I recently acquired a 600mm lens which I plan to use with 1.4x teleconverter often, probably for birds much of the time I suspect, and have been out practicing with it. The combination is too lon...
While cruising around South Australia and Kangaroo Island , we stopped at a couple jetties. I think of a jetty as a breakwater formed of large bolders or rocks, but in Australia a jetty can be a ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/finding-leafy-sea-dragons-at-rapid-bay-jetty-south-australia.html
For many years I photographed wildlife on Point La Jolla, usually at sunrise. I’m referring to the flat tabletop reef below the walkway to the west of La Jolla Cove. That was a prime ocean en...
The Pelicans in La Jolla were fantastic in December and early January but have been spotty for me since. One reason is that the wave action died down. Large waves make for great seabird photogra...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/la-jolla-pelicans-in-late-january-early-february.html
The Hite Crossing Bridge lies in the spectacular middle of nowhere, spanning the Colorado River in southern Utah near the north end of Lake Powell. It is the only crossing of the Colorado River o...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/hite-cross-bridge-over-the-colorado-river-utah.html
Late January and early February is an ideal time to see Brandt’s Cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus ) practicing their courtship behaviors and building nests in preparation for egg laying i...
The first two weeks of 2024 have been great as far as photographing wildlife in La Jolla is concerned. Many mornings the weather has been typically “winter perfect” (shorts and hoodie) and we...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/favorite-cluttered-brown-pelican-images.html
I’ve been waiting and watching for weeks for the California sea lions at La Jolla Cove to begin bodysurfing. It’s usually a winter behavior. I’ve seen small bouts of surfing from them re...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/california-sea-lions-bodysurfing-at-la-jolla-cove.html
Each year I make several outings to shoot San Diego’s beautiful skyline over San Diego Bay , from several of my favorite vantage points. I often license these images for real estate and convent...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/new-sunrise-photographs-of-san-diegos-city-skyline.html
We had huge waves recently, which I have photographed in La Jolla a number of times. I wanted to shoot something different this time, not just a big wave lurching over Point La Jolla. So I shot a...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/silky-waves-break-over-point-la-jolla.html
Our long run of perfect weather mornings changed, and my string of uninterrupted days photographing in La Jolla came to an end, in mid-December around Christmas. Still, I enjoyed several nice m...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/la-jolla-seabirds-in-late-december.html
The Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach , a bit north of San Diego proper, is a beautiful old wooden pier. Originally built in 1927 and once called “Pickering’s Pleasure Pier”, the Crystal Pier...
Here are my thoughts and recommendations for photographing California brown pelicans in La Jolla. If you like these photos, you can also see lots more blog posts from past sessions photographing ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/photographing-pelicans-at-the-la-jolla-cliffs.html
2023 brought a trip to dive the coast of South Australia , a little diving at the West End of Catalina and Farnsworth Banks , a few days diving around San Diego and a lot of diving among sea lion...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/natural-history-photography-best-photos-of-2023.html
La Jolla Cove experienced big surf December 29, 2023. Indeed, all of San Diego was getting giant waves for the entire weekend. I was out photographing several times, and the best waves I saw were...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/la-jolla-cove-big-surf-december-29-2023.html
Has Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge jumped the shark ? I fear that it may have. The bird photography at Bosque Del Apache NWR can be sensational from dawn to dusk, but the last coupl...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/has-bosque-del-apache-national-wildlife-refuge-jumped-the-shark.html
The Lilac-Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus ) is my favorite bird in Kenya. It is not rare, although it is typically found in trees and large shrubs so if the area you are in is treeless you pr...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/lilac-breasted-roller-coracias-caudatus-kenya.html
I photographed in La Jolla many mornings in late November and early December. One of my projects involves California sea lions but, while there have been many on the point, they were not exhibit...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/brown-pelicans-in-la-jolla-november-into-december.html
As I try to do every year, I did some diving at the Coronado Islands in October and November to watch California sea lions (Zalophus californianus ). Islas Coronado lie just south of the US bor...
Each December, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Research Pier is adorned with holiday Christmas lights and a tree at the end of the pier. It’s a beautiful display. For about as long as ...
I saw my first breeding California brown pelican of this winter’s season yesterday. November is sort of on the early side for them. Many will be in winter colors at this time but won’t have ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/california-brown-pelican-breeding-plumage-study.html
I switched to a Sony Alpha One for my topside photography in May 2023. After shooting about 50,000 frames through it in Kenya and locally, I have thoughts. African elephant herd crossing dry...
We recently had an episode of Santa Ana winds, warm dry offshores that often glass off the ocean and bring skies clear of any clouds. I almost always go out to photograph at sunrise when Santa ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/november-waves-and-wind-pelicans-and-sea-lions.html
Peregrin falcons (Falco peregrinus ) have nested on the sheer cliffs overlooking the ocean at Torrey Pines State Reserve for years. This past spring I made a few visits to try to photograph the...
Giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas ) are an enormous species of wreckfish (not a true bass) found in the kelp forests of California. Once known as “jewfish” and later as “black sea bass”,...
I recently joined friends for a 10-day dive trip on the M/V Rodney Fox in South Australia organized by Richard Salas. Richard organizes great trips and this one was no exception; we had a lot o...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/south-australia-marine-life-sampler.html
I made an effort to photograph Pacific harbor seal pups (Phoca vitulina richardsi ) this past winter after a long absence and managed to create a few new images I am happy with. I photographed th...
My long-term project to photograph California Sea Lions bodysurfing in La Jolla continued this past winter and was a lot of fun. We had quite a few mornings of great action, some of the best I ha...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/california-sea-lions-bodysurfing-boomer-beach-in-la-jolla.html
2022 was a bit more normal than the previous two years in the sense that we were able to travel more and I was able to produce a handful of satisfying images. The little diving I did included ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/natural-history-photography-best-photos-of-2022.html
I’m shooting the La Jolla pelicans often this winter; see recent blog posts about La Jolla Pelicans as well as a gallery of my favorite brown pelican photos . In November I decided to spend ...
https://www.oceanlight.com/log/the-best-la-jolla-brown-pelican-winter-season-ever.html