This is something I have wanted to shoot for a long time.. A lighthouse on the Pacific Ocean.. Unfortunately I have never really found one near me that I wanted to shoot. Then the other day while looking for new locations on 500px I found a image of Point Vicente and instantly knew I had to go. I went out tonight to scout the location and shoot some video for a upcoming project not really expecting to get any great shots.. It was extremely windy which.. kicked up a haze and also cleared the skies. As the sun set the haze lit up so beautifully and a few planets were already visible. I decided to tuff it out in the wind and stay for some night shots. To my surprise there were a lot more stars then I thought. So I captured a few shot of the Stars, a few shot of the Beacon, and packed up my gear and headed home. I knew driving home what I wanted to do. I combined the stars, the beacon, and the sunset image to get this composition. I hope you enjoy this unexpected release, Vicente's Lantern

Morro Bay is a calming place to be. The Stunning coastline, The green rolling hills, and the vast grass plains make this an ideal place to just reset. Just north of Morro Bay is the town of Cayucas home to the best fish tacos in the world (supposedly.. I wasnt really impressed). I had heard about this pier after doing some scouting research. So I made the trek up north with my traveling companion and Penny to check it out. I setup my Nikon D810 and 14-24mm along with the Progrey 10 stop. I hooked up the CamCommander and then stood back playing with Penny waiting for the light to be right. As the sun was getting low Morro bay was shadowed in the distance and I was able to capture a series of long exposures. Only light editing was done as the view was pretty nice all on its own. I Hope you enjoy this release of The Shadows of Morro.

It was a beautiful evening in Newport Beach. After far to many weeks of blue skies I didn't want to miss my chance at a sunset. I had never shot Newport Beach Pier so Penny and I headed out to try our luck. The reasoning behind the title is that without hurricane Paine to our south this would have been another blah sunset. But with the storm thankfully pushing the clouds our way the setup was perfect for a beautiful sunset. I hope you enjoy.. No Paine No Gain.

After dropping a friend off down in Laguna Beach Penny and I decided to take a trip down to the tower on Victoria beach for sunset.. Some how I was not thinking about the high wind and surf advisory for the area. The bouey data had the waves at 13 feet and let me tell you.. it was right. A set of 4 waves came in just after setting up my gear hitting me about chest height. Luckily my tripod and camera remained planted over the culvert wall. The sand had been completely washed out revealing the rough reef that the tower is sunk into. After capturing only 5 shots and deciding that it was no longer safe to be there. One woman got knocked off a rock she was standing on and was tumbled into the back wall.. Penny ran for high ground and we luckily all made it out unharmed. I have been coming to the tower for a while now. A great shot has so far evaded my capture so I was happy when I came home and found a nice set of images from my harrowing experience at the tower. I hope you enjoy this capture of Victoria's Tower.

Headed down to Balboa Pier to get a shot I have been wanting for a while.. The tide was low which allowed me to get farther into the pier. The beach at Balboa is really steep so it can force you really far back at times. The sky's were looking good so I setup under the pier and fought the constant onslaught of portrait photographers that seemed to want to stand right in front of my camera. I setup my Nikon 14-24mm with the Progrey 10 stop and 0.6 grad on the horizontal to knock down some of the sun on the right of the frame. I shot 2 horizontal frames to create the field of view I was after.

This was Last Nights epic sunset under Scripps Pier. Every 6 months you get a 2-3 day window to capture the sun as it sets and moves between the last two pillars of this pier. Unfortunately the winter sets are almost always cloud covered and it makes this almost a once a year event. We were there the night before and the cloud cover was to heavy to get the shot I wanted so we headed back down last night. The weather Gods found favor in our small group of photographers and kept the horizon clear with a nice layered cloud deck just above the pier. Right as the event started a wave came in and sunk the one side of my tripod. I frantically readjusted it and was able to get the shot. You only have about 15 seconds to get the sun right in the middle as it moves very quickly across the window. This is a combination of 2 shots. a 6 minute long exposure just before the sun creeped in and a 30 second exposure when the sun was dead in the middle. I was using a Formatt-Hitech 10 stop filter for both shots

My father and I grabbed Penny (The Dog) and headed down to Oceanside Beach. The Tide was so strange as it was a low tide and a new moon. It was like being at a lakeside with the occasional boat wake. The water was so still and clear. you could see the sea-life and rocks clearly beneath the surface. Penny (my dog) had a great time romping around in the water and playing in the sand with a stick she found. I setup my Camera, Filters, and Remote and took penny down to the water and ran a set of 7 minute exposures. I didn't expect much out of this sunset as the clouds were seemingly pretty thick. But it didn't disappoint and I was able to capture a surprising light show.

