Bolsa Chica Wet Lands

If you haven't figured it out yet - my favorite spot for wildlife photography is the Bolsa Chica Wet Lands.  There is such a large assortment of wild / water life I see different things each and every time I go.  Take my most recent venture out there.  I was scheduled and set to shot the Long Beach Middle School boys and girls soccer championships, but once I got to the location I found that either the location or date has changed and that information wasn't forwarded to me.  So later that day I decided to head out to the wet lands to see what I would see.

There are two locations where I will normally park.  The west entrance and the east entrance.  The east entrance has a foot bridge right at the parking lot and is where the terns tend to fish, so I started there where I took a few tern shots.  From this location I can walk either of two trails.  I usually walking along the north trail as it further away from the highway, which in tern is more relaxing, but this time I decided to follow the trail that boarded the pond and highway.  As it was that was the best choice.

While walking along the path I saw what I thought was an Osprey, but now I think it was a red tail hawk, although if you know please correct me on this. , land on a sign along the path I normally take.  Any hoot my first thought was "Damn" the one time I take this path a hawk, which I've never seen done before, lands on sign where I normally walk.  So while I watch and wish I was on the other side the hawk launches off the sign and flies to some shrubs not 20' from me.  I know you can't see it, but I was and still am grinning ear to ear.  I slowly move closer and closer to see what I can get shot wise and spend about the next hour moving around the immediate area taking various shots.  As it turned out the hawk caught a squirrel and instead of flying off somewhere to eat, decided to simply stay there and devour it while I got to watch.  I have to say it was pretty cool watching this - oh and taking the shots.  I was amazed on how close he allowed other people who were walking and jogging along the path to get.  He simply stayed there and finished his din din.

So enjoy the shots and I would love to hear or see what you think.

Bolsa Chica Wet Lands

My father-in-law, who lives Missouri, came out to visit his mother for her birthday asked if I wouldn't mind him and his mom tagging along while I photograph birds.  In his words he wanted to see "The Master in action", and to be honest I never really need a reason to head out to Bolsa Chica Wet Lands so him, his mom and daughter (my wife of course) and I went out to Bolsa Chica Wet Lands to shoot some birds in action.  It was pleasant evening to be out and I enjoyed sharing what I do to get my shots.

It was great sharing something I love with someone.  So here are some of my favorites from our evening out.  I also found a new spot I'm going to try and shoot from to give me a different perspective (lower) and hopefully provide me with some great shots.  Time will tell.

Moore League Track Finals

Covered the Moore League Track Finals and the weather was so much better than the Wednesday prior during the league prelims.  It was a great afternoon / evening to be out shooting track.

During this meet I tried to focus my attention to primarily the varsity events and athletes, since this is what the paper would want and it's their last year to shine before heading off to college.

Hope you enjoy the shots as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Moore League Track Prelims

This past Wednesday the Moore League held their track prelims at Long Beach Community College, so since I was off I decided to get some shots for the local paper I shoot for (Gazette Sports).  The sky was overcast with a mix and gray and dark clouds which caused me to increase that ISO a bit (1/400), which wasn't bad.

Since most of the varsity events were going to be done on Friday when they held the finals, I focused most of my attention on the running events.  So sit back and enjoy a few of my favorites.