The Point
This is Point Loma. It is the entrance to San Diego Harbor. The lighthouse shines to keep boats from hitting it when they come into the port during fog or the night. This photo was taken during the King Tides which are the lowest tides of the year.
So much sea rock is exposed at this time. You will rarely see it like this.
Unique Photography of Downtown Los Angeles
I’ve always wanted to do it, I just never had the chance. My brother is a pilot on a Robinson 44 Helicopter and we had always talked of heading up from San Diego to Los Angeles to take some birds eye view shots of one of the coolest cities in the world – Los Angeles.
We waited for a clear day and that day just happened to fall on a very cold day. It was 48 degrees in San Diego and to take the best photos from a helicopter you have to remove the doors. The wind would whip in threw the aircraft so it promised to close to bone chilling for the two hour journey.
We removed the doors of the chopper. I put on 5 jackets and chose my weapon of choice. My Nikon D4 and my super wide angle lens the Nikkor 14-24MM. Shooting a wide angle lens out of the small door opening of a helicopter can be tricky because it would mean potentially capturing the blades from overhead in the shot and often the rails underneath. Some cropping and careful composition would be needed.
It took about 1 hour to head up the coast from San Diego to Los Angeles and when we got there it was well worth the trip. The city looked awesome and we got some great bird eye views of the city. Using such a wide angle let me get some super wide shots of the city and capture what was happening around the city as well. The wide angle however makes us appear deceptively far from the city when in fact we were only about 200 feet above the helo-pad of the Bank of America building. When Bill would tilt the helicopter I was looking straight down the city only strapped in with a small seat belt. It was exhilarating and scary all at once. Even Bill said afterwards that he was getting nervous being so close to those huge buildings.
You can check out all of the images at this link. http://www.frankiefoto.com/Travel/Los-Angeles/27549755_zGrdsq
This is the shot of the city from the east looking towards the coast.
Los Angeles on Friday, you can see the traffic building.
Los Angeles is actually a pretty small downtown compared to other major cities.
Miniature Los Angeles. Looks like a city of Legos.
City Hall against the Los Angeles Skykline
Cool downtown perspective.
Some Black and Whites.
Birds Eye views of San Diego
Off came the doors of the helicopter again and Bill and I went up for sunset shots. It was gorgeous but freezing. I wore 5 jackets. I would have worn more if I had them.
Bill and I are discovering how to take pictures from the Helicopter which can be quite tricky and difficult. You have to keep in contact with air traffic control everywhere you go in San Diego because large commercial aircraft are always coming in and out of the city. Then you have to keep your eyes out for other aircraft, helicopters and small planes. It’s busy work but fun.
Here are some of the better shots that we took and a beautiful sunset. Another gorgeous winter day in Diego.
Happy Birthday #1 Isabella
One year ago she arrived. She was cute and everyone couldn’t figure out if she looked more like Michelle or Bill. Now Isabella is 1 and everyone still says the same thing.
I personally think that Isabella looks a lot like Michelle from the pictures of her when she was a baby. In any case, Isabella had a birthday party on the Bay and it was a smashing success.
Isabella has been getting rave reviews as a baby over the last year with people saying things like, “This is the cutest baby of all time”, and, “watch out world, Here comes Isabella and she will knock you out with her sweetness”. Critics all agree, Isabella is a hit!
You can check out all the pictures (and there are a lot of them at this link)
http://www.frankiefoto.com/Family/Isabella-Birthday/27529138_bgZXJb
And she got lots and lots and lots of presents. She was so good opening them up. She was so dainty and didn’t want to make a mess.
Isabella had a great time with her mom on the beach.
And she loved looking at all the sweets and treats with Camille too.
Happy Birthday Isabella. Can’t wait to see what the next year holds in store!
The Eye in the Sky
Bill took me up in the Helicopter today to go all the way up to Los Angeles and back and take photos. I must say that I got quite a few.