Went down to Scripps pier because the clouds were looking great, But the weather rolled in and brought with it the marine layer. Luckily it wasn't to thick and still gave us a nice soft glow. The sand erosion has revealed some nice rocks on the beach and was the perfect foreground for this moody shot. I used my Progrey 10 stop and 0.6 graduated filter for this 5 minute exposure.

It was a beautiful evening in Newport Beach. After far to many weeks of blue skies I didn't want to miss my chance at a sunset. I had never shot Newport Beach Pier so Penny and I headed out to try our luck. The reasoning behind the title is that without hurricane Paine to our south this would have been another blah sunset. But with the storm thankfully pushing the clouds our way the setup was perfect for a beautiful sunset. I hope you enjoy.. No Paine No Gain.

This is a Sunrise shot of a misty morning in Morro Bay. The sun was just starting to burn off the marine layer and brought with it a little color. I was up camping in the Bay with a group of people from the local photo club. I setup with my 150mm 10 Stop Progrey Filter and a small rain hood as the sky was dripping on my filter and shot a series of 5 minute exposures. My faithful Pup Penny was running around on the end of the dock but luckily with the long exposure she didn't end up in the shot. I hope you enjoy the image.

Morro Bay is a calming place to be. The Stunning coastline, The green rolling hills, and the vast grass plains make this an ideal place to just reset. Just north of Morro Bay is the town of Cayucas home to the best fish tacos in the world (supposedly.. I wasnt really impressed). I had heard about this pier after doing some scouting research. So I made the trek up north with my traveling companion and Penny to check it out. I setup my Nikon D810 and 14-24mm along with the Progrey 10 stop. I hooked up the CamCommander and then stood back playing with Penny waiting for the light to be right. As the sun was getting low Morro bay was shadowed in the distance and I was able to capture a series of long exposures. Only light editing was done as the view was pretty nice all on its own. I Hope you enjoy this release of The Shadows of Morro.

Headed down to Scripps Pier for a Christmas Sunrise Morning. The Moon was supposed to be aligned in the window but I guess the data was off. The tides were supposed to only be about 5 foot but with he strong winds flowing onshore they were probably around 7 foot and the waves were crashing against the back wall. it forced us up of the beach and onto the wall itself. It was nice to shoot the pier from a different angle and while the moon wasn't in the window it did perform beautifully for us. it ducked behind the clouds for a while then decided to come out in all its glory right before it set. i hope you enjoy this moody Christmas Morning at Scripps Pier.

I had this trip planned for this date when I saw that the Sun was going to be setting right at the end of the pier. I knew I wanted to get that dock into the lake effect while still being the ocean. I chose this pier because of its low sides, wood planks, and relatively short reach. I set up my Progrey 150mm 10 stop ND and 0.6 reverse grad filters and shot 3 minute exposures as well as a shorter exposure to capture the sun. I edited them in DXO Pro Optic and combined them in Photoshop. I hope you enjoy this view of the Crystal Pier.

After a Long busy week and a few not so great sunsets I decided to head up to Huntington Pier. According to the weather and tides it looked like it was going to have the possibility of a great sunset. I met a few friends there and we headed out to the shoreline. The skies did not disappoint. The sun creeped between the pillars of the pier and lit up the sky. The layers of clouds looking like they were on fire set on a background of deep blue skies. I took a series of long exposures, the longest being this image at 6 minutes. It was a beautiful evening with amazing skies, warm water, and good friends. 

This shot was taken in La Jolla, California at Scripps Pier. We went down to shoot the second equinox but it just didn't work out.While setting up, testing my exposure, and waiting for the sun to set I got this amazing shot. I hope you enjoy.

