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Photographing bears, particularly Grizzly Bears, is always a rush. These animals are truly awesome. Their natural behavior, raw power and characteristic look make for great photography. No matter where you photograph these awe inspiring creatures, the wild, zoos or wildlife refuges,  they always deserve your respect as you never know what they might do. With a little luck someday soon I look forward to the opportuni

One of the most essential pieces of knowledge to understand in order to attain sharp images, particularly for landscapes, is the principle of hyperfocal distance. Phil Davis put it best in Photography, 1972 “When the lens is focused on the hyperfocal distance, the depth of field extends from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity.” The general tip to burn into your memory is focus 1/3 of the way into yo

California Sea Otters certainly have an air of relaxation about them.  As relaxed as they seem they’re actually quite active eating 20% of their body weight in food per day. Their constant pursuit of food is a reflection of their fast metabolism that helps them survive in the frigid northern California water. Their diet includes mostly invertebrates such as sea urchins, mussels, abalone, clams, scallops, crabs

This past weekend my sister’s family was visiting and I got a chance to experience San Francisco with fresh eyes with my niece, age 5, and nephew, age 3. Having lived in San Francisco now for nearly 10 years opportunities to see and experience San Francisco in new ways is increasingly rare.  As you can only imagine we had a great time. One thing of note this weekend was that I finally took a ride on a cable ca

On my birthday this past weekend I took a much needed break and stopped off at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The last time I was there was in 2004 just after I got my 1D Mark II. Well this time around I had the luxury of photographing this great aquarium with my 1Ds Mark III. One thing that I have to commend the Monterey Bay Aquarium on is their commitment to education. Recently the Monterey Bay Aquarium started up a Tw

Another perspective in my Springtime Oak series. This is a little different than my last “Springtime Oak” in that I wanted the tree to be the sole subject. California Oak trees take on such complex forms that they lend themselves very well to be photographed. Their branches are so crooked and jagged, yet in whole form take on a shape that is rather iconic. In many regards the layering of their crooked bra

California’s coastline is hard to beat as a photographic subject. I’ve seen just about every mile of the California coastline from San Diego to the Oregon border and to this day one of my favorite areas is the coastline along Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. What makes this stretch of coast so photogenic is the combination of surf, coastal rocks and rich kelp beds. Sunset on the Rocks – Monterey, Calif

One of the most exciting developments to occur this weekend was the landing of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Landing on the northern pole region of Mars, amazing photos were sent back detailing unusual, yet familiar looking polygonal shapes in the polar landscape. Upon seeing these photos I didn’t need to read a word on the NASA Phoenix Lander web site about what I was seeing. From my trip to the Arctic National Wil