We just happened to take the doors off the chopper on the coldest day of the year and I was freezing. Taking the doors off the helicopter let us get some crystal clear shots instead of getting the glare from the windows if we had the doors on.
I have over 1,000 pictures to go through, trash and or edit. More good material to work with. This is one of the last shots of the day while we were going back home over the Coronado Bridge.
Dr Seuss and La Jolla
Did you know that Dr Seuss lived and worked for most his life in La Jolla California? He bought an observation tower where he would work at least 8 hours a day writing and thinking of all the wonderful children’s books that he wrote.
Many people say that the wildlife and tree’s in La Jolla influenced the drawings that he included in those books such as the Cat in the Hat and Horton hears a Who. The images in these book are deep in our minds because for many of us, looking at his drawings inspired some of our first day dreams.
I was walking through La Jolla and I started to realize just how influential it was on Dr Seuss. Mostly the trees I guess and maybe the pathways along the ocean. Here is the first scene, I came upon that made me think of it. The tree is amazing but it looks like something I have seen from a Dr Seuss book.
I keep thinking the curvy paths along the ocean must have also influenced his drawings as well.
And I remembered last year when I was at Joshua Tree how much his book, “The Lorax” must have somehow been based on those trees too. First is the picture on the cover of the book and then take a look at the trees in the park.
Top 5 Places to Take Stunning Sunset Photographs in San Diego
My name is Frank McKenna, a La Jolla Photographer. I love San Diego because we have some of the best sunsets in the world. With an average of 266 sunny days a year, San Diego more often than not will not disappoint visitors looking to get that perfect sunset shot. Keep in mind however that the best sunset shots are usually not days of pure sunshine but days when there are clouds in the sky.
I take sunset shots in San Diego often and have found what I believe are the best places in San Diego to get that perfect sunset shot. I also included some tips on how to get better ocean sunset shots.
#1 Windansea Beach La Jolla (Google Map It)
This is the #1 location in San Diego to capture the most beautiful sunset shots. There are many reasons why professional photographers choose this location for their photo shoots. First the coastline is rugged and rocky and so there are lots of places for you to take a variety of different sunset ocean shots. Secondly, there is a very cool surf shack that provides a perfect element to incorporate into your shot and finally you have unobstructed views of the Pacific all the way to Hawaii if you could see that far. Make sure you get to Windansea about 1 hour before sunset to give yourself plenty of opportunity to find the perfect spot to take your photo.
#2 Location – Scripps Pier La Jolla (Google Map it)
This place is also in La Jolla. It’s not secret that if you want to take the best sunset ocean shots of your life that you have to take the trip out to La Jolla and that is why this places makes the second top spot in my top 5 places for sunset shots. To get to Scripps Pier you will need to park your car at La Jolla shores and take a short but beautiful walk along the beach until you get to the pier. The reason this is a top spot for sunset shots is because the variety of photos that you can take from this location. You can capture sunset with the pier in the foreground or if you might even be able to capture the sun setting between the pillars of the pier if you are lucky. What makes this location so extraordinary is the way that the water will glow on the sand as the sun begins to set. Since the beach is long and shallow, the water stays on the surface of the sand for along while allowing you to capture reflections of the pier in the water itself. It is simply amazing the shots that you can get at this location on a good day.
#3 Mission Beach – (Google Map It)
Mission Beach is amazing for sunsets. Mission Beach is on located on one of the skinniest stretches of land in the US. The tiny strip of land is as populated as Hong Kong but boast the freshest air in the country thanks to the fact that the ocean air and bay air collide making this place air pollution free. Come to Mission Beach to people watch and watch or photograph the sunset with thousands of other people. You will notice that everyone here is looking for the “green flash” which is the phenomenon when a bright green flash occurs immediately after the sun sets. I like to head a little south down to the Jetty to capture the sun piercing through the eye of needle at this location.