So was sitting at my computer bored. Decided to check out the webcams for a few of the closer piers. Saw that ocean beach looked pretty good so we headed down with Penny to the pier. We got there just in time the sun was about to dip below the deck of the pier and the sky was lighting up. I setup my Camera and Progrey 150mm filter holder and 10 Stop. I captured a 3 minute before the sun went down then this 7 minute exposure right after it set. i composited the sun back in the final shot.. I am adding this to my Dreams collection for my future California Dreams photobook. 

This is my first time shooting San Clemente Pier. My original plan was to shoot under the pier. But as the sun was getting low the clouds were just to good to hide under the pier and I decided on a more traditional side profile. I had been doing 7 min exposures but some rogue waves came in and hit me with some seaweed and moved the tripod. At that point I switched to shorter exposures so I didn't miss this amazing sunset. The reflections and saturation of color in the sand was spectacular and the sky was so beautiful. I hope you enjoy seeing this capture as much as I did taking it.

This was my first time shooting the Imperial Beach Pier. my friend Bodhi Smith and I went down to try to capture what looked like a amazing sunset.  This is the image I was able to capture and after a few months of shooting I finally sat down to process it fully. I had a lot of trouble at first trying to combine my multiple exposures as the sky got really blown out in parts. Thankfully the new HDR engine in lightroom 6 handled it with ease. So here it is.. The Imperial. 

This is my first atempt shooting under the Manhattan beach pier. It is on my list for my California Dreams project so I figured I would go check it out. A friend of mine and former workshop attendee headed down after seeing that the weather was perfect and the low tide was coming in right at sunset. Unfortunately the sun dipped behind a layer of low stratus right at sunset and stopped the clouds from exploding. But I was able to capture this image just as the sun disappeared behind its blanket of clouds.

Twice a year the Sun sets directly between the last pillars of Scripps Pier in La Jolla California.. There were roughly 40 Photographers piled up in a tripod jungle.. Here is what I was able to capture.

Headed down to Oceanside Pier to see how the sunset would turn out. Well sunset itself was pretty blah. But here is a shot I got right before the clouds ran away and the sun dipped behind the strata.

Went to Balboa Pier for the first time in a long time. Met my friend and fellow photographer Bodhi Smith and his faithful dog Dude. down at the beach about an hour before sunset. Dude hasn't been doing so well so we wanted to give him a nice beach trip to raise his spirits. We are not sure how much time Dude has left could be a month could be 5 years but he loves being at the beach with Bodhi. Dude is one of the main reason i ended up wiht my Dog Penny and it will be a sad day for so many people who he has brought joy to when his time comes. We headed out into the deep sand and set up for what at first looked like a blah sunset but was pleasantly surprised as the clouds rolled in just before the sun left us for the evening. I setup my Progrey 150mm 10 stop and 0.9 grad on my Nikon 14-24mm and captured this image just before the Sun set.

This was my first time shooting the Oceanside Pier. I wanted to catch the amazing detail and textures that are there under the pier. So many times in images its to dark to see.  So here is my first image of Oceanside Pier.

This is a shot of the Oceanside Pier at twilight. The clouds before sunset were incredible but then faded into oblivion right before the sun set. I decided to take a extra shot as we went into the blue hour and setup for a 6 minute exposure. About half way threw the exposure the lights came on and I was able to capture this image.

This is a shot from the ocean beach cafe Pier. Met here for a meetup last Sunday. Was hoping for some nice clouds but.. this is what we got. This is my second attempt at long exposure.

Saw that the skies were looking pretty nice and decided to run down wiht Penny to the potholes.. The tides were a bit low for the traditional pothole shots so I decided to setup in one of the channels.. I setup my D810, Nikon 14-24mm, My Progrey 10 stop, and Progrey 0.9 grad Filters and shot a series of images ranging from 3-15 minutes. This is a composition from 2 of the shots.. the 3 minute and the 15 minute. I hope you enjoy this view of another La Jolla Sunset.

