Some times you get lucky

I've been wanting this shot for a long time now and today I got lucky. I was in a bit of a fog this morning when I picked my friend Jim up for a day of shooting. We left San Francisco just a bit past 6AM. Houses were dark as we past, traffic was light and the air was crisp. We drove straight up to Mt Tam to check out a spot for the sunrise. Jim got the sunrise shot while I became completely entranced by all of the moss and lichen on the rocks that look as if they have been randomly dropped in place along the mountain side.

Once we finished on Mt Tam we headed straight down to Moss Landing. We had intended to rent a canoe and head out into the slough. We were a little bit side tracked by a group of ruddy ducks and buffle heads that were feeding right near the beginning of the slough. By the time we actually got to the kayak rental operator it was well past 2 PM. We had our safety training, attached a set of stabilizers to the canoe, loaded up the gear and ventured out into the slough. We made pretty good time and decided we could venture up the channel for a bit. That's where we found three separate mom and pups. The low canoe allowed me to get this eye level shot of one of those mom's with her pup. I can't wait to go back and try for more.

Thanks so much Jim! It was a great day!

Wonderful Sunday

I spent the day co-leading a workshop in one of my favorite California shooting locations, Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing with my friend Jim Goldstein. We kept our group small so that everyone had room to spread out and swing their longs lenses on the pontoon boat. Captain Yohn maneuvered us into just the right position for all of our shots and cut the engine often to keep the motor vibrations from affecting our images.

We were extremely fortunate to have a light layer of fog which lifted just enough to create a giant soft box effect. The lack of harsh shadows made it easy to get detail in even the darkest subjects like the Brandt's Cormorant. I love their deep blue eyes.

We were mainly after Sea Otters but I kept being distracted by the abundant birds. There is a large Elegant Tern colony on the end of the rock jetty and we practiced our flight shots with great glee. Three hours on the water passed by in a heart beat and before I knew it, I had several full memory cards and it was time to head home back to shore.

We'll be heading out there again for another workshop this winter with the hopes of capturing some newly born Sea Otter pups. There were a lot of amorous otters around so we are hoping for lots of young this year. Maybe you can join us!

Sea Food Lovers

Took a quick trip down to Moss Landing with my friend Jim this past Wednesday. We rented a boat and went in search of Sea Otters. We didn't have to look for very long at all, barely out of the marina and we were surrounded by adorable fuzzy faces.

I'm looking forward to going back earlier in the morning for better light on these guys. Before I can do that I am in Moab, Utah on a photo shoot. Sea to desert in three days. =)