La Jolla

Sea Lions of La Jolla California

Sea Lions of La Jolla California

Quality time with sea lions

Instantly the highlight of my trip to San Diego, California became a quick drive up the coast to La Jolla to spend time with all the sea lions there. I have only seen seals from distance in Monterey before. I heard in La Jolla you can get much closer, and that certainly was true! Most of these photos were made with just a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 lens on a Nikon D7200. That’s only 300mm of effective focal length and I was able to get shots as up close as these.

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Cormorant of La Jolla California bird photography

Cormorant of La Jolla California bird photography

Get the background and the bird right

In La Jolla, California I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to do bird photography. I knew there would be a chance for seal photos, but having birds also was great. I miss the bird photography I could do almost anywhere in Florida. Check out this anhinga for example. What makes a good bird photograph (or any photograph) assuming you have a good looking bird as the subject? Then for a bird photo to stand out it is a matter of having good light (it was only so-so in this shot) and having a good background. The latter made up for the former in the above shot with the creamy bokeh created by my Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 lens. The blue in the bokeh is the Pacific Ocean.

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