Although I haven't traveled afar this week, it has been a busy and rewarding one. Last Thursday I had the privilege of giving a presentation of my landscape photography at the Inland Empire Photo Club (IEPC). This is one of the most enthusiastic photography groups I've seen.  As a followup I'll be leading a field trip for the group on Saturday January 21st at the Oceanside Harbor during the Golden Hour and Twilight.  If you're interested, shoot me an email at dlenhert [at] sbglobal.net for specifics. (email address obscured to avoid auto-spammers). 

My good friend Dick Cronberg, who often leads the IEPC and is one of the best wildlife photographers I know, pointed out that the Brown Pelicans were in breeding plumage and was a great time to capture their color and behaviors as they gathered around the cliffs of La Jolla Cove.  Last Saturday there was also very high surf due to a storm off of Japan the week before; and of course, the ever present seals at Children's Pool. So, Lee Kirchhevel, another great wildlife photographer, and I headed out at sunrise to see what we could capture. I find wildlife photography more challenging than landscapes, which require more patience than I typically have. Even though I was using a fast lens, I still found it difficult to keep the focus sharp in the mere micro seconds it took between autofocus and shutter release.  There were a couple of reasons for this.  First, I was shooting wide open at f/2.8 or f/3.5 in order to blur the background so my depth of field was very narrow.  Secondly, I was using my Nikon D90 body to get the benefit of the 1.5 crop factor out of my 200mm lens. My D700 would have given me continuous focus capability, higher burst rate, and faster response, but I wouldn't have gotten the extra 100mm reach from the lens.  This isn't something I have to worry about when shooting landscapes.  In the end, Lee and I came away with some images we were pretty happy with.  Here are just a few...