Manhattan Beach sunset

There was a small break in the recent storm so I hit up the Manhattan Beach Pier Friday after work hoping for a nice sunset. The pier is lit up with lights for the holidays and it was low tide....both bonuses.

I got there a bit before sunset so I walked around and snapped a few:





The sunset almost lines up with the pier so you can get some pretty cool shots underneath. I got one of the sun shining through:



Sunset itself had some really nice color, which was reflected off the wet sand:

The pier lights turn on around 30 mins after sunset, so most of the good color was gone by then:

Some nice deep red color hung around for a bit so I took a panorama of the pier

So far, winter has been proving to have some nice sunsets....hopefully I'll have many more opportunities to get some shots around the area.

This weekend is camping at Montana De Oro.....its suppose to rain but hoping it clears by the time we get there. There may be a good chance to get some nice seascape shots along the rocky bluffs of the park. I'll update with some photos once we get back.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

Weekend at Santa Monica Pier and White Point San Pedro Tide Pools

I've been wanting to head out to Santa Monica to shoot the pier and Pacific Park. Just never wanted to fight traffic out there. I wasn't doing much this past Sunday so I headed out. It was low tide which is good for reflections in the wet sand and the clouds looked promising.

However, I got out there and by the time the sun was setting, most of the clouds disappeared. Plus there were tons of people there walking around, taking engagement type pics, and there were quite a few photographers as well.





I'll head back out next time there is a clearing or oncoming storm to try for a more dramatic sky.

Since a storm came in this week I headed down to San Pedro again to the White Point-Royal Palms beach. Tide was low around 4:30pm which was perfect for sunset. I headed down to the end of the rocks which are normally covered in water and found a nice pool with lots of sea urchins. I snapped a bunch as the sun was going down.





There was another photographer for a bit so I snapped one with him in the picture. He's pretty far away, plus my wide angle makes it look even further.



Sunset wasn't great as most of the dark clouds rolled in by then so I just headed home for some dinner.

I've been meaning to explore some of the other bluffs and tide pools around the area up towards PV. I'll head back out one of these weekends to see how accessible they are.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

White Point - Royal Palms tide pools, San Pedro

Thursday the clouds were looking good and it was going to be low tide for sunset so I headed back to White Point - Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro. Clouds hung around this time and there was a bit of interesting sea life. Used an orange starfish for my foreground element. It was slowly crawling away from me and you can see the movement in the picture if you zoom in.



I also got around to re-editing the other ones I shot. I tried to bring out a bit more of the shadows. Some of the blending came out a little funky last time in Photomatix. I feel these look a bit better.





Love this spot. I'll try out some other comps next time the sunset and tides line up.

Brandon Yoshizawa
B.A.Y | photography
www.bay-photography.com

White Point - Royal Palms tide pools, San Pedro

I've been waiting for a chance to get out to the White Point - Royal Palms beach in San Pedro during low tide, which reveals a bunch of sea life. Most of the clouds burnt up from earlier in the day but I headed down anyway. There were a few lingering clouds but nothing special. I walked around for a bit looking for a pool that had some interesting sea life and stumbled upon one that had a green tint to it...not sure what from.



Hopefully winter will bring around more storms and dramatic skies. I'll be back again the next weekend that the tide is low and the sky looks promising to capture some more seascapes.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

Last of the Eastern Sierras

I checked out a few other lakes and creeks for the rest of the trip. The colors at Convict Lake were pretty good however as with the entire trip there were no clouds.

Classic shot before sunrise

A grove behind the lake that was pretty much bare



I really only focused on the milky way shot.


This shot I combined two photos. I took a longer, lower ISO shot and used it for the foreground. I also took a normal f/2.8, 25sec, 3200 ISO shot for the stars. I'll need to take a longer foreground shot next time to get more details.


I also stopped by Lundy Canyon. The lake had some nice colors, but I wanted to check out the beaver ponds behind. After the lake there is a mile or so dirt road that leads back there. Really cool area, I will have to come back when it's peaking.





I also stopped by McGee Creek. Another really cool area for shots of the aspens along the creek. Colors here were better than last time but I came mid-day and the sun was casting shadows for the most part. I had to find some shots where the aspens were blocking the sun. I found a pretty nice area being back lit causing the aspens to light up.



Every time I was in a spot shooting, this lady kept getting in my shot. I swear she would just walk right up and plant herself right there.....so I took a picture of her.



I focused on some close-ups as well. There were a bunch of fallen leaves, and it was cold enough to where there was a bit of ice on the creek.

I also took a sunset shot above Twin Falls in Mammoth Lakes, but again no color so nothing great. There was some ice on the rocks tho.



That same night I also went out to Alkali Lake for another Milky Way shot. Wasn't as dark this night but the Milky Way was still pretty bright.



As always, I have to post some food stuff. My condo was a minute walk to Toomey's so I ate there every night. Probably the best place to eat in Mammoth.

Elk Chops

Fish tacos - probably my favorite dish there

Sliders


We'll be heading out to Montana De Oro for another camping trip next month. Hopefully the weather will be a bit more dramatic as there are some nice rock formations there for seascape shots.

Brandon Yoshizawa
B.A.Y | photography
www.bay-photography.com

Fall in June Lake Loop

After the Bishop area, I headed up towards June Loop across from Mono Lake. Reports here still showed June at around 40-50% so I wasn't expecting much. I woke up for sunrise at Silver Lake. Unfortunately there wasn't a single cloud the whole trip which made for lousy sunrise and sunset shots. Silver lake color was coming along nicely tho.

First light on Carson Peak with some ducks that decided they wanted to be in the shot.

There was fog on the water so I lingered around until the sun came up.



Got a few with some fishermen too.



An abstract of the colors reflected off Silver Lake



After Silver Lake, I headed to June Lake. Color here was still just starting.

I drove around the area a bit, and there were a few nice groves full of yellow.

I decided to come back for some Milky Way shots, as I have never taken them from this area. I came back after dinner and drove down to June Lake. In the fall months, the Milky Way is best seen after sunset when the richest part is still visible. This sure beats the winter months where best viewing times are pre-dawn. The night I went was a new moon, so I was hoping for a dark sky but it wasn't nearly as dark as when I came last time in the winter. I took a few shots at f/2.8, 25 sec, ISO-3200 and called it a night.



This is a single exposure. Lights are from the town. I did try a few where I painted the foreground rocks with my headlamp, but I didn't really like how they looked.

Future trips I may start stacking shots to reduce noise, or start taking a separate exposure for the foreground. Nonetheless, it came out pretty good. Next update will be from Convict Lake.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com

Bishop part 2 - South fork

I spent most of the day at the North fork, so I only had a little bit of time to explore the south fork towards South Lake before I had to make my way up to Mammoth Lakes. There was some really nice color along the road, lots of different shades as the aspens were in different stages. Instead of exploring the groves by Bishop Creek, I focused on some abstract and close-up shots of the trees.



The colors of the trees contrast nicely against the rock formations. A lot of the back roads had some nice color too, I just didn't have time to explore.



One of the areas that is always clogged up with photographers is Mist Falls with the house that sits in the middle of a nice grove.



Lastly, a pano near Mist Falls



It's crazy how different the colors are depending on if it's shaded, or which way the sun is hitting them. I like shooting them back lit, as it really enhances the colors.

I spent the rest of the trip up towards Mammoth Lakes and used it as my home base. I also checked out the June Loop area, Lundy Lake, Convict Lake, and Rock and McGee Creek. I still have to sort through them all so I'll update them on future posts.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com