Category Archives: Photography
Early Saturday morning my Dad and I left for Morro Bay for his vacation and birthday. I believe he had a great time, but I think he would have enjoyed it more if he didn’t currently have a back injury. We did do a considerable amount of activities while we were there and he pushed through a lot of the pain. During our trip we visited Morro Rock, Elephant Seals, Ragged Point, Hearst Castle, Natural History Museum, Hiked Montaña de Oro to the tide pools, hike in Monterey County and even walked Embarcadero.
I’ve been to Morro Bay several times now and they have this post card labeled “Morro Bay at Night” and it just printed completely black. I decided to do my own version of this called “Embarcadero at Night.” This image was taken off of the balcony in our room, and the black and white makes this image sale.
The first night, I completely missed the sunset. I walked across the street a half-hour before sunset to watch the lighting and wait for the tones that I wanted. For the duration before and after sunset I continued to shoot the scene, but the lighting wasn’t what I wanted. It was being obstructed by the heavy clouds that day. Not to mention that the winds were strong and it made for a very cold night. The second night, I did happen to score some sunset images. I spent a lot of time during this trip photographing at sunset and at night, because it is an area that I want to improve in.
Have you ever tried to photograph wild birds at night? It’s difficult, but I got lucky and I found a seagull resting on a dock post with amazing light behind him. I walked right on him and setup my tripod, dialed in some settings, composed and took the shot. While taking this and several other shots, the people in the restaurant were watching my every move. I can hear their thoughts, “please don’t turn around and take our picture. Please oh please don’t.”
“Sally sells seashells by the seashore.” My dad pushed through a considerable amount of pain to make it down to the tide pools at Montaña de Oro State Park to hold some starfish. Unfortunately there wasn’t any. I looked through every tide pool in hopes to find one so that the trip wasn’t a complete waste. I didn’t find anything except for hundreds of hermit crabs and some sea urchins. We did find some shells though. I have no idea what type of marine life these shells are from.
When we started hiking Montaña de Oro is was crystal clear outside, but it quickly turned when we started to head back to our car. The fog outside became so thick that we couldn’t no longer see the car, nor could you see the water from the edge of the cliff. It was amazing how quickly it rolled in. It did make for some interesting images later that evening.
That fog eventually worked its way into Morro Bay which is stayed through the entire night. The fog did allow me to capture some illusion photography as well as make some pretty awesome backdrops for some images. The first image is one of Morro Rock which represents an illusion. The first reaction that I got and that others got from the image is that it looks like I was on a plane or a helicopter passing by Morro Rock. In fact, it was taken off of the balcony in our room using a 70-200mm zoom lens.
This next image is of the harbor and bay. I don’t know why I like this image, but I do. Our hotel is hidden among the fog
One of my favorite images. While we were walking Embarcadero I wanted to go down to some of the docks. We came to the USCG and I wanted to check out some of their boats. Also at this dock is where the fishermen pick up their bait and the next thing we notice is that a harbor seal is yelling up a storm. Interested we decided to hang around a while and wait for him to come out. While waiting, one of the fisherman was done loading bait and started to head out into the bay. Intrigued by the lighting in the water I was thinking, I hope he comes this way. It started to head the way I wanted him to go and I found an opening on the dock. I composed my shot and I waited for the right moment then bam! I took the image and got what I wanted. Come to find out, the opening I was taking the images from was his docking spot. It was cool watching his vessel head directly towards me.
With all the fog lingering around it still didn’t stop me from taking a sunset shot. During sunset the fog looked like a huge wave, as tall as Morro Rock, heading directly towards Morro Bay. It was very interesting and the light was so amazing that I could not pass up the opportunity.
Last but not least, we have our friends. We went though three bags of peanuts feeding the squirrels. They are very gentle in taking food from you and some of them will even sit on your lap and eat. Make sure to always thoroughly wash your hands before touching your mouth, eyes and eating after feeding any form of wild animals. Remember wild animals carry diseases.
I know of many photographers that will never see a project again after they have completed it. I am different. Several times throughout the year I will revisit all the images that I have taken since I started photography. I like to see how far I have come since I started photography as well as see how my style and decision makings have changed over time. When I started photography, I had no idea which images I should keep for further processing and which I should completely disregard, so I would only keep whatever image was easier to process due to my lack of processing skills. Today things are different, so I revisit past projects and I am always finding another image to process or reprocess using the new techniques that I have learned over time. Today was one of those days and I have some new images to share with you.
I took one of my most selling images and gave it an entirely new feel and meaning, and from the feedback it’s a sure winner.
(See Original Image: http://blog.charlesshowalter.com/2010/11/29/morro-bay-california-2/)
The next set of images are newly processed, never before seen images from me. These images were taken back in May, 2010 at Nikki Evans Mock Wedding Workshop. (Details: http://blog.charlesshowalter.com/2010/05/23/mock-wedding/)
Well not exactly, but I will be early Saturday morning. I have blogged about Morro Bay before in previous posts, but I really never explained to much about it. As you can guess Morro Bay is a bay, no kidding right?! Morro Bay is located on the 1-Fwy which is a known freeway for its spectacular views of oceans, rocks and mountains. Morro Bay is located in between San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle. Morro Bay offers plenty of things to do for the entire family. In Morro Bay itself you can find pretty much everything to do on Embarcadero. On Embarcadero you will find fishing, kayaking, canoeing, whale watching tours, harbor tours, otter sightings, golfing, beaches, shopping, playgrounds, museums, art exhibits, and hiking if you are feeling adventurous.
There are other activities that are within an hour driving distance that from the heart of Morro Bay. Museum of Natural History is only a couples minutes off of Embarcadero located through the golf course. You will also find that the Estuary isn’t far from the golf course as well as Montana De Oro State Park. Montana De Oro State Park has a beach, picnic tables, hiking, site seeing and tide pools were you can pick up starfish (Please educate everyone in your party about proper handling). Heading North back on the 1-Fwy you will find a small town called “Cambria.” I highly recommend everyone to stop there and eat at the Main Street Grill if you love smoked food; but make sure to bring cash because its all they except. Then continuing up north you will run into Hearst Castle which offers some amazing tours and make you wish you had an indoor pool like they do. Still continuing north you will run into an elephant seal reserve and during breeding season you can see thousands and thousands of them (I do have an image in an earlier post). Last, but not least on the north 1-Fwy you will run into Ragged Point Inn. Ragged Point Inn has some spectacular views, walking path and does have hiking. The hiking at Ragged Point Inn is at your own risk and I would rate the trail as high.
As you can see, it offers plenty of things to choose from. If you are like me, the fresh, clean oceanic air and views will make you a visitor for life, especially if you are into photography and wildlife.
Morro Rock & Harbor