This is something I have wanted to shoot for a long time.. A lighthouse on the Pacific Ocean.. Unfortunately I have never really found one near me that I wanted to shoot. Then the other day while looking for new locations on 500px I found a image of Point Vicente and instantly knew I had to go. I went out tonight to scout the location and shoot some video for a upcoming project not really expecting to get any great shots.. It was extremely windy which.. kicked up a haze and also cleared the skies. As the sun set the haze lit up so beautifully and a few planets were already visible. I decided to tuff it out in the wind and stay for some night shots. To my surprise there were a lot more stars then I thought. So I captured a few shot of the Stars, a few shot of the Beacon, and packed up my gear and headed home. I knew driving home what I wanted to do. I combined the stars, the beacon, and the sunset image to get this composition. I hope you enjoy this unexpected release, Vicente's Lantern

This was a sunset down at hospital reef in la Jolla California. I went down to help out with a friend of mines photography class down at the beach. I took out Penny (my 6 month old goldendoodle) and my new Nikon D810 and Tamron 24-70mm for its first beach trip. I loaded up a 120mm 10 stop and 0.9 grad from Progrey Filters and set myself up on the reef. For some reason the reef was covered in black and green mold and was as slippery as ice. My tripod even slid a few times and ruined a few shots as waves crashed into me. All in all it was a mehh sunset for Southern California but I wanted to share the results of my new Camera / Lens / Filters on its first beach trip.

After dropping a friend off down in Laguna Beach Penny and I decided to take a trip down to the tower on Victoria beach for sunset.. Some how I was not thinking about the high wind and surf advisory for the area. The bouey data had the waves at 13 feet and let me tell you.. it was right. A set of 4 waves came in just after setting up my gear hitting me about chest height. Luckily my tripod and camera remained planted over the culvert wall. The sand had been completely washed out revealing the rough reef that the tower is sunk into. After capturing only 5 shots and deciding that it was no longer safe to be there. One woman got knocked off a rock she was standing on and was tumbled into the back wall.. Penny ran for high ground and we luckily all made it out unharmed. I have been coming to the tower for a while now. A great shot has so far evaded my capture so I was happy when I came home and found a nice set of images from my harrowing experience at the tower. I hope you enjoy this capture of Victoria's Tower.

I went down with one of our workshop attendees to help her get a few more long exposures and talk about composting and blending Images. I wasn't even going to set up but the skies had a different idea. So as the sun set I quickly setup and captured these frames. Hope you enjoy.

Headed down to the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego California to catch what was going to be a pretty good sunset. Luckily a few clouds hung around as I popped on my progrey filters and set up for this shot. I had this shot in mind to shoot really low and fill the horizon with the Ocean Beach pier in the background. As it turned out the tide was a little to high and crashing up and splashing me and my equipment. So I backed off a bit and shot wider. I hope you enjoy this view from Sunset Cliffs.

Ran down to La Jolla, to scope out the setting for our workshop this coming weekend. Thought I would share the image I was able to capture just as the sun set.

Found a picture of sunset cliffs with this cove and and got on google earth to figure out were it was. after seeing conditions were good i decided to meet a friend of mine from Dolica Tripods down there for a pre business meeting shoot. The setting is a bit precarious as your camera ends up hanging over the cliff to get the proper perspective. So I set up my 14-24mm for the super wide angle view and my progrey 150mm system 10 stop and captured this 3 minute exposure as the sunset. I also shot a 2 second exposure to grab some of the waves and water movement and overlayed it to add some dynamics back into the water. 

I took my new Nikon D810, 14-24mm f/2.8 and the Progrey 150mm Filter system out to Point Mugu this afternoon. I found this composition driving up the Pacific Coast Highway and fell in love. I setup my camera and installed the Progrey 7 stop and 1.2 soft Grad ND and watched as it was immediately covered in sea spray. It was a chore wiping down the filter between each shot but in the end we were blessed with a beautiful sunset. All the work paid off and the new camera and filters captured the majesty of another amazing California sunset.

This is a long exposure sunset at Ponto Beach in South Carlsbad. I just kinda happened to be down there after dropping off my Nephew. We ran down to the coast thinking it was going to be blah... Right at sunset the sun peaked thru the clouds and the colors exploded. I got there just in time to setup and capture this amazing sunset.

Went down to La Jolla on a way negative low tide. This only happens once or twice a year that it gets this low.  You can walk so far out into the ocean were under normal conditions you would be treading water. Its amazing to see the coral and kelp and everything else that is normally hidden.  I found a nice spot and setup. The moon was looking amazing this morning.  It was a very mystical feeling almost unreal moment as I captured this image. 

