This one is another San Diego classic. We took a trip down to La Jolla bay with an eye out for orcas; what we found instead was a wide variety of seafaring birds. In this post I’ll talk through the key to real estate: location location location.

       I personally have a hard time when I pick a location and then attempt to do photography in that location; something about setting out with a goal, for whatever reason, just doesn’t seem to go well at least with nature photography (portraiture is a totally different story). Some of my best shots have come from outings where I just so happened to bring my camera along. This is one of those situations and I am incredibly grateful that I did.

       The birds off these cliffs were something else, namely some I’d never seen before. Cormorants and gulls and nesting oh my! The cormorants were of particular interest, they landed on the ocean itself and just hung out for a while, like little jets waiting for their mission. Their landing sequence was also something of note: they landed wherever they wanted to, but definitely needed a runway and a straight line to do it.

       The gulls were of particular interest namely because of this behavior pictured here: cliff nesting! I’d only ever seen gulls attempting to take a french fry from a small child; where they lived was a new experaince for me. Of course they’d live near the ocean, of course they’d nest in a secluded envronment, but I’d never actually seen it with my own two eyes.

       Then I saw these two, they seemed to be deeply interested in one another. It turns out seagulls do mate for life and I am willing to bet that these two have built and fostered a loving relationship. I watched for what must have been 20 minutes or so as they preened and groomed each other, taking care not only of their bodies but also of their bond. I was grateful to be able to take home this memory and share it with you all.

       Alright so that post wasn’t completely about location, point is sometimes you can do everything right leading up to a shoot and it doesn’t turn out the way you’re expecting. But sometimes even the most serendipitous moments can lend themselves to a beautiful image.

Best, -Ben