Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

• Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

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Getting to Big Sur and seeing an amazing sunset should be on everyone's bucket list. I remember a time when I used to dream about driving through this amazing stretch of road that hugs the incredible coastline. In my last 5 years in the west coast of the united states, my wife and I have traveled the entire stretch of the Pacific coast highway all the way from San Diego to Portland and we have traveled the rest on Rt 101 all the way up to Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula. To see sheer wildness and beauty, I believe, there are no other roads that provide this much scenery in every turn.

This shot was taken at the Point Lobos Natural Reserve during sunset. Since this is a natural reserve, humans are not allowed after sunset and that means you have to wrap up shooting before the actual sunset. We stayed as late as possible before sprinting like crazy to our car and getting out of the park before the gates closed. This cove is known as the coal chute point or the pit and this shot were taken from the granite point trail. This little cove is home to three submarine caverns that make them a popular with divers. I didn’t use any filters here and the light was low enough to afford me a low shutter speed. I took the time to compose with some foreground interest and to focus on the beautifully lit coastline. Hope everyone like it.

• Amelia Earhart.

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On the first day of the road trip, we planned for a sunset shoot at Point Lobos State Preserve, which is at the northern end of Big Sur and is pretty close to Carmel. This worked well as we planned to stay over at Carmel and getting to the hotel after the sunset was great. Unfortunately, since it was a state preserve, we learned that we had to get out of the park right at the time of sunset. So, we couldn’t wait till proper sunset but sunset itself was not that great that day.

There are actually two main coves at the preserve and this one was taken near the Whaler’s Cove on the Granite point trail. The part of the hike where the trail loops around coal chute point provide some spectacular scenery of the rugged coastline. This small cove is known as The Pit and is an easy spot to spot whales and sea lions. While we were there, the light on the cliff walls was just spectacular so I framed the shot with the surf and the pebble beach to frame the gorgeous light.

• Socrates.

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I hope all of you had an amazing Christmas and spend some great time with you loved ones. We had always passed through the two northern most state parks in the Big Sur coastline in search of the more epic roadside vista points. From the pacific coast highway theparks don’t look as interesting as the southern part of Big Sur where the road is hugging the rugged coastline. This shot was taken at the beautiful Point Lobos state park on our first day. Due to the state preserve rules we had to get out before sunset and we didn’t have a lot of clouds to work with but the setting sun during golden hour provided some beautiful lighting on the coastline and the haystacks near the coast.

I used a longer focal length to make this shot and my goal wa just to get the golden light and the little bit of fog that was starting come in. No filters were needed here as the sidelight was just magnificent. If you zoom into the image you will be able to notice that the rocks are teaming with wildlife. I missed my telephoto lens sorely here but thankfully the longer end of my 70-200 came in handy.