For the Birds: Take One

Many of these bird photographs were shot at Wild Animal Park and are not on my current web site yet. It is now known as the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Eventually these photographs will be included after redesigning and updating the site.

S curve

 

Looks to be a hatchling. Or me first thing in the morning.

 

Until nest time! (Nest... next... get it? Never mind.)

Revisited: Big Sur #3

These are the last of the Big Sur series of photos I took several years ago. I love the place and wish to visit again soon, although that sentiment seems to be an underlying theme to places already visited. I end up wanting to go somewhere new, and rarely, if ever, will go a second time to the same place just to photograph. As it is, there are so many places I want to visit and photograph that one lifetime would not cover, considering I may only have a handful more of good years that could be devoted to some serious photography endeavors. Of course, there will always be exceptions to this rule.

The images below were taken around sunset and just past, known to photographers as the "Golden Hour". There are two golden hours actually: the time just before and during sunrise and the same applies for sunset. After that, the light becomes too harsh and contrasty. You, yourselves have experienced it.

When does one watch the sunset, and why? Favorite time of the day for me? Sunrise. Things are quiet, the air cool, still and fresh, and the sun is low -- bathing the earth with a warm, soft glow. This is especially pronounced in the fall when the sun comes up low on the horizon and seems to take its pleasant and sublime time before reaching up into the upper strata of the sky.

The silhouette of the man above is one of my favorite Big Sur photos. It isn't spectacular, but it does express a sense of serenity; of someone coming down to the water's edge in order to sit, admire, and reflect for a period of time, and to temporarily be at peace with one's self and with the world.

 

 The shot above was taken some ten minutes after the sun was completely down. What appears to be fog is actually the shore break. The effect is achieved by setting the camera on a sturdy tripod and in this case, exposing for 30 seconds.

Point Sur Lighthouse. Taken well after sunset, with an exposure time of 4 seconds. Supposedly haunted. GACK!

That concludes the Big Sur photos. The next set of pics is for the birds.

Revisited: Big Sur #2

Flotsam and Jetsam. Garrapata State Park

Big Sur coastline, Bixby Bridge in background. This general area is one of the easier access points to the shore along the Big Sur drive where one can observe sea otters. Easy to watch, but very hard to photograph properly.

McWay Falls. In order to preserve the pristine nature of this phenomenal little cove, all human access is prohibited.

Dune Doodles, Pfeiffer Beach. Tracks left by little critters crawling over and burrowing under the dune sands. Arch also visible, created by some wind blown dune grass swaying back and forth.

Revisited: Big Sur, California

Revisited: Big Sur, California

 Happy New Year to you all! In order to help kick off this first day of 2013, I've added another post.

Back around 2007 - 2008, I visited the Big Sur coastline of Central California. What a glorious place! If you don't want fog or rain and clouds, the best time to visit is March thru May.

During one of my midday forays, I decided to hike up one of the several hiking accessible canyons that cut down through the coastal mountain range, to culminate in the Pacific Ocean. These are beautiful little Edens of sylvan life; many which contain small stands of redwood trees. Below are some photos I took in one of these gorgeous, quaint, and quiet canyons.

Fern grotto I came across off to the side of the main trail. Had to scramble over brambles and vines in order to set up for this shot. Unfortunately, the brambles didn't have any berries at the time, only flowers. I assume them to be native blackberries.

Bracket fungus.
Found growing in the bark of what I remember to be an oak of sorts. The sulfur color was remarkable.
 

 

One creature I was on the hunt for in these Big Sur canyons, was the aptly named banana slug. How so named? First of all, they range in color from pale brownish-yellow, all the way up to a bright yellow. Also, they can get HUGE. According to Wikipedia, slugs close to ten inches long (9.8 to be exact) have been recorded. I didn't find any, but if you look closely around the middle and bottom edge of the fungus above, you'll see a slime trail left by one of these lovely (I think) terrestrial gastropods. Now that would have made a cool photo! A gorgeous yellow banana slug cruising over the sulfur-yellow bracket fungus.

Wood Sorrel. A study in detail.

Pfeiffer Beach.

Pfeiffer Beach is one of those little gems along the Big Sur drive that if one doesn't know of its presence or where its general location is, becomes one of those spots missed that should have been visited if only known about. From the highway, one winds down a fairly large, but gently sloping canyon down to an open flat spot where one can park.

Between the parking lot and the beach is a thick stand of Monterey Cypress one has to cross beneath. The path down to the beach takes you through this natural tunnel underneath the trees. This was shot a bit after sunset, taken from the beach and looking back towards the parking lot.

More Big Sur photos to come.

