The Pelican Brief 12-11-16

I had another great day of photographing American white pelicans at Lake Chabot.  The pelicans had pretty much taken over the lake, making the task of capturing good pictures relatively easy.

Pelicans 12-03-16

It was a great day to photograph pelicans at Lake Chabot.  There were a number of American white pelicans which approached the shore and the morning light helped create a dramatic mood.

Black Friday Pictures 11-25-16

I'm not much of a Black Friday shopper, so I decided to head out to Lake Chabot for a morning of photography.

The usual cast of players were in abundance -- great egrets, American white pelicans, great blue heron and double-crested cormorants -- but it was the pelicans and one particular great egret that caught my eye.

A great week for photography 11-18-16

I took a much-needed break from my computer work this week and spent several days doing what I love most -- making pictures.  I was fortunate to not only have great weather, but an abundance of birds to shoot.

A long Summer 11-06-16

It sure didn't feel like November today.  I ventured out into the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center this evening in a t-shirt.  Despite the heavy cloud cover and high tide, there were quite a few great egrets, snowy egrets and other birds around to photograph.  I even managed to grab a few nice shots of a squirrel feeding.

OK for a gray day 10-29-16

Nothing compares to golden hour light, but since there wasn't much sun this morning, I didn't have much of a choice: stay home in front of the TV or get out and try to make some pictures.  As far as I'm concerned, there's really only one option.

Egrets, egrets and more egrets 10-22-16

It was a great day to photograph egrets at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center in Hayward this morning.

The importance of light 10-08-16

“When magic hour arrives, my thoughts center on light rather than the landscape.  I search for perfect light, then hunt for something earthbound to match it with.”  -- Galen Rowell

Galen was right.  Photography is really all about light and a lot of people don't understand its importance.  It can really make or break an image.  this morning I was fortunate and had GREAT light and I was very lucky to find something to put into it.

A great morning for photography 10-01-16

This morning was great.  The sun wasn't obscured by cloud cover and although it was low tide at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, I was still able to capture some nice images of both great and snowy egrets.  There were also a few nice moments with the usual cast of smaller birds like long-billed curlews and willets.

You don't have to go far 09-24-16

We had clear weather in the Bay Area today, I made two trips to the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center to take advantage of the golden hour light.  Although I walked about four miles, all of my best images were made within about 30 yards of my car.

Persistance pays off 09-17-16

This morning I had the privilege of leading a bird photography workshop at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center in Hayward, Calif.  The weather was less than ideal, as we had cloud cover for most of the morning.  To make matters worse, it was low tide by the time we made it out to the shoreline.  Needless to say, there weren't many birds to photograph.

We waited for the tide to begin coming in, and fortunately, as I've experienced so many times at the Shoreline Center, we found a few egrets and long-billed curlews as we made out way back to the parking area.  We were even lucky enough to see a great egret taking a stroll beside the trail.

Cloud cover 09-10-16

It was another gray day at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center in Hayward, Calif.  The tide was pretty high at sunrise and there weren't many birds close to the trail.  Thank God for long lenses.

It pays to be persistent 09-04-16

I was feeling pretty ill by the time the tide started to move out at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center this evening, but I toughed it out and managed to finally get some nice shots of a black skimmer hunting for food.

Gone Fishing 08-27-16

I've been waiting for a sunny morning for about three weeks now, but rather than sit at home doing nothing, I decided to head out to the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center and see what I could find.  There were the usual suspects: egrets, long-billed curlews, American avocets and ducks.  The egrets and American avocets were what I found most interesting.

The pictures weren't as nice as they could have been had the sun broke through the clouds, but I'll take what I can get.  Photography is about taking risks -- no risk, no reward.

Birds at Sunset 08-13-16

Although there isn't as much activity on the Hayward Shoreline in the evening, I managed to make a few nice bird pictures on Saturday.  The golden hour light was absolutely amazing.