Monterey Bay

There can be few nicer places to visit and photograph in the spring than Monterey and the bay area, There is a huge variety of wildlife from Sea Lions, Harbour Seals, Sea Otter and an amazing amount of bird life,add to that stunning landscapes and possible trips out to see whales etc and it becomes a wildlife/nature lovers paradise, Monterey is about 2 hours south of San Francisco by car, Straight down highway 101 or the more picturesque coastal Highway one, I have been many times over the last few years but spring is special due to the flowers that line the beaches and can be seen from miles away-stunning, Monterey itself is a big tourist attraction and worth doing the touristy bits along cannery row where you can find the amazing Aquarium-to me its the best one in the world and although not cheap to enter its worth every penny and your jaw is guaranteed to drop, It even has a beach inside where you can see and shoot a variety if waders-amazing, Moving South from Monterey you go through Clint Eastwood country-Carmel and then on to the Big Sur, If you like rugged coastline then this is the place for you

Surfing is very popular along this stretch of coastline

Wild flowers along the coast at Pacific Grove

Brewers Blackbird shot here at sun down

Rugged Coast line from Monterey all the way up and through the Big Sur

Ground Squirrel are everywhere

The Famous Cannery Row now a tourist destination for food and the Aquarium

Behind Cannery Row looking up at the Aquarium -last building and a good place to see sea otters

Monterey and the bay area are good all year but in spring its fantastic and if you dive then you will be in heaven

Dave

California day 1

Yesterday (Friday) was one long day, We left Raleigh at 3pm and flew to Dallas Texas and then swapped planes for the flight to San Francisco, The plane that we flew to Dallas on went onto Albuquerque and some lucky bastard would have found my 3 month old Oakleys that i stupidly left in the seat back, So thats 2 sets of Oakley sunglasses lost this year to the cost of over $350-never going to live it down and i simply put it down to age, Sp we arrive at 9pm and then get the baggage,car etc and drive to San Jose and find somewhere to eat late-i.e a Mexican Karaoke bar where the singers are 60 and up-all very funny in a cringe making kind of way and then hit the sack for a few hours before getting ready for the first days shoot, now when we left North Carolina it was nearly 100 degrees and now here in California it doesn't want to go above 60 at the height of the day so we start the day by shopping for warmer clothes,The weather looks the same for the rest of the week, So the plans have changed a bit,there probably wont be any birds in flight as the sky is milky white but on the plus side anything with fur or feathers will be fair game as the overcast conditions will be great for bringing out detail, So a quick drive down to Monterey and fill the tummy with tea and clam chowder and then shoot playful California sea lions that strewn the beaches with their young, A few Harbour seals are around and not too amused at the sea lions antics and chill out on the exposed rocks,The sea otters are at distance as there are lots of divers around so they can wait a few days and towards the late afternoon i go to a place that has produced some nice gull shots in the past, Around Monterey you cant go more than 1/2 a mile without shooting something and the coats is 100's of miles long so go figure, I met with a few interested photographers who were interested in my gear and many friendly conversations were had and cards swapped, All in all a very nice relaxed and social start to the trip, Lets hope it continues

Heermans Gull shedding a feather after preening

Mouthy California Sea Lion male

Playful young sea lions being too playful

And loud

A couple of Harbour Seals take a break,the overcast conditions help with the black and white fur

Dave