It’s been the longest time since I uploaded a new photograph online, ever since I started shooting back in 2007. I’ve blogged about the slump in one of my earlier posts.

Either way, it’s great to be shooting again. This was taken last Sunday as the new spring storm was arriving to the West Coast. It’s been wet since then. While not a new composition for me, I wanted to shoot a B&W version from here, with these heavy clouds and an opening right over these rocks.

Davenport, California

Another shot from one February sunset on the coast.

There’s something about standing there in the water while taking shots like this that make them more personal – at least for me.

How about a color photograph for a change?

Last Saturday was another unusually warm day for this time of the year in Northern California. The temperature was close to 80 degrees. What’s even better we had some beautiful high clouds hanging over the area.

With not much to do, we heeaded over to the nearby Davenport beach to Laguna Creek Beach. The reason I headed there was simple – I had my family with me. My kiddos can’t hike too steep trails, and I picked a simple one.

Joshua Cripps was shooting not far from here, but he said there was a crowd of photographers around him. No one but a couple of teenagers creating a fire was over here.

As the fire in the sky started and everything around me was transformed by that beautiful sky, I was struggling finding a composition I liked. I may have a shot I’ll share later. So I quickly turned to my little fam who were having a grand time running and dancing around and just taking it all in. In a way I was almost jealous – sometimes photography takes over and we forget why we even do it.

Also, sometimes when we add people into the landscape, especially those who matter the most to us, the photograph takes a whole new meaning.

Technical Info -
Nikon D300
1/10 sec, f/16, 12mm
Lee ND 0.9+0.6

I am finally getting around the images I took in the last couple of months. This one is from an outing to my favorite Big Sur spot, Garrapata Beach, with Jim Patterson and Josh Cripps.

This was one of the first winter storms that came into the area. I think we caught the tail end of it. It was a nice gesture by nature, seeing how it rained for days before that, and I was also working really late hours for few weeks in a row.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

The trouble with getting up early for a sunrise here in Northern California, is that it’s much harder to predict the outcome. We learned that lesson once again this morning.

After seeing beautiful red sunset in LAX last night as I was travelling back home, and hearing that my buddy Jim Patterson saw the same show in Santa Cruz, we decided to get up early for sunrise. Brave and always cheerful Kendra joined us. Not too shocking, but as it always happens, there was hardly any color this morning. With hot days, the fog still covers the shore overnight. Nonetheless, after good chat over coffee and hot chocolate, we drove over to one of the spots Jim knows. It’s not ideal for either sunrise or sunset due to the angle of these rocks, but suitable for B&W.

Nice thing about 6am on Saturday – no other photographers around.

Earlier this morning I had a chance to play with my new 10-stop ND filter “Big Stopper” from Lee. I finally got it in the mail after ordering it almost four months ago. So far I’m impressed. I’ll play more with it this weekend, and will leave a more detailed review later.

This photograph is a 10-minute exposure.

This is another shot from an outing with Patrick Smith to the Big Sur where we witnessed what probably was the best light of the season. The color was changing every minute in different parts of the sky and we had to be aware of what was going by taking our eyes off the viewfinder.

You can see Patrick’s shots from that outing here.

Nikon D300
42mm, f/16, 1/20 sec, ISO100
ND Grad 0.9+0.6

When I was in my junior year of college, I had to pick a location where I wanted to work and live following my graduation. I wasn’t going back to Moscow where I grew up, as I decided to stay in the States for a while. I did not want to live where winters are cold either after couple of decades of Russian winters and few more in Utah. But growing up, I was always fascinated with seas and oceans. There is something about the mystery of it and the scale of things that always drew me to it. No wonder I ended up here in Northern California because winters here are now my favorite time of the year.

It’s no wonder that the ocean is now one of my favorite subjects to photograph. I think it’s important that we photograph what we love, otherwise why even bother spending time and money on photography?

Nikon D300
24mm, 1/8 sec, f/16, ISO 100
Lee ND 0.6 + 0.9

I still have a few more photos left to post from the previous outings to the Big Sur in the past few weeks, so here is another one.

I have a feeling that our winter is now over and we’re slowly entering a period of boredom when weeks pass by without a cloud in the sky. To make matters worse, I’ve been extremely busy with a lot of other developments in life, and have not shot as many photos as I would have liked. But there is a time and season for all things, right?

I think I managed to dodge this wave, unlike many others.

That sand, by the way, is my favorite kind of sand of all kinds I have seen in life. It’s warm, soft and clean and extends for miles on this stretch of the Pacific Coast. It’s one of 145 things I love about Northern California.

Nikon D300
14mm, 1/13 sec, f/16, ISO200
ND Grad 0.9

And yet another photo from the Garrapata Beach. Do you think I like this beach?

Before the winter began I set a goal to build a winter set from a spot or several spots around the Big Sur area. It just happened that this place turned out to be Garrapata Beach, a place I visited several times in the last few weeks. I also chose to make it color, because I want the photos to stand together in a set. I may have a few more to upload in the coming weeks, but I think I’m getting ready to shoot something else.

There is something to be said, however, about becoming familiar with the subject. After I visited this place several times in different weather conditions after different tides, I feel that my images from there are becoming more personal, and as I continue building that set, it is capturing the character of the subject better than one photo ever would.

Working in projects also provides structure and motivation.

You can see other images in the set here.

Nikon D300
15mm, 1 sec, f/16, ISO100
ND Grad 0.9 (I think..)