#4 – Sunset Cliffs – (Google Map it)
Sunset Cliffs is located in Ocean Beach which is just on the other side of the Mission Beach Jetty. This place is out of this world during sunset. This place was called Sunset Cliffs because everyone wants to come to this place to watch the sun set. What makes it unique is that the sandstone cliffs are rugged, jagged and turn gold as the setting sun hits them just before the sun is completely set. The color at this place is just amazing for photography. If you are going to take pictures here, arrive about 2 hours before sunset to give yourself a chance to walk along the ocean front path to see all of the cliffs. There are spots where you can go down steep paths but down to secluded beaches. If you are a bit more adventurous, you can try that but it wet weather it gets too slippery and can be dangerous.
#5 South Del Mar – (Google Map It)
If you want to take some scenic sunset pictures in a place where only the locals know about head North on the 5 freeway, get off on Del Mar Heights Road and head straight down to 4th Ave and park your car. Make your way down to paths which wind along the Del Mar Beach cliffs. There is about 1 mile of paths which wind north along the coast until you hit central Del Mar which is a great village to go and have a nice dinner and walk after your photo session. What I love about this area is the Amtrak coaster trains which cross the tracks in front of the beach every half hour or so. I haven’t been able to capture sunset shots with the train in the shot yet but I have seen them by other photographers and they are amazing. Even if you just want to walk these paths at sunset or even have a sunset jog, South Del Mar is an amazing place to go.
Now these are not the only places in San Diego to take awesome shots of the sunset, you can also head over to any of these other places to capture some pretty tremendous photos of the sun setting.
#6 – Coronado Ferry Landing – http://goo.gl/maps/jcxQK – This is the place to get awesome cityscape photos of the sun setting directly against the San Diego Downtown skyline.
#7 – Oceanside State Beach – http://goo.gl/maps/3ujjr – This is the most northerly beach in San Diego County. The beach is very flat and there is a pier there. I get great shots there all the time.
#8 – Soledad Cross – http://goo.gl/maps/MWxs2 – If you want to get a birds eye view of the sun setting over the La Jolla Coast as well as sweeping views of San Diego. Head here – it is beautiful.
Some additional tips for taking better sunset photos in San Diego
Tip #1 – Get to the location early.
In San Diego at sunset there always tends to be a layer of clouds just on the very edge of the horizon. These clouds can be dark at times so the actual time when the sun sets can be 10-15 minutes before the official time you read about. If the clouds are particularly thick you will not be able to catch the light or the sun itself whole it dips off the horizon. That is why I always tell people to get to the location early. If that happens at least you can catch shots while it is still higher in the horizon.
Tip 2 – The best sunsets in San Diego are in October or when there are Santa Ana conditions.
Sunsets in San Diego get very beautiful in Autumn. The best sunsets with red skies seem to happen when there is an Indian summer or when there are Santa Ana conditions when the wind sweeps off the desert and blows hot air offshore. I am not sure why. If your planning your trip to San Diego in October you might see some amazing sunsets.
Tip 3 – Under-expose your shots.
Turn your camera off the fully automated setting and use the P setting or the A setting for Aperture priority mode. If you are using the Aperture priority mode make sure to set the aperture to 5.6 or greater. Set your exposure compensation down by 1 or 2 notches so that you don’t over-expose the photo. For sunset photos it is better to underexpose them so that you can capture all of the colors. What tends to happen is the bright sun setting tends to trick your camera into thinking the whole scene is bright so it will wash everything out. That is why you need to under-expose the shots.
Tip 4 – Use a flash if you are trying to take a picture of someone in front of the sunset.
Position your subject so they block out the direct sun in front of you and put your flash on so that you light up there face while still being able to see the background.
Tip 5 – Position the sun to the very edge of the photo so you capture the light but not the direct sun.
Put the sun outside of the frame so that it doesn’t blow out the shot. In most cases if you are taking a picture of someone in the sunset you always want to position the direct sun so that it doesn’t blow out the rest of your picture. It’s also always important to use a flash.
Downtown Chicago
Its a beautiful place. Here is a black and white taken on a particularly cloudy morning. It rained later that day.
