Some things are bigger in California

We've all heard the saying that everything is bigger in Texas. Well that may not apply to some plants that grow in California. Here you can see my Toyota rental car and a row of huge aloe vera growing along the cemetery wall.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Point Loma Cemetery

The fog rolling over the hillside and blanketing the grounds of the Point Loma cemetery begged to be photographed. I stood looking over all the graves of the brave men who served our country and watched as a crow circled low over head. I was hoping he would find a perch among the many headstones that lay before me. He finally found a resting place after hoping and jumping between several headstones and provided me a moment to capture his image along with the final resting place of these many veterans.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Polished and Worn

How long do you think these rocks and stones littering the edges of this tide pool have been here in order to have their edges worn round and the surface polished too a smooth finish.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Texture

I like this image because it almost allows me to feel the course surface texture of the rock.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Just for scale

I took this image not because I know this person but to provide scale as to the size of the boulders in this image. Also of interest to me was the rectangular structure of the rock surface she is standing on.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Erosion

The abundance of moisture from fog and sea spray provides an ample amount of moisture to erode the steep hillside into natural sculptures that reminded me of the giant termite mounts found in Africa.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Natural Balcony

Many of the ledges look as if they were carved by man from the rocky cliffs of the tide pools. Here the way action coated the rocks with sea water and gave them the look of polished stone.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Layers

I was drawn to the many layers of rock and sediment that made up the rocky coast. How long must the sea batter these cliffs to turn the rocks into sand. As solid and unchanging as this scene appears, the truth is that it is in constant motion and it has never look like this before and will never look like this again.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Travelers

On my way out from Balboa Park headed to Point Loma I stopped to take a photo of the roadway below  and downtown San Diego from the bridge I was on and managed to capture a plane on approach to the San Diego airport.

 

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Mirror Refections of the Sky

Another beach image from my recent trip to Coronado, California.  This is the same beach with scattered rocks from yesterday's post but with a much different feel.  It took a little waiting to get a clear beach in order to take this long exposure.  In several other attempts people wondered into the image and caused several blurry streaks.  If you look closely you can see a blurred seagull lurking among the rocks nearer to the water.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Purple Haze

I am a technologist. I thrive on understanding and using technology in the way it was intended to be used.  Why am I telling you this?  Because this image does not use a specific photographic technology known as white balance in the manor it was intended. The purple hues in this image did not actually exist when the image was created, but due to a missed reading of the ambient light by the Automatic White Balance (AWB) of the camera I ended up with something that was different from what I expected. I could have corrected the white balance of the image in Photoshop but I chose not to do that because I like the image just the way it is.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

A Room With a View

I recently visited Coronado, California to attend a business conference.  Knowing the picturesque nature of this Southern California peninsula near San Diego I of course brought my camera with me in hopes of acquiring some free time to make some photographs.  I stayed at the historic Hotel Del Coronado on the beach.

I was fortunate enough to get a first-rate room on the top floor in one of the oldest sections of the hotel with a magnificent ocean view from the room. 

 I can say that I spent a fair amount of time sitting at the small round table working on my laptop and gazing out toward the Pacific ocean.  Through this window I was delighted to have witnessed a large group of California sea lions, a rather large whale surface and toss a fin skyward and a US Navy nuclear submarine returning to the nearby Point Loma Naval base.  Now that is a lot to see from such as small window.

In the next few days I'll be posting more photos from my trip to California.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.