I hadn't shot the OB Pier in a while. This particular sunset was one that featured a low tide. The tide exposed some tide pools I'd never noticed, so I went over and took lots of shots from different angles.

The seagulls were cooperating very nicely by not moving for my HDR shot. I bracketed 3 shots in the camera at -2, 0, +2, then combined them in Photomatix Pro. Looking North on a clear day provided a fun shot.


Next, I moved to the North side of the pier as the sun was setting. Since there were no clouds, the sun was pretty harsh. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get any lens flare so I waited patiently for the sun to set lower on the horizon. The OB pier is a really long pier that forks out at the end. I used my Canon 17-40L at 17mm on my 5D Mark 11... same HDR settings as before. All in all, it was a fun night with lots of cool angles....another beautiful night in San Diego!

Catalina Mini Get Away

The holidays were very relaxing this year. Although the weather was a bit cold, there were still a few photo opps to be had. As a storm approached, I caught this shot at the San Luis Rey river mouth in Oceanside. The wind was howling and the sky was nice. I almost didn't go out thinking it would be too cold. Well....I'm glad I didn't let a little cold slow me down. The scene was totally worth bundling up a bit.




The close of my holiday vacation provided a last minute opportunity to visit Catalina Island. It is the "off season" there and my wife and I almost had the whole Island to ourselves. I woke up early Monday morning to catch the sunrise. The sky wasn't that great in the morning, but as the clouds rolled in, the afternoon session got better. I wanted to get a shot of Avalon bay from one of the mountain tops so we rented a golf cart and cruised up to the top lookouts over the harbor. If you ever get a chance to visit Catalina Island, make sure you rent a golf cart for a couple of hours. We were able to get ours for 1/2 price which was a bonus. Here's one of the lookout shots to Avalon harbor.