Right Place Right Time

I came across this scene a few weeks back while driving past Asilomar State Beach in  Pacific Grove. The winter sunset was amazing as a storm headed in from the west. I was on my way back to the office to process photos from a previous assignment when I spotted two young women watching the scene from the top of their Volkswagon van.

Realizing I only had a few moments before the sun dropped, I quickly parked my car, jumped out and grabbed my camera. I composed my image and exposed for the sky. I was only able to shoot a few frames before the women moved and the sky changed, so I  felt lucky that I happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Fort Ord Dunes State Park

A surfer in position at Fort Ord Dunes State Park as a nice set rolls in on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. The swell was about 6-8 feet and rising with a slight offshore wind.

Wild Art, March 7, 2012

Driving back to the office from an assignment I noticed this interesting scene of farm workers in a field against a backdrop of sprinklers. A 300mm lens with a 1.4x converter allowed me to accentuate the heat waves coming off the ground.

Creekside Terrace Trailhead

My assignment was to illustarte a story on Fort Ord Public Lands. I was sent to the Creekside Terrace Trailhead on the East side of Fort Ord. For this image I used my Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a 16-35mm f2.8 lens set to 16mm. ISO was set to 100, shutter speed to 1/15 sec at f22. I picked a nice section of trail, held the camera low to the ground and walked real fast.

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Thanks for looking,

Vern

Future Firefighters Feel the Burn

 I was driving through Fort Ord just after dawn on Saturday Mar. 3, 2012 when I happened upon a group running in formation while singing a cadence call. 25 years ago this group would have been a group of soldiers. On this morning they were cadets in the California Fire Academy at Monterey Bay, out jogging past some of the decaying former military buildings before a day of training.

While I was not on the clock yet for my day, I drove ahead of the group, grabbed my camera and shot a few frames, their song fading as they passed. 

Point of Inspiration

On March 1, 2012 I was assigned to photograph the rebuilding of trails at Point Lobos State Park. A light rain was coming down at the office as I jumped in my car and headed down Highway 1. As I made my way south of Carmel and passed Monastery Beach I started thinking about the area's importance to photography. I was entering the former stomping grounds of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

I entered the park and drove out toward the Bird Island Trail where the work was being completed. On my way I passed a series of amazing vistas which even under the gray, overcast conditions were striking enough to distract me from my mission. I passed Weston Beach, and arrived at the base of the trail.

I had just started out on the trail when California Conservation Corps worker Marcela Medina came up slowly from behind using a mechanized toter to carry granite boulders toward the area where work was taking place. I stopped and shot some frames as she walked above China Cove. "Wow," I said, thinking of the trail workers as much as myself as she passed through my frame. "What a beautiful place to work."