the bridge, you can see downtown Long Beach. Use the small window at the end to frame the distant Villa Riviera or photograph the long row of lifeboats.

Behind the bridge you will be able to catch a glimpse of the officers and captains quarters as well as the wireless room.

Lifeboats

The large ship has many more fascinating areas that you can explore. The Queen’s Saloon on the Promenade Deck offers a glimpse into an unimaginable world of splendor, while the Main Hall (below) could easily be located on a modern cruise liner. Each section of the ship has its own appeal, so make sure you take your time and explore each area. Don’t forget to venture into the hotel area on Deck A. The long corridors are mind boggling and provide another good and often missed photo opportunity.

Main Hall

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Since many attractions of the Queen are indoors, you can come here during any weather. Check the schedule for special events, which may limit access to some areas.

Time required

Two hours are more than enough to photograph most interesting parts of the ship. Add about 45 minutes if you take the Ghosts and Legends tour.

Equipment

• Image stabilized lens
• Wide-angle lens

Fees

Parking fees are $12. If you just came for a quick peek and can manage to leave in less than 30 minutes, you don’t have to pay. Parking for up to 1 hour is $3.

General Admission tickets are $24.95 for adults, $21.95 for seniors and $12.95 for children. This is the most economical way to see the ship. More complete packages and special haunted tours are also available.

Close Locations

• Russian Foxtrot Submarine
• Shoreline Village
• Long Beach
• Point Fermin
• Palos Verdes
• San Pedro
• Point Vicente
• Naples Island and Belmont Shore
• Huntington Beach
• Newport Beach
• Santa Catalina Island
• Crystal Cathedral
• Disneyland
• Downtown Los Angles
• Huntington Library

Useful Resources

Official Website

History of the QM

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Randsburg is an unexpected surprise that will spice up a long day of travel in the desert region. You can find food, ice cream, and shade and most importantly, you can take good photographs while giving your fellow troopers the rest they crave.

Randsburg is hot and dusty like every other western town in this region. The nearby mine and the old but maintained buildings give this city the authenticity that other overhyped places lack so desperately.

If you ever happen to travel on Highway 395 between Ridgecrest and Kramer Junction, you should take a short detour to visit this uniquely fascinating city.

How to get there

From the west (Bakersfield), take Highway 58 east and Highway 14 north in Mojave. Take Redrock Randsburg Road just south of Red Rock Canyon State Park and follow the road for about 21 miles into Randsburg.

From the east (Barstow), take Highway 58 to Kramer Junction. Turn right (north) onto Highway 395. Turn left onto Redrock Randsburg Road after 28.6 miles and follow it into the city.

GPS position

35°22’5.11″N 117°39’22.23″W

How to photograph Randsburg

Randsburg Barber

You can find superb subjects everywhere in Randsburg. Each area has its own appeal, including a large collection of antiques (basically trash) scattered around everywhere. The difficulty will not be to identify worthy subjects but rather making order from chaos and bringing some sense into the cluttered scenes.

If you start your tour on Butte Avenue, close to the main Highway (Redrock Randsburg Rd), you will have a good chance to ease yourself into the mood and feel your way forward from here. I consider this the main area of interest, where you will find the colorful buildings of this article, an old gas pump that looks like it belongs on a postcard from the 1950ies, and the ice cream and restaurant places.

Start by taking some distance shot of the old porches and typical western looking buildings. Line up some hot-shots and show them how fast you can draw your camera. Make them feel the power of your shutter and blast their hats off with your face detection. It is easy to get into the mood of Billy the Kid (or Patt Garrett if that suits you better).

Porch

Soaking up the atmosphere of any place will help you create better photographs. It is easy to step back in time for a while and come out of this frame of mind guns blazing – I mean cameras clicking.

After taking shots at (of) the colorful storefronts walk around and look for more interesting angles. I used my wide-angle lens to give more depth to the porch and use converging lines leading into the distance.

Sweep your viewfinder for distractions. Sometimes we can avoid them by changing our position only slightly. I kept a couple of dirt bikes out of the picture above by shifting my position about a foot. At a place like Randsburg, that sees many tourists and is cluttered all by itself, this becomes a very important skill. Take many pictures and shift your position between each shot to maximize your potential.

Old Truck

Getting low also can enhance the perspective. I took the photograph of the car crouching down and by using a wide-angle lens I enhanced its relative importance in the frame and diminished the background intrusion.

You will find numerous old cars, farming equipment, and fascinating storefronts scattered throughout the city. The mine in the hills may also warrant the effort to check it out, but I feel that the city itself offers better opportunities, especially if you do not want to spend too much time here.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

Randsburg is not your typical sunset / sunrise spot. You will most likely visit this town on your way from somewhere to somewhere. The strong shadows during the day can work to your advantage though, making Randsburg a good location to fill the day.

Avoid the summer which is very hot here.

Avoid Memorial Day and Labor Day when ATV enthusiasts dust and stink up the city with their vehicles in search for a water hole.

