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!
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.
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!
Sassy seagull poses for my camera in Pacific Grove California
I would not normally photograph a seagull. I do not often photograph birds in general as I only have a 70-200mm lens, which is great for my commercial photography work, but not exactly the lens you would use if you are into bird photography. However, this seagull was not far from me, and seemed to be wanting me to make its photograph, so I did! Thank you for the sassy head turn seagull!
There are often weather alerts for “sneaker waves” for the Monterey Bay coast where I live. Pacific Grove is a quiet small town, right on the coast that is often full of drama. Such was the case on a recent afternoon, so I took my camera with 70-200mm lens (medium telephoto) to see what wave splashes I could capture. When I took the above shot, about 100 shots into the time I was shooting, I knew immediately it was the shot I had been looking for, and that was even before I noticed the birds in it, which just added to the shot. I took a few more photos after that, but I knew I had gotten what I envisioned before even leaving the house. This is something very satisfying and recommended for any photographer, envision what photo you want to get before going out, and then when you get it, you will know.
