San Gregorio Beach is located half way between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, along the famous California State Route 1. The view from the beach is spectacular in all directions and it a perfect location for a short hike.
When you are on the beach, it is hard to imagine that such peacefulness and beauty is located only a short drive from the chaos and craze of Silicone Valley.
California. San Gregorio Beach
Loc: 37.323889, -122.402222
That was one of those days when you do not expect to end up with any decent photos but, as it happens often, the weather proved your wrong.
It was a gloomy afternoon with the dark and low clouds blocking the sunlight, making everything monochromatic and boring.
I did not expect anything. I went to the park with the intention to get some fresh air and to listen to my favorite podcasts. I did not bring with me any photo equipment except my camera. For this type of occasions, I have a jacket with oversize pockets where I can fit my Sony a6000 without bringing a camera bag with me.
The sunset was dull, but when the sun submerged behind the horizon, everything changed suddenly. Not only the area around horizon got illuminated by warm light but the entire the sky was on fire.
I knew it was my chance and this sudden change would last only for a couple of minutes.
Canada. Montreal. Lachine
Loc: 45.429242, -73.683552
Pfeiffer Beach is one of the iconic locations in North California. It always attracts photographers from around the world. Anytime you visit the beach you can find at least one photographer with the tripod. It is not uncommon to see photo workshops at the beach or groups of photographers from the local photo clubs.
California. Big Sur. Pfeiffer State Beach
Loc: 36.23815, -121.81489
Every time I travel to California I try to visit the Pfeiffer Beach at least for a couple of hours, to have a picnic with the fantastic view and to take a few shots.
The last time I visited Pfeiffer Beach, everything worked against me.
I love Grand Manan Island for its unique location and beauty. Even in such a beautiful location, however, facing an empty sky on a humid, summer day can make it challenging to find an interesting subject to photograph even during sunset.
When I am out of ideas on Grand Manan and signature seascapes begin to look ordinary, I drive to Flagg Cove and walk along the Fisherman Wharf hunting for water reflections.
Here is the result of my solution for countering “bad photography weather.”
Big Sur is one of the most popular locations. It is positioned at the very beginning of the coastal drive only miles away from Monterey. Here, the side of the road is always lined with cars as people try to capture the iconic location.
The last time I was there it struck me that the signature seascapes of California look very different compared to what I witnessed and photographed two to three years ago. Why? The reason for that was due to the end of the five-year drought in California. The landscapes now look green once again and are not washed out like they were during the drought.
I stopped the car and took a couple of shots for a side-by-side comparison with the photographs I took years prior.
California. Big Sur
Loc: 36.477280, -121.936359
When I was organizing my third trip to the Southwest, I was extremely thorough. I planned nearly all the sunrises, sunsets and everything in between. But, the Goosenecks State Park in Utah was an unplanned and unexpected golden nugget that I only stumbled upon by accident.
I was on my way from spending a few hours capturing the sunrise at Valley of the Gods to the focal point of the day—Monument Valley. When I saw a road sign for Goosenecks State Park, I was not able to Google it since I did not have internet in the area. Luckily, I decided to explore it anyway.
That was a decision I do not regret.
The view of the San Juan River from an elevation of 300m is surreal because of its enormous scale. It was a clear day and I could see the mesas and buttes of Monument Valley on the horizon.
Utah. Goosenecks State Park
ailLoc: 37.173707, -109.927772
It was an exhausting 13-hour flight from Montreal to Honolulu with a connection in New York, but I did not complain. It was the middle of January with temperatures below -20C in Eastern Canada and, in O’ahu, it was +25C with high humidity and mild temperature fluctuations between day and night. The water temperature in the ocean was 25C making it comfortable at any time.
I took full advantage of the weather and woke up around 3am every morning to drive to different parts of the island for sunrise hikes.
The highlight of my visit to Hawaii was a day-long hike around Hanauma Bay.
It was my very first trip with my brand new Sony a6000 camera just weeks after selling all my Canon gear and making the switch to mirrorless.
Hawaii. O’ahu. Hanauma Bay Rim Trail
Loc: 21.272665, -157.6987727
After visiting Bryce Canyon on a couple occasions, I still hadn’t fulfilled my dream of hiking down to the bottom of the canyon with my photography gear. The first time, I was hard pressed for time and could only drive along the rim of Bryce Canyon for a couple of hours, stopping only for a short period at vista points along the way.
During my two-week Southwest driving trip the following year, I dedicated an entire day to Bryce Canyon. But, again, I was out of luck. When I reached the park in the middle of May, the weather started rapidly changing and the warm spring morning transformed into a winter day complete with heavy snowfall. A hike down the canyon was out of the question.
Finally, luck was on my side during my third attempt. Again, it was the middle of May and the weather was unpredictable as usual at 9,000-feet altitude. The temperature was around freezing as it started and stopped snowing on a few occasions. Fortunately, the snow never lasted long and it was still dry.
The hike down the Navajo Trail was easy and fast. Only 45 minutes into the hike, it felt like I was in an entirely different climate zone. The temperature was around 20°C with absolutely no wind because the bottom was shielded by the canyon’s walls. It felt like summer.
I found myself exploring the bottom of the canyon wearing a t-shirt. A few hours later, I completed my hike and reached my car at the top where the weather was wintry once again.
USA. Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park
Loc: 37.621863, -112.164673
The Camel Butte is one of Monument Valley’s signature landmarks and was very high on my to-do list during my first visit to the region.
When I approached the GPS coordinates of Arizona’s Camel Butte, I was a bit confused at first because I could not find it. The famous formation was completely covered by the combination of low, dark clouds and fog that made it invisible even from a distance of only a couple hundred meters. It was also raining very hard.
What I learned from my previous visits to the Southwest was that the weather is unpredictable and constantly changing in the middle of spring. That’s why I decided to take a pause and wait out the rainy and foggy conditions.
Luckily, I did not have to wait for long. By the end of my 20-minute lunch break in the car, the storm was gone and the sun was back illuminating the rocks with beautiful, soft light.
USA. Arizona. Monument Valley
Loc: 36.952014, -110.079115
It's been more than three years since I last visited Cuba. When I realized that so much time had passed, I knew I had to act fast.
I booked a ticket and, in less than 24 hours, I am leaving for Cuba.
I ventured deep into my Lightroom catalog and found this unpublished and unprocessed photo from my last trip to Cuba. Like a blast from the past, the featured photo from three years ago made me realize that I was still shooting with a Canon and that the PhotoTraces blog did not yet exist.
The featured photo also reminded me of the reason I switched from Canon to Sony. I completely forgot how noisy the RAW images from my old Canon 60D were and how narrow the dynamic range of the Canon sensor was.
Cuba. Cayo Coco
Loc: 22.541806, -78.437743
