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kelso dunes, kelso, california
My trip to the Kelso Dunes in California was about as spontaneous as it gets. It was the middle of the summer, and a record-setting week for heat across the state. A couple friends and I decided to make the four hour drive out to the dunes for a day trip the next morning. The weather forecast predicted a high of 109 degrees. We woke up early, hopped in the car, and made the drive out to the dunes, picking up a case of water on the way. Once we got to the dunes, we hiked about 2 miles into the main area of the dunes. We realized that even an entire case of water was not enough, and turned back to head to the car. The weather forecast definitely didn’t lie about the heat, and we didn’t want to risk dehydration out in the dunes. Despite the unfortunate conditions, I was still able to get photos I was happy with during my limited time on the dunes. We ended up staying for sunset, and set up our camping stove by the car to make dinner as it got dark.
smuggler's cove, rancho palos verdes, california
This photo was taken at the tide pools around Palos Verdes. I often go out to the tide pools when it’s a nice day and I want to take some photos. This particular day, the weather was great. There were just a few clouds in the sky, and the seals decided to lay out on the rocks to sunbathe. This isn’t normally the case, especially in an area where there are normally a decent amount of people to scare them off. After seeing the seals laying down, I decided to quietly walk over towards the area that they were laying. They knew I was there, but I made sure to stay a respectful distance away so as to not disturb them. Every once in a while they would pick their heads up and look at me, and then lay back down. I sat observing them and taking photos for about 25 minutes, during which the entire family of seals made an appearance, taking turns to lay out in the sun.
Bluff cove, palos verdes estates, california
I’ll be the first to admit, I got really lucky with this photo. I was out at the tide pools taking pictures of an unusually large swell that was happening at the time, when out of nowhere, this group of jet ski riders showed up and started doing flips and jumps off of the waves in the bay. I had no idea they would be there, and I don’t think they realized I took these photos of them doing tricks, even though I tried to wave them down. They were doing tricks for about 45 minutes, and then I assume they started to get low on fuel and decided to head back to the marina that they came from. I also got lucky that the cliffside in the background was bright green because of a series of rain storms that happened in the month prior. Needless to say, I was pretty happy with the opportunity to shoot something completely different than anything I’d ever done before, and the photos came out really well.
off the coast of marina del rey, California
This shoot was one of my favorites to do. I woke up early to get to the yacht club that was organizing the race, and since I was the photographer for the event, I had someone to drive me around on a boat to any place on the course I wanted. The day started off a little bit foggy, with the marine layer being more stubborn than usual. After a couple of hours, the marine layer cleared and the conditions were perfect for photos. I spent the day moving from point to point on the course, taking photos. The wind picked up later in the day, which meant the waves became more choppy and the photos had more emotion from the spray hitting the sailors. The extra chop made taking photos a little more difficult, though, and I struggled to keep the camera steady while in a tiny boat trying to frame up the perfect composition. Overall, it was a great day of shooting, and I’m happy with how the photos turned out. My photos from the event even made the cover of the yacht club quarterly magazine.
buttonwillow raceway, buttonwillow, california
This photo was from my first shoot at a proper track day. I was asked to drive out to Buttonwillow to take photos of the riders on track that day, and had a ton of fun. I spent the whole day walking around the track trying to find new and interesting angles of the riders. I had a couple curve balls thrown at me, namely a dust storm that popped up out of nowhere, but once the storm passed by I got back out and finished the day off taking photos.