Sunset at hospital reef at La Jolla Beach

Sunset over Bonsai Rock in Lake Tahoe California

This is a long exposure HDR taken at the Hospital Reef Pot Holes in La Jolla California

This is a long exposure HDR of a Sunset at the La Jolla Hospital Reef potholes in Southern California

The Star of India out for its 150th aniversary in the San Diego Bay.

Panorama of a beautiful sunset in Lake Tahoe

This is a capture of the rising moon over the famous tree in Joshua Tree National Park. About 8 months ago I saw a image similar to this here and decided I wanted to take one like it only wider. I opened up the photographers ephemeris and found out when the next time the moon would be low and over the rock and tree at sunrise. it was about 6 months away. I told Chip Morton one of our other instructors from California Captures about it and we patiently waited for the date to come. I drove out the night before and met chip who had been camping here a few days. when the time came we climbed up the little hill it sits on and setup under the stars and waited for the sun to rise. We got a few minutes of nice color in the sky with a amazingly clear moon. It all worked out and I got the shot I was after. This image is a focus stacked image. The moon was shot in the position you see it at 400mm and layered back into the wide angled shot. 

I almost... Mist... This sunset. During our recent trek to Yosemite I was told by one of the locals about a spot you could look towards the west and see the layers of the Sierra Mountains and the coastal mountains.. I took off to scout the location and found a few spots for this view. I settled on one high up on the Glacier Point Road and then headed back to the valley for a few other shots.. As sunset approached we were running low on gas and decided we would grab a few quick gallons before sunset. Well.. we grossly miscalculated the distance between this spot and the gas station in Wawona. By the time we rushed back up the mountain the sunset had already lit up the sky. We got to our spot and I quickly set up and immediately this mist came rolling through right in front of me. It only lasted about 45 seconds. I was lucky I was not 1 minute later or I would have missed this spectacular moment.

This is my Image for Dark Skies Week. A couple friends and I headed out to Joshua Tree late Tuesday night. After driving around for almost 3 hours looking for a spot we finally ended up sharing a site in hidden valley. We slept till about 2am then got up and headed over to this spot. we got there about 2:30 and shot till about 4:30am. By the time we got back to camp the sun was coming up and we took a few hours worth of a nap and headed out. I shot this image in a 3 part focus stack for the tree, the rock, and the milky way. I wanted to get a different angle then is normal shot here and I am pretty happy with the result. I hope you enjoy this dark skies take on this famous tree.

After staying the night at the lodge in Stanley, Idaho my girlfriend kicked me out of bed telling me there was an amazing sunrise. I crawled out of bed and drove up near the airport looking out over the Sawtooth Mountains. The morning mist was rolling out and the clouds had dropped down over the mountains. The sky was lit up in brilliant color and the clouds were glowing with a iridescent orange hue. I set up my camera and put the 70-200mm on and captured 9 sets of 2 exposures. I ran threw the sweeping panoramic in 10 degree intervals.When I was satisfied I got the shot, I packed up in the frigid 8 degree weather and headed back. I edited and combined the 9 sets of exposures in photoshop and finished it up in lightroom. I hope you enjoy this capture of a Misty morning in the Sawtooth Mountains.

I have titled this image Broken Dreams. To me I saw something beautiful but incomplete, and it reminds me of the times in life that we have such beautiful ideas that never quite make it. This was taken on my trip to Bryce Canyon this week. We set out under beautiful clouds only to get there and have them all disappear. So in that way it was a broken dream of an amazing sunset over a epic canyon. Just after sunset we took off and headed to our second location which was this land bridge. The sun was jsut set behind the horizon and the canyon was getting dark. I used my new Tamron 24-70mm and setup for this panorama. I hope you enjoy this image of a Broken Dream

This is my version of the famous shot at Tunnel View. I was lucky that on my very first trip to Yosemite that a pretty amazing storm rolled in and put on quite the show for everyone brave enough to shoot in the rain. We only really ended up getting sprinkled on as threatening as it seemed. It didn't really look like much until just as the sun set. Then all the colors just came rushing over the valley. So here is my first shot of Tunnel View, I hope you enjoy.

This is another shot of the Yosemite Falls through the Ponderosa Pines. This was taken from the lower falls trail-head

Took this image in Sand Hollow Park in Hurricane Utah.  The clouds were incredible this day as i found this little outcropping next to a golf-course.  It was amazing to watch the sun hitting all the little nooks in the rocks as it set.

