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Swimming With Stingrays in Bahia de los Angeles

A travel essay I wrote a few years ago about a trip to Baja California in Mexico. In Bahia de los Angeles, on the gulf coast of Baja California, there are no signs to warn you about the stingrays. In the United States, a ubiquity of signs alert one to the variety of dangers faced in daily life: deer crossing the …

Photographing Costa Rica: Playa Grande

“Oh, Sweetie, why don’t you just sleep in for once?” “I can’t. We’re only here for a couple days before we move on, and I’ve got to photograph as much as I can – who knows if and when we’ll ever make it back here?” “But you’re going to burn yourself out.” “No, there’s too much to see and do …

Kauai Adventure: Weathering the Storm

A recent trip to Kauai helped challenge our notions of what constitutes a meaningful and relaxing vacation. It had been over six years since our last real vacation anywhere and we were really looking forward to taking some time off and exploring this beautiful island to the fullest. But just days before we arrived some of the worst storms in years rolled into in the islands, and suddenly our vision of sunny beaches, rainforest hiking, and snorkeling seemed a little less promising. Indeed, flash floods, closed roads, and dangerous surf — culminating in a declared disaster area — confirmed we were going to have to be a little flexible.

But just days before we arrived some of the worst storms in years rolled into in the islands, and suddenly our vision of sunny beaches, rainforest hiking, and snorkeling seemed a little less promising. Indeed, flash floods, closed roads, and dangerous surf — culminating in a declared disaster area — confirmed we were going to have to be a little flexible.

New Photos: Favorites from 2011

As 2011 wraps up, I wanted to share a few of my favorite nature and landscape photos of the year, all from California. Half Moon Bay During a trip to Half Moon Bay, the clouds defeated me for sunrise, so I walked out to Pillar Point to create a more moody image, taking advantage of the kelp that had washed …

Featured Photo: Cape Hatteras Sunrise

Okay, it’s cliché — I know. But here’s a sunrise picture for the New Year, photographed at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina. For a little context: it was February, and it was bitter cold. But otherwise this picture was fairly straightforward to make. After shooting some pre-dawn images, I set up nice and low to the ground to highlight the …

Ten Favorite Photos From 2010

As a way to wrap up the year, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite photos from 2010. Some of these will seem familiar (yes, more pictures of golden retrievers), and some not so much (wedding photos? Huh?). This is Jasper, our golden retriever, running like a moron through a field of foxtails. Foxtails pose a real threat …

Christmas, Half Moon Bay Style

During the holidays, people everywhere put up lights and decorations. Yet there are still regional differences that can make the displays unique. Take the habit of Arizonans dressing up their cacti. The folks in Half Moon Bay, California, don’t have any cacti, but they do having fishing boats. And down at Pillar Point Harbor, there’s a tradition of stringing lights …

Featured Photo: Christmas Cactus

You have to understand that the holiday season in Tucson Arizona is not quite the traditional environment of snowy wreaths and hot chocolate. Daytime temps can be in the 80s, and nary a cloud is in the sky. So people get creative. Take the habit of dressing up cacti. Saguaros, those classic cacti with the arms, are easily anthropomorphized (especially …

Featured Photo: Luminarias in Tubac Arizona

In the American Southwest, luminarias are a traditional form of Christmas lights, made by placing a candle in a paper bag weighted down with a little sand. (They now have electric versions, for those leery of putting a lit candle in a paper bag.) You can find luminaria displays throughout the Southwest, and we found these during an annual Luminaria …

Featured Photo: Fall Leaf

October has arrived, and the fall leaves are starting to turn color here in California. (Yes, we have fall color in California.) I found the first sign of fall recently while walking through the redwoods in Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, near Half Moon Bay, CA. It was just a single leaf of a bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) lying …

Featured Photo: Dog Shaking Off

We were at the South Fork American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and I wanted to create a fun image that conveyed the joy our dogs were having playing in the river, and the fun we were having watching them. If you’ve ever been with dogs at a river (or lake or creek or almost any body of water), …

August Photo Gallery: Sierra Nevada

This month’s photo gallery features pictures from the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The Sierra Nevada stretches over 400 miles, and is covered by a continuous line of national forests and parks, making it an outdoor recreation paradise. Not too bad for photos, either. Can’t see the slideshow because Flash isn’t supported? View the original gallery here »

July Photo Gallery: Tucson, Arizona

As the temperatures climb here in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, my mind naturally starts to wander back to when we lived for a time in Tucson, Arizona. Ah, at least it’s not the desert, right? Surprisingly, there are summer days when it’s actually hotter here than in Tucson. I’m not sure we expected that. This gallery features photos mainly from …