ANGELA B. PAN

Being from the east coast, I love our annual getaways to the west. Sort of like how birds migrate to the south for winter, I like to migrate the west and soak up the California sun and surf. Plus any excuse for a fresh acai bowl, amirite?

To be honest though, San Diego is one of my favorite places to be. I love the vibe of the city, everyone is super friendly and there’s no shortage of things to do. You have the beach life but also a fun downtown area if the city is more of your scene. It’s all of that plus a super dog friendly city. Frankie loves taking his morning walks on the beach, you basically have to drag him off the sand.

This was our second year in a row visiting around the start of the new year, but I have visited many times in the past too. This will definietly not be our last time visiting so keep checking back as I update this guide.

So if you’re heading to San Diego, here are the best places to take pictures:

The Beaches

This past trip we stayed at this beautiful airbnb right at the tip of Mission Beach. It was the perfect place for us because we were able to enjoy the beach in a less crowded environment but still have views of the water.  (If you’ve never stayed at an airbnb, I highly recommend it. Especially if you’re going somewhere for an extended stay. It’s all the comforts of home while you travel.) Morning runs were peaceful on the boardwalk and Mission Bay was right behind us which made it fun to fly the drone for a satisfying perspective of land and water. But if we wanted to check out some of cool restaurants on Pacific Beach, we were just a 15 minute scooter ride away.

One of my favorite parts about Pacific Beach was standing at the end of Crystal Pier. The pier allowed for unique, overhead shots of the wave riders and definietly provided a lot of great photo opportunities. And you can usually find the bubble man around sunset. I love watching the huge bubbles fly in the air and can’t resist trying to pop some if they float in my direction. The kids love them too!

(left) view from Crystal Pier (right) bubble from the bubble man framing a palm tree

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While in California, I headed to some of my favorite spots to take pictures. It’s crazy what a difference a year can make. For example, this image was taken at the same exact spot but a year before.

There are a few key differences that have made this year’s image better than the last, in my opinion.
1. Last year’s image was taken around sunset which was at that time was low tide. There wasn’t as much water to fill the frame and I needed to have that bird walk by to have something of interest in the frame. The water itself is far less dramatic and I don’t know… it’s just not what I was looking for this year.

This year’s image was taken at sunrise during high tide and there was far more water to “play” with.

2. Last year I remember wanting to squat down a lot in order to capture the reflection in this image. Low tide is the best time to capture reflections in the sand but that could have been better too. I don’t think I used a tripod for that image.

3. The lens choice! I know I got my 70-200mm later on in 2018 but wow, the compression on this years image is so much more interesting to look at. I love seeing the water swirl between the pier’s legs. But that my eye immediately goes to the far back with that one wave. Love the color tones in that one. I captured this with my tripod and we both got our legs soaked. My legs and the tripods but it was so worth it.

So what do you think? Which image do you like better? They both tell different stories, but I enjoy this year’s a lot more.

My camera settings for this year’s image is F20 at 0.6 sec ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm on a tripod.

Greetings from San Diego! and Happy New Year! This is my first official blog post of 2018. The first two were prescheduled in 2017. Kinda sneaky, eh? LOL.

So far 2018 has been nothing short of beautiful. I’m currently sitting on the front porch of our Airbnb cottage, listening to water flowing from a water fountain and staring at some beautiful oranges on our orange tree. Not sure how it could get any better than this. Since arriving, Andrew, Frankie and I have just been settling into our new environment. We went to the farmers market to pick up some fresh produce and just been sightseeing and getting to know the area a little better. We’re staying in North Park and loving every minute of it. Every morning we’ve been here has been incredibly foggy. Foggy but so fun and exciting! By mid-morning everything clears up and it’s back to enjoying the sunny skies.

I took this image yesterday in La Jolla at Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier. It was taken about an hour after sunrise and after the fog lifted from the beach. My favorite part of this image is that little hit of sun glow on the wood. To be honest, I’m not sure how busy this place gets at sunrise but somehow I feel lucky to have been the only one there. Well, me and this seagull of course.

I can’t wait to explore San Diego even more with my camera. So if you have any photo recommendations for me, let me know! Also food recommendations. I’ve already had my first official fish taco as my first meal when we arrived but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be my last 🙂

The camera settings for this image is 1/200th of a second at F5.6 and ISO 200 with my Sony a7II and 28-70mm lens.