This is a roughly 45 shot HDR Panorama taken at the turn of the century Crystal Mill in Marble Colorado. It was built in 1892 to give power to the town of Crystal. The place it truly beautiful and my hope is that I can take you there with this image.

A few years ago I visited and shot in this canyon. The resulting images while decent just fell short of what i wanted. As my technique and Skills have increased and my gear was vastly upgraded from my last visit I decided it was time to go back and recapture what I didn't really feel that I had in my previous trip... The sheer epicness of standing on the edge of that red paved road taking in this epic vista. I waited for over a week for some kind of clouds to pop up and as I drove in and saw the now snow covered Vista I was enthralled. I knew the wait and trip was worth it. The clouds however had a cruel trick up their sleeves as a huge cloud came in and completely blocked out the sun.. it was dark.. and I was pretty dissapointed with the imagery on the back of the camera. Then.. with only about 5 mins before the sun dipped out of sight the cloud moved away and the light poured over the then dark ridges and vista lit up in spectacular form. I hope you enjoy the resulting image as much as I did capturing this beuatiful moment in the Canyon.

This is a 6 shot panorama at Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park. The reflection of half dome was mesmerizing and the water was perfectly still. I was lucky enough to get there before the crowds rolled in and disturbed the waters.

With a storm looming we grabbed our faithful dog Penny and headed out to Joshua Tree National Park. I recently got the Nikon 14-24mm and wanted to test out some star shots as well as play around with some different night time techniques. When we got over to cap rock and i looked south there was this nice rock grouping with a really awesome cloud overhead.. I set up as the sun set and waited for the stars to come out. i shot this image at about 9pm it was totally dark and the color you see is from light pollution and was hardly visible. The Nikon did its job and captured everything we could not see with our eyes. This image is two successive 3 min exposures stacked. I hope you enjoy.

HDR of the sunset shining thru the branches of a old oak tree in Santa Rosa Plateau. This is such a peacful place and the sound of the  wind in the trees is very calming.

A abandoned car at the Castle Dome Mine Ghost Town in Southern Arizona

A beautiful Sunset over the grass fields in Menifee, California

Went out to Boreggo Springs when I saw that Tonights Eclipe would line up with the Serpent's Mouth. I waited patiently in the 100 degree heat for the moon to rise. Once it did I went about positioning my tripod and camera so that the moon would line up correctly. While doing so I walked into a small cactus. Luckily I had a friend there to de-burr my leg and shorts. anyways it all lined up right and except for the lack of clouds it was everything we could have asked for. I backed up enough to shoot the dragon and then refocused for the moon. I zoomed into 300mm and re-shot the moon just to make sure it was sharp enough to work with.. It all worked out perfect and here is my shot of tonight's eclipse.

This is a Picture of the April 2014 Full Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon) Shot in Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.

A panorama of a beavers lake just outside Marble Colorado. The road down to marble past Aspen is so amazing.. We couldn't help but want to stop every 5 mins to take in the views.. This was my favorite so thought I would share it. If you look close in the back left corner there is a Beavers home.. What a View!!

A beautiful old tree in Alabama hills Set at the foot of Mount Whitney. 
If you look close you can see a plethora of shoes hanging in its branches.

Viewed best on black: This is a re-edit of my panorama taken at 2:00am at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe California.. I had previously posted it but wanted to reprocess the image to give it some more clarity and contrast.

An eerie look down the path around the marshes near Taylor Creek in Lake Tahoe

I made a run out to Yuma Arizona's Kofe Reserve on a new moon to see just how dark it really was.   Let me tell you. You cant see your hand in front of your face.. THE STARS ARE AMAZING.  I swear you can see nebula with the naked eye its so crystal clear. we could see multiple of Jupiter's moons in the live view of our camera.  Anyways.  I set up on one of the huge cactus and shot this star trails image. I hope you enjoy.

A shot of some cool rock outcroppings in Valley of Fire

This is a B&W Sunset Panorama I shot up at Barker Dam in Joshua Tree National Park.

Colorado Nation Monument standing guard over the city.

A verticle panorama of a cool tree nestled in a rock over the Colorado National Monument