la jolla

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I was in a photo editing mood so I went back to earlier this year and found some images from San Diego, California that I’ve never looked at. Somehow I ended up editing all sunset images. I suppose sunsets are a bit better on the west coast than sunrises. LOL

This image was taken during a visit to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. It’s definitely on my must-photograph list when visiting America’s Finest City. Trust me, the place is mind-blowing and on this trip to Salk, I planned to be there to watch the sunset. I did not expect to see some gliders riding by. It was so cool because I did not realize just how close Torrey Pines Gliderport is. I kinda saw them out of the corner of my eye (cuz there was more than one glider out at this time) and then when I finally turned around to see what was really going on, I was mesmerized.

How cool would it be to be on one of those at sunset? I bet the view must be amazing. Perfect for a little GoPro video.

I love how simple this image turned out. I think my favorite part is that you can see a little peek of the sun as it’s going down behind the clouds but I purposely left a little bit of the ground showing in the image just to give it some context. Also, that may or may not be a ship in the background.

My camera settings for this image is F5 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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Just an early morning view of some surfers at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, California. Is it me or if you glance at it real quick, it just looks like some little bits of rice that has fallen down? LOL. This was my only successful attempt of actually getting footage of my cousin, Vincent surfing. All other times he was already in the water and I tried using my drone to find him but with everyone in all black wet suits with white surfboards, it can be really difficult to find the person you’re looking for. It finally worked out that I had my drone ready to go when he was getting into the water and followed him while flying. I told Andrew to also keep a lookout just in case. But I’m so glad I was actually able to find him this time.

While trying to capture him, I had it on video for a majority of the time. But this image was taken in the part of the ocean where it is a bit calmer. You can sit on the board and relax a little bit before swimming out deeper to get the big waves. So while they were taking a break, I took a few pics. I loved the really calm water with the gradient of blues. I purposely waited for a little wave to come up so that it looked more like ocean water and I could highlight Vincent a little more. He’s the guy on the green surfboard kicking up towards the top of the image. The whole time I was editing this image I was channeling my inner Mark Rothko and imagining what he would do. Either way, I love the way it turned out. It just oozes with calmness.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/100th sec and ISO 196 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

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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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I love La Jolla. Out of all the places that we have visited in San Diego, La Jolla is my favorite place to be. I love the beaches, the views and how photogenic that little part of SoCal is. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it also seems a bit quieter than the neighboring Pacific Beach and just an overall cool place to hang out.

This image was taken after a night of rain. It actually rained a couple of times while we were out there which was so weird because I thought it never rained in southern California? Anyways, Vincent was taking another surf lesson at sunrise so Andrew and I decided to tag along. We figured we could bring Frankie and let him run around on the beach before a lot of people got there and I could also take some early morning shots too. It turned out to such a quiet and beautiful morning of just walking in the sand and flying the drone. But after awhile both Andrew and I got a little hungry. We found a cafe close by that we could walk to but along the way we had to walk across the parking lot. It was like hitting the puddle jacket pot. I also distinctly remember saying out loud “oh snap, reflections ahead”. LOL. Who does that? It must have been my way of warning Andrew that we were going to be in the parking lot for a little while.

But honestly, if I had to pick one place with the best palm trees in San Diego, La Jolla Shores has to be it. There’s nothing special or different about them. The only difference is that there’s a lot of them on area.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/5000th sec at ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

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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.

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Andrew, Frankie, our cousins and I have officially made it to San Diego and were loving it. It’s so nice to be able to spend some winter days on the west coast. Before this we were in Joshua Tree National Park and it was so nice but our trip was way too short. But I’m glad we even got to go at all. It has always been one of those places that I try my best to visit, but every time the opportunity came up, there was so reason why we couldn’t go. So I’m glad we finally made it.

This image was taken last year around this time in La Jolla. I seriously could spend all day photographing and watching these Sea Lions. It’s one of my favorite things about visiting San Diego. It’s just so peaceful and a sight you would never see in Washington. This little guy was definietly hamming it up for the camera.

I’ve heard seeing the sea lions can really be a hit or miss. I’m lucky (knock on wood) that I’ve never not seen them. This image was taken at the La Jolla Cove. Every time I’ve seen them, they have been there or at Children’s Pool just in case you are planning your own visit.

I remember taking this image and purposely tried to shoot at a low perspective. I really wanted to at least get this little guy’s face in the reflection. You can see I got maybe a little bit of his mouth and that’s it. LOL. It’s ok though, I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities on this trip to try to capture what I have envisioned.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/200th sec and ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm zoom lens.