Wading Birds, San Francisco, California

California obviously has many beaches as the state sits adjacent to the the Pacific Ocean. The beach near my accommodation in San Francisco was habitat for a number of wading birds.

At low tide several "waders" make their way along the shoreline feeding between wave surges for mollusks (bi-values) and worms.

To capture these images I hiked to the beach just before dawn and waited in the cold winter morning for the sun to peak above the sand dune. As soon as the rays struck across the beach the birds were illuminated in a soft morning glow. I always find the best times to shoot are early morning and late afternoon where you can take advantage of "golden hour" (the time of day 1 hour after/before sunrise/sunset).

San Francisco, California

San Francisco is a vibrant colourful city and cannot be compared with its southern cousin Los Angeles. The two aspect of San Francisco which stand out in my mind is the architecture and the Golden Gate bridge. Lines and style compose this city and each apartment and house block sports a different style of iron gate. Restaurants and food in general are world class and the people very friendly and accommodating.

There is so much to see and photograph in this city and its surrounds that deciding what to do and what to photograph is quite difficult. The morning and evening winter light is exceptionally photogenic and one can easily spend a fortnight on location.

To be honest, when I thought of photographing the bridge I wasn't too enthused.  After all this is not wildlife.  But, after seeing the bridge you cannot help but want to photograph it in the many moods that SF offers.