Tag: point reyes national seashore

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote facing the setting sun at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Here is a photo I took in 2011 that I came across recently.  I don’t know why I never put it on my website, but I just corrected that.  It was taken at sunset in the ranching area of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Ranching?  Yes, there is ranching in this unit of the national park system.  The ranchers were all bought out by the Park Service between 1962 and 1978 and, to ease the move out of the Seashore, the Park Service gave them reservations of use and occupancy for 20 years.   The last ones should have been out by 1998, but thanks to politics, they are still there and paying a rent for grazing and living there of often less than 10% of fair market value.  The Park Service is required by law to collect fair market for any lands or buildings it leases.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Cypress Tree Tunnel, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a place in Point Reyes National Seashore called the Cypress Tree Tunnel because the road leading to an historic RCA site is shaded by a row of cypress trees on each side of the road and they grow over the road forming a tunnel-like appearance..

This is a view of the driveway leading to an historic building that was used by RCA long ago to communicate with ships in the Pacific. It’s somewhat famous for the cypress trees along the driveway because they form a tunnel leading to the old building. When I drive by this spot there are usually one or more people standing there taking photos.  As a person who is primarily a wildlife photographer, I’ve driven by there hundreds of times in the past 15 years and never stopped to photograph the tunnel. Recently, I decided I ought to do that some time.  A month ago I was driving by and no one was there. So, I stopped and took a few quick held-held “snapshots” with a not-ideal 100-500 mm lens (at 100 mm) just to be able to look at some photos at home to see if I should bother to go back for some more serious photos with a wider angle lens on a tripod, at sunset.  Maybe HDR.  I’m surprised that the photos, like the one above, were fairly good.  That makes me want to go back and try for better results.    

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a coyote at Point Reyes National Seashore at sunset.

I photographed this coyote yesterday just before the sun set  I spotted it about fifteen or twenty minutes before sunset and stayed with it until the sun actually set.  It’s my favorite time to photograph wildlife, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.  I assume the light is just ad good at sunrise, but it’s a heck of a lot harder spotting anything to photograph in the dark.