This past Sunday started off early. I was on the road with my friend at 3am to look for and photograph harbor seals. Getting to our destination, a coastal region north of Bodega Bay, well before sunrise we waited out first light only to find that there were no seals in sight. Disappointed we ended up traveling farther north to Salt Point State Park. There we found harbor seals, but not quite how we had hoped.
Not wanting to leave empty handed we set up to take a few shots and head out looking for other wildlife (See Part I). Setting up quickly I took a few photographs of the seals sleeping and sunning themselves in the early morning light while my friend set up her camera and 400mm f/2.8 rental lens. Just as I turned to jokingly take photos of her, her camera and rental lens slid off her tripodhead into rocks at her feet. The sound of cracking glass and crunching plastic was a sound worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. Fortunately her camera was fine, but her flash and teleconverter were damaged beyond use. The lens appeared to be a loss with a cracked front element. The whole accident was a real downer. All was not lost though as we did salvage the day later with some scouting of surrounding areas and miscellaneous wildlife encounters.
Far from what I was hoping for I did get a few decent shots…
