A Quiet Afternoon with an Old Friend Along the Carmel Coast
My oldest and best friend, Terry, made another visit to Pacific Grove recently. On a spectacular February afternoon, we went back to Carmel Meadows Trail, a place we first visited when he helped me move to the area. We did not hike far after finding a bench with the view you see above. The view was just stunning, and we both just enjoyed some quiet contemplation time as the fog rolled in below the setting sun. Just one of the many, amazing, and totally free places along the Monterey coast one can enjoy an afternoon unlike anywhere else in the world.
Sometimes I get ideas in my head of a photo I would like to make before I even walk out the door. On this recent Saturday evening, as January 2026 was about to conclude, I also still needed a photo made in January to include in my future January 2027 Pacific Grove Fine Art Photo Calendar. I had an idea of getting a photo of Lover’s Point Park near sunset time from the west of it, and using my Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master telephoto lens for a certain perspective and compressed view of the park. Well, where is that photo in this blog post? The light was not what I expected, for one, so the photo I went out looking to make was only so-so. However, I stumbled upon the Winter Moon rising so turned my focus onto getting images of that. Since my 70-200mm lens is not a super long telephoto lens, and thus I could not fill the frame with a photo of the moon itself, I decided to add out of focus foreground elements to some of the photos, and then add foreground and background layers to others. A boat even cooperated and cruised by for a photo too!
Finally seeing the monarch butterflies in Pacific Grove in their sanctuary
One of the symbols of the town of Pacific Grove, California is the monarch butterfly. I lived here over two years, with never seeing one so I was long wondering, how can it be the symbol but yet I have never seen a single one?? Well, I learned they only go to a very specific area, a sanctuary, and it is not in an area I regularly pass by nor can you see from any main thoroughfare. So I finally took my camera to this monarch butterfly sanctuary, and once again, my expectations were really different than reality! There were no clusters of butterflies, they were not flying right by people’s eyes, there were a scattered few, and they were high up in flowering tree branches. I brought my preferred lens for photographing insects, a Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens, which was not nearly long enough to get photos of the butterflies without a lot of cropping in to get the photos you see here. Luckily my Sony a7R V camera has the resolution to allow for that. So I recommend if you are going to photograph the butterflies, bring at least a 200mm lens, and be prepared to look up, maybe even high up, to see them! At least now I know what to expect and can be better prepared to photograph them next year.
October Moonscape Like a Movie Set At Asilomar Beach Pacific Grove
When I started walking Asilomar Beach with my camera one evening in October in albeit fading daylight, but daylight still, I did not know I would end up getting photos of the moon with fog rolling in that to me, even seeing it as soon as I made the photo, look like a Universal Pictures 1930s movie set still frame. When I look at this photo I expect to see the silhouette of the Wolf Man slink across it! Having unusual weather and foreground elements help get unique photos of the moon, that can otherwise all look the same.
Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon Like an Autumn Mirror
This was my second time in the area of Klamath Falls for long time land real estate client Hemingway Land Company. This trip to photograph four land properties brought me to the Upper Klamath Lake area by the small town of Chiloquin. Right after I finished the 7.5 hour drive from Pacific Grove, California to Chiloquin, I checked into my hotel room, dropped off my bags, and headed right to the first property which was a stone’s throw from the lake. The client also wanted drone video and photos of the lake itself, so I went just a bit south of the property to Henzel Park where the sun was reflecting off the surface of the lake like a giant mirror. It was a stunning scene, that I had all to myself! If you can believe it, no one else was at this park seeing this incredible view. I am glad to share the drone video, drone photos, and still photos of this special sunset from this special place in Oregon.
I like to wonder if sea lions are comfortable in their rocky resting spots
Around this time of year the sea lions of Monterey take over a beach, or a rocky shore right along the Monterey Bay Recreational Trail so you can get very close to them. These sea lions were out on some rocks near a hotel just lounging around. It always makes me really wonder how can they be comfortable on rocks, and are they really comfortable? They must be though, as there are other places besides rocks! Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder, are these sea lions really comfortable?? What do you think?
Capturing Dreamscape Ocean Photos with a ND Filter in Pacific Grove California
What is a neutral density (ND) filter and why am I so excited to finally own one?? Well, it is a piece of glass that screws onto the front of a camera lens that is like a very, very dark pair of sunglasses. The ND filter greatly restricts how much light comes through the lens, onto the camera sensor. Using typical daylight or twilight camera shooting settings, the ND filter would result in just a black rectangle, totally underexposed! However, this then allows the photographer to keep the shutter open for a long time, for a long exposure photo which means, the moving ocean water becomes like cotton candy. Clouds get spread out across the sky. That is how I was able to make these photos you see here, by leaving the shutter open for 30 seconds. Without the ND filter on, the photos would just be white rectangles, totally overexposed. So I call these types of photos not merely landscape photography, but I think more descriptively, dreamscape photography. Then again, I am a daydreamer!
