Although the year 2020 will be remembered for many other reasons, it was a very developmental year for me. Firstly, I started my own photography business. Secondly, I took more photos last year than in any previous year. I was all over the map. In 2019 I moved from San Jose to Salinas and spent much of 2020 exploring my new home. The Monterey Bay area became my new playground and I attempted to document every square inch. Well, maybe every square mile. That being said, here are my best photos of 2020.
Early Mist In Point Lobos
Point Lobos State Park. Sony A7III, E 55-210mm, f/7.1, 1/160, ISO 100.
To my knowledge I had never been to Point Lobos before 2020. After purchasing my Sony A7III in September I needed to get out in the field to get to know this camera. What better place than Point Lobos? In early October I did two trips there in three days and couldn’t get enough of it (and I had only been on two trails!). So the next week on October 17 I made sure to visit the south side of the park.
Getting there just as it opened, I parked and made my way up an elevated trail with a great view South down the coast. I didn’t check the view behind me until I was way up on this rise already but once I did I stopped in my tracks. This was the shot! The sun was still low enough that it was really illuminating the mist coming off the Pacific and the warmth of the light really plays well with the cool blues of the ocean. Lastly, the depth of this photograph is really nice too. There are so many layers of landscape. This photo really captures the essence of Point Lobos’ rugged beauty.
Gas Giants Over Monterey
Jupiter and Saturn conjunction over Monterey Bay. Sony A7III, Sony E 16-50mm, f/3.5, 10 sec, ISO 500.
I’m a huge space nerd so I’m always looking up at the night sky. This night was special because the two largest planets in our solar system aligned so closely together that they appeared as one massive planet in the sky. I wrote a blog all about the process of planning and capturing this image that you can read here.
I didn’t have the gear that would allow me to zoom way in and photograph both planets closely which meant I had to think wider. I had to think about what would make a beautiful foreground that would look nice under the setting planets. Well, Monterey Bay on a clear night would be perfect!
On the night of December 21, 2020 I made my way to the beach and shot this image with my Sony A7III while my GoPro was shooting a time lapse. I also had my Nikon zoomed as far as I could on them to make sure I captured the whole scene, but this is the master shot. Jupiter and Saturn can be seen as the brightest speck of light in the sky on the left side of the image. They look like one because they are so close together from our perspective and the dazzling lights of Monterey really add a nice touch.
Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City, NV. Nikon D5500, Sigma 18-300mm, f/9, 1/320, ISO 200.
Every year for Christmas I travel to Reno to visit my girlfriend’s family and they always take me out on a big drive somewhere. Sometimes it’s to look at old petroglyphs, sometimes it’s to explore an abandoned mine. This trip we visited Virginia City. Well, kind of. We came to see this old mining operation that’s on the south end of the city.
The old run down mining camp was interesting to walk around, but the view of Virginia City from there was amazing. You can basically see the entire town in this shot, with the exception of the south end. It was pretty cold that day, probably in the high 30s at the time of this photograph and there was a very light snowfall. I upped my shutter speed to 320th of a second to “freeze the snow” so to speak. If you look closely you can see snowflakes falling gently in the foreground. Lastly, the clouds in the sky add a lot of texture and detail as well as soften the light. It was a very calm and quiet moment. This image really displays the character of Virginia City well. There are so many buildings and homes of different shapes and colors that the whole place resembles a movie set.
Whaler’s Cabin
Whaler’s Cabin, Point Lobos State Park. Sony A7III, Sony E 16-50, f/5, 1/250, ISO 100.
We’re back to where we started. Point Lobos is so nice I had to show it twice! On the north end of the park you will find the famous Whaler’s Cabin. Overlooking Whaler’s Cove, the cabin was left over from the Chinese whaling efforts that took place along the California Coast. Additionally, Whaler’s Cabin and Point Lobos have appeared in movies such as Vertigo and Turner and Hooch. It’s quite the popular place.
I was coming back from a longer hike as I passed by the cabin and I almost didn’t take this photo. My camera was put away and I had a different lens on it than the one I needed so it would be a hassle to stop and pull out the gear again. But there was no one around and the light was perfect. This may be my only chance to get a photo of it without people going in and out and peeping in windows so I stopped and swapped lenses real quick.
I was glad I did! Look at the detail in the cabin. What great texture. You can almost feel it just by looking at it. The light on the trees brilliantly brings out the greens which contrast well against that deep blue sky. Look at that old, twisted tree that has clearly spent many winters sheltering the cabin from the pounding California storms. I challenge you to take a bad photo in Point Lobos State Park.
