The Northern Elephant Seals of Piedras Blancas

I had visited my aunt and uncle in their home in Cambria a couple of times in the 1980s and I had never heard of the Elephant Seals. So I was quite surprised when my cousins mentioned the rookery just a short distance from San Simeon, and Hearst. Now I would have remembered Elephant Seals from a previous trip so I thought something funny was going on.



Well it all started in the fall of 1990, long after my last visit, when fewer than 2 dozen elephant seals showed up in the small cove just south of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. The spring of 1991 saw about 400 elephant seals coming to molt. January 1992 saw the first pups being born which marked the beginning of an elephant seal population explosion. 1993 about 50 pups were born, 1995 600 pups were born, 1996 almost 1000 were born. Now the rookery is home to about 15,000 elephant seals.



Saying the rookery is home to about 15,000 is a bit misleading since the elephant seals spend the vast majority of their time in the open ocean, from eight to ten months of the year.



From what I understand I visited rather early in the birthing/molting/breeding season as the older males, adults and sub-adults were arriving. During this time there are lots of challenges for prime territory. There wasn't a time when I didn't see at least one but more like a couple pairs of seals challenging each other. It was a busy place.

Pregnant females also arrive and begin giving birth. Birthing peaks in mid-January with about two births an hour by the public viewing area right off Highway 1.



These seals are absolutely huge. At birth they weigh about 70 lbs and gain weight quickly to about 300 lbs by 4 weeks of age. Females grow to 9-12 feet and weigh between 900-1800 pounds. Males grow to 14-16 feet long and weigh in at 3000-5000 pounds, or more.

They look like blobs of blubber laying on the beach but when they want to move they can do so very quickly. One thing I found quite humorous was watching the groups of them lying together. When one seal would move on one side of the group the blubber would shake almost across the whole group so another seal 5 over would also move.

I would have loved to spend more time there and will definitely return.

Roger
(-:)

Hearst Castle

My cousin Joanne works at Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, California. She used to be a tour guide but is now a tour guide supervisor, responsible for making sure your tour of the castle is a memorable and enjoyable experience for you. Joanne is so into the history of the castle and is a walking book on the place.

Joanne took Leah, my cousin and her sister, on two private tours of the castle. The night I arrived we toured the inside which was all made up for Christmas. It was raining outside which created a really neat moody environment. The next day we went over to the castle a few hours before she started her shift and walked around the outside. It is the images I made outside that I've included here, didn't make any indoors.

I'm not going to try to give any info on the castle in this post. If you want more, and believe me there is a whole lot more, Google Hearst Castle and your bound to strike it rich.

The first image is the first sight Mr. Hearst's guests would see having just stepped out of their chauffeured vehicle.



One of the guest houses looking up from the terrace.



And the same guest house from the other direction. Not a bad view, eh. It is in this guest house that Hearst lived prior to his death.



Adam and Eve statue.



I was struck by some of the graphic elements I saw.











It's a beautiful place the Hearst Castle is. I couldn't imagine what it was like to spend time there and have the run of the place, except for the 3rd floor of the main house which was Hearst's private floor.



The view from the top of the hill is just stupendous as you can see. If you're ever along the central Calif coast it's worth a stop. (And say 'Hi' to my cousin Joanne (:-) )

Roger

Zion National Park

Next stop, rather pause, after Coral Pink State Park was Zion National Park. I had driven thru Zion the year before right at dusk. It was quite dramatic with very low light so I hadn't stopped to make any images. I had that memory in my mind when I drove thru this year. The sun was quite high in the sky, not the greatest time for photography, and very different from the previous year. As such I only made just a couple of images.

This first image is Checkerboard Mesa. I used a HDR technique where 6 exposures, in this case, we made 2/3 stops apart. By doing this you capture the full range of tones from hilites to dark shadows. A program called Photomatics is used to blend the images together and gives the photographer controls for making final adjustments. It's a technique I need to work alot more with to get it right.