Revisited:

Revisited:

Someone who receives this blog suggested posting photos already taken, since I won't be in any situation to shoot new photos in the foreseeable future. After giving it some thought, I concluded that this would be a great idea, as I'm in the process of updating my web site, and in doing so, have created new photos and reworked many older ones.

The existing web site is in sore need of a fresher, modern face, plus I've shot many more photos since the last time I updated and loaded new pics. The new web design is still a work in progress and won't replace the aging site for some time to come.   Andrew Kliss Photography

I'll periodically add several photos with each new post and pretty much going down the alphabet starting us off with... (Remember: one can view photos as a slideshow by clicking on any one of them.)

Revisited: The Anza Borrego Desert

 

Sunrise view from Font's Point overlooking the beginnings of the Anza Borrego Desert basin.

Went on a photo excursion several years ago with a group of photographers
to visit various sites throughout the desert. One such area are the mud slots
where periodic flash floods have carved out these slot canyons from muds
once deposited by an ancient sea. Above, is an entrance to one of these slots.

Inside one of the slots. In order to get to this point, one had to perform various contortions
in order to navigate some very low and very narrow passageways. Complicating matters
was the inclusion of backpacks full of gear and cameras attached to tripods.

Our main intent that year was to capture photos of the wildflowers that blanket this desert on a good year. Alas, it turned out to not be such a stellar year, plus we visited past the peak of what did show.

Merry Christmas to All!

Andrew Kliss - Yosemite Valley 2008

The Salton Sea Adventure

Visited the Salton Sea out in Imperial County with one of the photography clubs I belong to. It was a fun shoot, taking pics in the Bombay Beach area on the east side of this inland sea. Below are some photos shot there.

A little Salton Sea history: At the beginning of the 20th century, an aqueduct was built to feed the new Imperial Valley agricultural farms of southeastern California with water diverted from the Colorado River to the east.

After completion, the water burst through the dike and flooded the desert floor for two years, forming the present day Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is below sea level and is the largest lake in California, even eclipsing in size Lake Tahoe.

At one time many moons ago and being a part of the Sea of Cortez to its south, this region which includes the Anza Borrego Desert nearby, was submerged underwater. Eventually, this northern terminus of the Sea of Cortez was cut off by silt deposits built up from the Colorado River dumping into the Sea. Over time, it became off and then on, a lake that dried up and reformed to the rhythms of cyclical rainfall variables. The latest iteration of this lake formed in 1905 with the consequent flooding by the dike breach.

It is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, although not as salty as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It also contains large amounts of minerals derived from the soils below it, from the Colorado River water itself, from agricultural runoff, and the fact that there is no outlet in order to flush out these accumulating salts and minerals.

At one time during the 50's and early 60's, its shores became a mecca for water and sport fishing enthusiasts. Land was parceled and divided, lots sold and small communities sprang up all along various sections of the lake. One such area was Bombay Beach that boasted a sizable marina, four bars along the shoreline and scores of homes and trailers for visitors, snowbirds and permanent residents.

Fish such as corvina and tilapia were introduced, which spawned a popular and noteworthy sport fishing industry. In fact, record-size corvina were commonly caught that rivaled the largest catches from the Pacific, its original home.

Over time the lake became more and more saline and the buildup of minerals, coupled with reduced water flow into the lake and agricultural runoff full of leached out minerals that is also infused with pesticides, the lake began to deteriorate ecologically, and the imbalance and eventual biotic collapse began.

Large algal blooms caused by the warm water, little water circulation and increased fertility of the sea itself caused oxygen deprivation, which killed off countless thousands of fishes. The buildup of pesticides and heavy metals affected the bird populations here, resulting in massive die-offs too. The Salton Sea is a critical overwintering and migratory stopover for birds.

Periodic die-offs of birds and fishes are now commonplace. There was a massive fish die-off just recently (I think this past year or two) of which its aftermath can be witnessed along the shores of the lake by large bands of white fish bones.

Some old and abandoned pilings left over from a little pier or boat landing. Notice the salt and mineral buildup.

Dead tilapia floating along the shore.

This is not common flotsam or jetsam. It is the piled up and bleached bones of countless dead fishes, mostly tilapia.

What's left of a vacation trailer by the shore.

One of the reasons we went out there was to do some light painting. Light painting in photography is the application of artificial light on a subject in order for it to show up or stand out in a darkened environment. Here, we opened up our shutters for a period of time (anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes) and "painted" the old pilings with flashlights.

Here, one of the members brought some steel wool, stuffed it in an egg beater and attached it to a three foot cord. After lighting it on fire, he twirled it around while we had our shutters opened for the duration of the flaming steel wool.

Same thing, this time inside one of the abandoned and dilapidated trailers.