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La Jolla – Scripps Pier

Scripps Pier

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s look at the enchanted areas of La Jolla. So far we have explored Mt. Soledad, the Coves and Cliffs, and UCSD campus. However, no trip to La Jolla (or the coast for that matter) is complete without a pier photograph. The Scripps pier had a famous appearance in an Ansel Adams photo back in the day. However, I learned a valuable lesson while photographing this gem. No matter how stable your tripod system is, it won’t work in the shifting sands of high-tide. The image below was close to a 90sec exposure in about a foot tidal water. At that point the tide had come in, so I backed up and increased the focal length a bit. Problem solved!

I actually kind of dig the quicksand technique…what do you think?

A 2 minute exposure is shifting sand...oops!

La Jolla – UCSD

Geisel Library

Finding the Geisel Library, was like discovering a alien spacecraft on your vacation. I was so overwhelmed by its scope, that I really didn’t know what to make of it. I decided to jump up on the planters that surround it, try not to step on any plants (or fall into a 30ft deep hole), and make an image of it in all its glory. After I got a covering shot, I was going to start to work the composition and see what else this piece of architecture would reveal to me. Well, it was about that time security cruised by and I had to make a quick get away! I don’t think I was doing anything illegal, but I have such a conscience I occasionally fool myself into thinking I am.

Photo Tourism Planning

Remember my second rule of Photo Tourism Club, no no…not the rule that there isn’t a ‘Photo Tourism Club’. The second rule…’Photo Tourism Requires Planning’! Well, my all time favorite tool to plan my photo adventures is Trey Ratcliff’s ‘Stuck On Earth’. It’s an amazing way to research the area you plan to visit. You just need to be careful, it is going to show you so much cool and exciting stuff that you’ll need to carefully budget your time to make it all happen.

You can find my earlier review of ‘Stuck On Earth’ here.

You can download it for free here. (Currently iPad Only)

Stuck On Earth - Stuck In Customs

For this trip, I just fired it up!

Loaded my saved La Jolla Trip.
Stuck On Earth Review

Then there it was, like a jewel that knew my name, the Geisel Library! Prior to Stuck On Earth, I had never heard of it.

Stuck On Earth Review

La Jolla – The Cove

La Jolla Seals

La Jolla Seals

I went to La Jolla cove with sunsets on my mind, but once you see a bunch of cute seals wrestling around and being lazy you can’t help but change your focus. If you head out to La Jolla, bring some long glass. I made all these images (full disclosure: the sleeping seals is my wife’s photo) using a Nikon D7000 and Nikon 30-700 VR. The crop factor of the D7000 got us to 400mm which is plenty of lens for photographing these guys and gals. Let your adventure to La Jolla become part wildlife safari!

Photo Tourism Bag

We will continue our week long Photo Tourism adventure with a look at my Photo Tourism bag. I have lots of bags, my wife will not only attest to it, she will openly laugh and taunt me about it. Still, I can’t help myself. I’m always on the lookout for a new photo bag. However, I have had this gem for over a year and it has quenched my bag lust. It is a great little travel companion and the perfect bag for my style of photography. You can find my review of it, including photos of what I carry in it here.

My Bag - A Think Tank Retrospective 30

La Jolla – Mt. Soledad

Mt. Soledad

Howdy!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have been, to say the least, under the weather. However, I was able to get a start on our new ‘Photographer’s Travel Guide to La Jolla’. I finally decided this will be a four part series (well 5 if you count this week’s iPhone Friday). Why four? Well, when I began to plan the guide, I identified four distinct areas that were very interesting to me…Scripps Pier, Mt. Soledad, UCSD, and of course La Jolla Cove. During our stay, we visited each of these areas and made images. Over the course of this week, I will share my favorite image from each location. I also hope to shed a little light on my approach to ‘photo tourism’.

Today’s Image

I only knew about Mt. Soledad because I used to give a cycling buddy of mine a hard time about the lack of climbs to ride in SoCal. He always told me stories of the epic climb up the mythical Mt. Soledad. So I researched it (more about my research tools on Wednesday), and added it to our itinerary. I set the alarm, grabbed some coffee, and beat the sun to the top of Mt. Soledad. I had other plans for the sunrise. Images of a costal awakening danced through my head. However, as hard as I tried to make that image…it just wasn’t happening. I didn’t give up! I kept working, and working, and finally…my muse led me to today’s image. I sure as heck didn’t plan on a black and white image at a sunrise shoot, but the square peg in the round hole wasn’t working.

Here are a few of those square pegs (hopefully you all can learn something from my failures)….

Too much haze…however given the right light, this might make a great image as sunset? That is downtown San Diego. You can see forever from the top of Mt. Soledad.

Might be cool if I work it up, but it wasn’t doing it for me at the time.

This might have worked with a bit more highway and slower shutter speed to make it interesting. As it stands, it is a waste of bits.

We now come to my first thoughts regarding ‘photo tourism’. I’m going to work on a better name.

  • The first rule of ‘Photo Tourism Club’ is…there is no ‘Photo Tourism Club’!
  • The second rule…Photo Tourism is planned – For some reason, I have always associated travel photography with a passive approach to location photography. You are traveling, and happen to be taking pictures. I do it all the time, and I think it’s great. However, Photo Tourism is about seeking out destinations, researching the area well ahead of time, and committing to an plan. Why plan? Because safety (and image making) is no accident!
  • The third rule…Photo Tourism is Active – You will need additional gear beyond your camera. Whether it is snacks and a jacket or a parachute and a flare gun, you aren’t making images from the window of you car on the side of the road. No sir, you are earning that photograph.

Spring In La Jolla

La Jolla Cove In Spring

So I spent the last few days in La Jolla California, working on a new Photographer’s Guide. I hope to share it with you next week. I have always wanted to visit the cove in Spring, the beauty of flowers, ocean, and wildlife keeps your eyes and imagination exploring. Hiking unknown remote trails along costal cliffs is a great way to recharge your soul. There is nothing subtle about it. Sitting on a bench, feeling the sea breeze grace your face as you are warmed by the sun, you notice the happiness build inside you. This is one of the places I found that was full of this quiet happiness.

Thanks for all your comments yesterday about the Ansel Adams image! If you are interested in my thoughts about it, you can read them here.

Continue for Capture/Processing Notes…