Winter Beach Reflections - Black and White Photography

  Pinnacle Gulch, just a short hike through a little valley with a creek below. Well worth the hike :)

Sonoma Coast California - Landscape Photography

little cows on a big hill on the way to the coast

trail above the sea with a view for miles in every direction

above Wrights beach campground

creek meeting the ocean

wild Yarrow on the cliffs 

The lovely Sonoma County California coast.

Recently I got a new lens, the Nikon 18-140mm. It's the first zoom I've purchased since my first kit lens 18-55mm which came with my first SLR many years ago. I generally don't use zooms and prefer a fixed lens but I would like to start capturing more birds and wildlife, so entering the zoom lens reality seems necessary. It did alot of research and considered the 2.8f stop lenses and thought those would be the best option, mostly at the recommendations from other photographer friends who mainly shoot portraits and weddings and need good low light capabilities. I shoot outdoors almost exclusively so I took a chance on the 3.5-5.6 and I have not been disappointed yet, I love this lens! 

 I also did some portrait photography recently, which was alot of fun, volunteering in Santa Rosa last month for the Help Portrait organization which was indoors and the images were great, and the focus was fast and clear.  I have mostly used the 35mm fixed lens for the last many years on my D7000 and it has been my favorite lens of all and so versatile, but now this new 18-140mm is currently living on my camera. It's a bit heavier, but so nice to use. The zoom is tight so the lens does not creep and the image quality is wonderful. I also got some macro attachments for super close ups. More of those images later :)

Seagulls and Pelicans

A bright sunny day at the beach here in northern California, 

just the sun, the wind and the sound of seabirds.