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Author Topic: Locations around Point Lobos?  (Read 2569 times)

spotmeter

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Locations around Point Lobos?
« on: September 03, 2009, 09:48:52 pm »

I am planning my annual trip to Point Lobos for two weeks in October and am wondering if anyone can recommend some places for landscape photography in the area, other than the state park itself.

As an aside, I drop in to CameraWest on each visit to admire their new and used gear and ask them if they have a photographer's guide to the area. They always reply 'That's a great idea--we should do that' but it has not materialized so far.
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dspeed

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Locations around Point Lobos?
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2009, 02:19:58 pm »

Quote from: spotmeter
I am planning my annual trip to Point Lobos for two weeks in October and am wondering if anyone can recommend some places for landscape photography in the area, other than the state park itself.

That's a target rich environment, but you might check out Tassajara, if that sort of thing is to your liking.

http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/

They have a season where the roads are open to the public; may require pre-planning.

I've not been for awhile, but it was a treat when I have made it.

Dave
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CuriousLens

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Locations around Point Lobos?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2009, 09:03:47 am »

I've taken three trips now to Point Lobos, always a good location around sunset. However if you keep driving down rt1 there are other parking areas and places to hike down to the water. Each one is really a bit different in its own way. A lot depends on the weather, on my last trip it rained hard on and off for four days, making for some interesting clouds and such. There is a dirt road about 10-15 miles past the park on the left (if you going south) that will get you high up and some great views for photography is the weather is right.

Here is what I got from my last trip: http://tinyurl.com/lhe3vh

Best,

Chris
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spotmeter

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Locations around Point Lobos?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2009, 11:31:57 pm »

Quote from: CuriousLens
I've taken three trips now to Point Lobos, always a good location around sunset. However if you keep driving down rt1 there are other parking areas and places to hike down to the water. Each one is really a bit different in its own way. A lot depends on the weather, on my last trip it rained hard on and off for four days, making for some interesting clouds and such. There is a dirt road about 10-15 miles past the park on the left (if you going south) that will get you high up and some great views for photography is the weather is right.

Here is what I got from my last trip: http://tinyurl.com/lhe3vh

Best,

Chris

Nice pics Chris. Any highway markers near the dirt road to the left that will help me pinpoint its location?
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eaglerock

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Locations around Point Lobos?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2009, 11:37:16 am »

I believe Chris may be referring to Old Coast Road.  If so, the north side of it starts literally just north of Bixby Creek Bridge.  It goes for 10.5 miles through a mix of redwood forest and ranches until it drops you off back on PCH near the entrance to Molera State Park.  There are some good photo ops along the route, including the famous shot of BCB from the east which is easy to take from or near OCR a few hundred yards after joining it from the north side.  It is not one of my favorite spots for photography in Monterey County (for me, the drive itself is much better, but since you have so much time, you might as well check it out).  I always take a 4x4 on OCR, but depending on road conditions you may be able to complete the drive with a regular car with no problems.

I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula and taught photography for a little bit there before heading to graduate school, so I'm pretty familiar with the area from a photographic sense.  To help with your location planning, here's a little bit of what I've shot in the area over the years: http://www.eaglerockphotography.com/f73027771.

Besides your main area of interest, Point Lobos (which, for me, is one of the top 5 spots for photography along the entire West Coast), I also really like Carmel Mission, the harbor in Monterey, the aquarium (still fun even though it is very touristy and over-photographed -- for photography, it is best to go in the early morning or in the last 90 minutes before it closes), et al.  I'm guessing you already know about the McWay Cove waterfall at Pfieffer State Park south of Big Sur, but if not, that's another beautiful (if not very over-photographed) spot, especially at sunset during or after a storm.  And like Chris said, anywhere south of Carmel along PCH is great at the right time of day (just be really careful for poison oak).

Please feel free to email me if you have more questions as you get closer to your trip: info@eaglerockphotography.com

Bill
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