Triple digit heat is headed to El Dorado Hills, where I live, over the next several days! Never been a fan of air conditioning (pun intended), an unfortunate necessity in these temperatures, so last night I headed off to one of my favorite spots on the America River in Coloma to cool off and shoot some images. Just in case you are not familiar with this part of the world, on January 24, 1848, an event occurred in Coloma that would radically impact the history of California and the Nation. James W. Marshall was building a sawmill for Captain John Sutter, using water from the South Fork of the American River. He noticed several flakes of metal in the tailrace water and recognized them to be gold. Though he tried to keep it a secret, the word spread quickly, and triggered the California Gold Rush of 1849.

There are a couple of spots I like to photograph at the river in Coloma, both of them are within a few hundred yards from the actual spot where James Marshall first noticed the gold flakes in the water. The best times to shoot down here is at sunset, where on a hot, clear sunny day, if you look closely you will find gold reflections dancing on the water among the rapids! The irony of the 'gold' in the river does not escape me and makes me think of what must have been exciting, pioneering days ever so long ago

I had never seen this phenomena on a river until I accidentally stumbled upon this lighting a few years ago at the Troublemaker rapids of the South Fork of the American River in Coloma. I find it just beautiful to have these gold reflections of the sun dancing around in the turquoise water among the rapids of the flowing river. It makes for some beautiful images when I can add some of the rocks or green vegetation along the banks, juxtaposed with the magical colors in the river.

Here are a couple of the images from last night.

Enjoy!

“Sometimes you get more than you deserve and sometimes you get worse than you deserve”, words of wisdom given to me by my best golf instructor (also my dentist) many, many years about how a game of golf has its ups and downs. I have also found there to be many parallels between life and the game of golf, and now it includes my experiences on a recent photo shoot with photography. Last week I had a wonderful experience on a sunset photo shoot in Crystal Cove. Crystal Cove is a stretch of coastal cliffs and a beach front cove sandwiched between Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean just north of Laguna Beach. I drove down to the beach with anticipation that “tonight could be a great sunset because there are a bunch of clouds in the sky”. I arrived about thirty minutes before sunset in an area that has become one of my favorite go to “sunset places” in SoCal.

What makes Crystal Cove special for me is the variety and abundance of foreground elements for sunset shots, as well as the requisite colorful sunsets and the Pacific Ocean. Foreground elements lend a point of interest to the viewer in a landscape shot and draws attention toward the main focal points of the composition.

As a photographer I am drawn to light and its colors in nature when considering what I want to shoot and the image I want to create. Sometimes this image isn’t where you are expecting it to be. Sometimes you need to look around you and sometimes you are fortunate to see the alternatives that Mother Nature provides.

Then, when you have discovered this magnificent alternative, it’s up to you as an artist to compose an image that captures the light and colors found and incorporate the available elements that make the image unique or interesting. You then need to have the necessary equipment and technical expertise to pull this all together and release your camera’s shutter and capture that image in all its glory. Sometimes when it all comes together you find gold!

I began the evening with my attention in the direction of the setting sun and "by chance" looked to the left of me and was captivated by the light and colors you see below. This was one of those moments I was given on that Monday night (Labor Day), where all of the above came together and I got “better than I deserve”! Here are a couple of the images from that magical evening.

Enjoy!

Hello World!

I am happy to be online, finally, and to be given an opportunity to share my passion for landscape photography with as many people as possible!

I am writing this first entry to my blog from Elanora, Queensland, Australia. Elanora is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland. It is located  ninety minutes south of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. I try to make this trip to visit family and friends in Australia annually and I just arrived here  today. I was feeling tired and worn out (20 plus hours of travel door to door) until I decided to go for a long walk, which then inspired me to a sunset photo shoot.

Driving down to the beach was an interesting experience. It has been many years since I drove a vehicle on the left hand side of the road. All the controls are different to what I am used to in America. The turn signal control in on the right hand side instead of the left and the windsheild wiper control is on the left. So too many times I have the windshield wipers on when I am getting ready to make a turn! Present time is your friend driving on the wrong side of the road and all's well that ends well!

Here is an image that I captured at Currumbin tonight, a place just 5 miles away from where I am staying, which was a favorite surfing spot of mine when I lived in Australia in the late sixties! There are silver haired people that I see here who l am sure have never left in all that time and are still surfing Currumbin 40 plus years later - way to go guys!

Thanks for visiting my website! I plan to keep this blog current with sample images of photo shoots and experiences as an artist trying to capture the wonders of Mother Nature in this world and the beautiful places that I am fortunate to visit!

Enjoy!