Time required

One to two hours is sufficient at this location.

Equipment

• CP filter
• Wide-angle lens
• Zoom lens
• Water
• Polarizing sunglasses

Fees

There is no entrance fee.

Close Locations

• Trona Pinnacles
• Ballarat Ghost Town
• Red Rock Canyon State Park
• Silver City Ghost Town
• Fossil Falls
• Darwin
• Darwin Falls
• Harrisburg Ghost Town
• Skidoo Ghost Town
• Calico Ghost Town
• Kelso Dunes

Useful Resources

Official website

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When a slightly eccentric couple started collecting historic buildings from several counties and put them together into an artificial city within a city, they had no idea that their work would become Bodfish’s number one attraction.

Bodfish?

Bodfish is a small unassuming city near Lake Isabella, at the southern corner of the Sierra Nevada.

Silver City is an arbitrary compilation of buildings from old mining cities, lovingly put together to a new city. Main Street is full of attractive details, antiques, and capably arranged displays of relics, gathered from numerous locations. Some displays, like the inside of the saloon, are excessive but if you pay attention to what you frame, you can create compelling photographs.

The owners claim that the town is haunted. As proof, they offer a collection of photographs, showing orbs, which are actually common artifacts of small camera flash photography in dusty rooms. Visitors can find many spooky looking items and metal objects hung to jingle at the slightest breeze.

A definite fact is that I enjoyed the visit and had a wonderful time photographing this location with its countless antique items.

How to get there

Highway 178 near Lake Isabella

Silver City is located in Bodfish, just south of the city of Lake Isabella.

Take the Elizabeth Norris Road exit from Highway 178. Turn right on Lake Isabella Road and drive for about 0.9 miles.

GPS position

35°35’51.85″N 118°29’28.42″W

How to photograph Silver City

Skull

Due to the overabundance of items, the main challenge is to isolate charming, spooky, or otherwise interesting details from the clutter. The place is not very large. Scenic photography is not the main attraction. Take some time to read the signs or go inside the open buildings. Even though the curators arranged everything artificially, all of the buildings and many of the items are authentic. The buildings appear tiny as if they belong to an amusement park. They are crooked and sometimes look just plain comical. The hotel and the bank, located next to each other, stand out the most.

Use a CP filter for your outdoor shots. This will enhance the brilliant colors of some buildings and help you reduce reflections from windows. Use natural light inside the buildings to preserve the colors. Boost your ISO if necessary and use an image-stabilized lens. Your camera flash usually makes things look flat and dull.

Gallow in Silver City

Isolate your main subject from the clutter. I purposely underexposed the skull image slightly. This preserves the highlights better, while some of the other items around the skull vanish in darkness. I used the widest aperture to reduce depth of field in the picture of the rope, which helps to isolate it from the busy background. Other techniques for isolating subjects include the spacial distortion of wide-angle lenses, which make the foreground stand out, framing the subject to enhance its visual importance, and using tilt-and-shift lenses or the lensbabies lens.

Would you like to capture a few orbs to scare your fellow travelers or tell ghostly adventure stories at home?

All you need is a small camera, with the flash as close as possible to the lens. Stir up some dirt in a building and take random pictures of things, with the dirt flying around. For a detailed explanation, simply follow the wiki link below. Maybe the new wave of cell phones with flash will refuel our interest in ghost stories.

Even without ghosts, this little place is an exceptional deal and always worth the quick detour from CA-178.

Stream near Highway 178

CA-178 follows a small canyon, west of Lake Isabella. It has a number of scenic pullouts that overlook the river and the canyon. Late afternoon light can be exceptional, especially during the summer and fall.

Lake Isabella itself is very popular with weekend boaters and water-sport enthusiasts. I have not found many good photography options around the lake, but I suspect that late spring to early summer can offer decent wildflower displays. Some purple flowers still graced the canyon walls during my last summer run (image in “How to get here” section).

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

In summer, Silver City opens daily from 10am to 4pm. From November 1^st to April 1^st, the site opens only on weekends from 10am to 4pm.

The lower angel of the winter sun makes this my preferred time to visit locations with very restricted hours.

Time required

You need about 1 – 2 hours here. The site is very small, but many opportunities are waiting for you.

Equipment

• Zoom Lens
• Image Stabilization
• External Flash

Fees

Admission cost is $4 per person, $3 for children 12 and younger, and free for children 5 years or younger.

Close Locations

• Red Rock Canyon State Park
• Trona Pinnacles
• Alabama Hills
• Randsburg Ghost Town
• Darwin
• Darwin Falls
• Ballarat Ghost Town
• Harrisburg Ghost Town
• Skidoo Ghost Town
• Calico Ghost Town
• Sequoia National Forest
• Fort Tejon SHP
• California Poppy Reserve
• Kern County Oilfields

Useful Resources

Silver City

How to shoot orbs (wikipedia)

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