This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
I was in the Seashore several days ago. It was nice most of the day, but later the wind came up and then the fog rolled in. Nearby Inverness was predicted to have sunny weather all day and when I left Inverness it was still sunny. Memo to self: Don’t rely on the Inverness weather report for what it’s like inside the Seashore.
I went out to Point Reyes yesterday, something I haven’t been doing too much of this year compared to last year. The forecast said there would be fog, but thankfully it was a no-show. Moreover, the light was fantastic thanks to lots of clouds varying from almost pure white to very dark. The sun shined through in spots on occasion. I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife; just the usual ho-hum critters (quail, songbirds, hawks, elk and deer) plus one coyote just before sunset. I had lunch with a friend who said he saw four bobcats before our lunch. Another friend told me he saw two badgers there yesterday. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m losing my touch in spotting wildlife because I haven’t been spending much time looking for them this year.
I was feeling uneasy all day because I only brought my wildlife gear and I sensed there would be some good landscape opportunities at sunset given the good light and the clouds. Shooting landscape photos with telephoto lenses is, needless to say, limiting. One thing I’ve been meaning to photograph is Black Mountain, which is a large coastal hill/mountain completely covered in grass. It is very green this time of year. I’ve also heard it referred to as Elephant Mountain. I made a mental note to stop in Inverness on my way home to see how it looked. I knew it was one landscape scene I could photograph using a telephoto lens. This is how it looked when I arrived in Inverness. The green grass of Black Mountain has been turned to gold by the setting sun. The water in the foreground is Tomales Bay. The green hills in the midground are not part of Black Mountain. I don’t know why it’s called Black Mountain.
As I stood there in Inverness, I looked at the rest of the east horizon and saw a nice looking ridge well north of Black Mountain that was also bathed in the last light of the day. I don’t know the name for it, assuming there is one. There are two large structures at the top of it, unfortunately.
I was somewhat lucky yesterday which counterbalanced my poor planning in not bringing some landscape lenses. I was lucky in the sense that I made it to Inverness with about 5 minutes to spare before the sun’s golden light left these mountain tops.
I was backing up some images recently and realized I had forgotten that I photographed this osprey last month. I like the background in this photo which is comprised of the hills on the east side of Tomales Bay. The bird is perched on the top of an ornate gate to a dock along the shoreline in the town of Inverness on the way into Point Reyes National Seashore.
This acorn woodpecker and its mate nested in this tree cavity next to my friend Jeff’s garage in Inverness this past spring. Jeff kept an eye on the nest, but never saw any young. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
They are colorful birds. Their habit of storing acorn nuts in the holes they create in trees, fences and anything else made of wood can make them unpopular when they decide to store their nuts in the wood siding of a house.