I was most intrigued by the sky and clouds that day. It was really a beautiful day with the sun shining brightly and the temperatures quite mild. This tree just stood out so nicely with the sky in the background and the clouds really mimic the shape of the tree.



I was struck by the contrast of the green pine trees against the red rock of this area and made a few images along the road. In deep shadow the tones were contained and with a little digital darkroom adjustments it makes a pleasant image.




Unable to take the scenic drive the previous year, well I could have taken it I just wouldn't have seen anything since it was dark, it was on my agenda this day. It was a nice drive but nothing really captured my fancy except for the trees high on the ridge with the sky and clouds behind it. So another tree, sky and cloud image, sometimes things run in cycles.

I left Zion pleased that I had driven thru. It's another jewel in the jewel box of the Southwest.

Roger

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

On my nighttime drive from Bryce Canyon to Page, Arizona I passed a sign to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It was an intriguing name but it was dark and I needed to get to my destination. After a couple of days at Page, visiting Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, it was time to move on. I had a day of travel scheduled for the following day and wanted to spend a little time in Zion when I passed thru there. My original plan was to shoot sunrise at Horseshoe Bend but the previous sunrise was uninspiring and the clear skies meant a repeat. I pulled out my photography guide and almost immediately saw Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It was a good hour to hour in a half drive from Page but the sun rises late during the winter so I had plenty of time. Besides, I would be able to knock off a chunk of miles early giving me a little more time in Zion, so that became my plan.



As I approached the park in the dim light of pre-dawn, it became clear there was alot more snow on the ground that where I'd come from. I got rather disappointed that the dunes would be covered with snow as well. So disappointed in fact that when I pulled into the parking lot I decided to have some breakfast before taking a look.

Well one rule of being a photographer is food can always wait. When I finally did check I found the dunes 90% clear of snow and a beautiful sunrise before my eyes. Hurridly, I grabbed my equipment and went out into the dunes but I missed the best light, darn. If only I checked before breakfast, if only.



Oh well all was not lost. The early morning clouds were giving way to the first rays of sun shining across the landscape. I was quite intrigued by the patterns the hanging bushes were making in the sand. A light breeze was blowing and these natural artsts were going about their work. The petterns were constantly evolving and changing. I made a number of images with the same composition and when reviewing them in my computer noticed how patterns changed from one frame to the next. Pretty neat.



The other thing I realized after returning to the car was the two seperate areas of the park. While out on the dunes I noticed remnants of tire tracks all over the place. Turns out there are two sections of the park, an OHV section and a conservation section. I had stopped in the OHV section. Had I known this I would certainly have gone over to the conservation section where vehicle tracks would not have been a problem. Next time.

It was well worth the stop and is likely to be a future stop on future travels.

Roger

Horseshoe Bend

Last year on my drive out to California one of my planned stops was at Horseshoe Bend. I had seen many images made at Horseshoe Bend and it was not far from my previous stop, Canyon de Chelley. (Here's my Blog of Canyon De Chelley from last year). During the drive from Chinle, Arizona to Page, Arizona I passed by Antelope Canyon which triggered my interest in visiting it this year.



Horseshoe Bend is just a few short miles North of Page on U.S. 89. A 3/4 mile hike will put you on the rim 1,000 feet above the Colorado River. If you have a fear of heights you'll probably not want to venture to close to the edge. It's a lllooonnnggg way down. The first image was made with my 17-40mm lens at 17mm with my full frame Canon 5D Mark II. Even with this wide angle lens I can't get it all in the frame, that's how big it is.



Boaters will periodically navigate the river here from Lee's Ferry up toward Glen Canyon Dam. Since December is not boating weather I didn't figure I'd see any and I was right. I did drive to Lee's ferry and saw a group of rafters putting in to go down stream. Seemed a bit to cold to be rafting but these were adventurous souls.



The sandstone around the rim is quite layered and looks rather thin and fragile in places. Before getting close to the edge I would walk around the rim a bit and get a good look of where I was going to be standing before actually walking out to the end. This last image shows my tripod in one of my shooting locations.

Roger
(-:)