31
Jan 2010 : Sunday
See More Photos of:  Big Sur, California, Nikon D3X, Travel

Driving Up the Pacific Coast Highway

Destination Google!

On Monday Feb 1, I’m speaking at Google for their [email protected] program. The whole thing will be recorded, so I’ll be able to share it back with the world here once it goes up. You can find out more by following @GoogleTalks. And thanks to Mike Wiacek @MikeWiacek who is the head of the Google Photog Club and to Cliff Redeker @mcrsquared for getting the whole thing set up… I am excited!

Later that afternoon, I’m giving a private photography workshop to people at Google back in one of their secret rooms… That should be a lot of fun too. I’ll be going through, in person, what I have in the HDR Tutorial here on the site.

There is a public photowalk on Thursday, Feb 4 at Stanford.  We’ll meet at 4 PM at the The Oval. There may or may not be a talk after — it depends on if we can secure an auditorium!

Private Tour at Hearst Castle

I’m driving up the coast towards Silicon Valley, and I decided to take my time and leisurely drive up Highway 1.  I’m doing my best to fill the trip with planned and unplanned adventures.

I spent a big chunk of the day up at Hearst Castle.  I was given a private tour whilst guarded by one of LAPD’s finest, who is now a security guard at the castle.  I had carte blanche to go anywhere and shoot everything – it was totally amazing!  I got into the wine cellar, into the top two spires where there are tiny bedrooms, and all over the place.  It was just amazing — I have not had time to process the photos yet… but… you won’t believe it!

Daily Photo – Big Sur in the Morning

5:30 AM.  Alarm goes off.  It’s always painful.  People that say they are “morning people” — I think they are lying.  But, when in a beautiful place, I always force myself, military style, to pop out of bed.  There are hikes to be made and photos to take!

I stayed at the Ragged Point Inn.  My room had a little fireplace and everything (which made it even harder to get out of bed!).  After I got downstairs, I started a little hike to get a good vantage of the coast and the sunrise.  Of course, there was a fence blocking the best bit, so I jumped over it like Carl Lewis (a much older, whiter, and less jumpy Carl Lewis), and edged along the rocky coast to get a good spot.  I forgot to put on my hiking shoes and mistakenly donned my Cole-Haans while in the dark.  Big mistake.  Those don’t make for good hiking shoes, especially after five minutes of getting soaked in morning dew from the foliage I was ripping my way through.

But, I had on my earphones and was blasting away music…  all was good… the sun came up, the clouds were perfect, and I took this photo.

Big Sur in the Morning

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  • Wow this one literally took my breath away. This might be my favorite you’ve done so far. Keep up the good work

  • Della

    Wow! all the colors are just so….amazing!!

  • my.

    A photo is always more captivating with a story behind it (not that your photos are not stunning enough by itself). Moral of the story … never let the wrong pair of shoes from getting the shot. Oh, yeah, cool photo too. 😉

  • Chris

    Great Photograph! Love the back story too! Great work!

  • Nice story, good photo. We loved Hearst Castle, rather to my surprise. Can’t say our photos on our website compete with that, but we do our best! Thanks again.
    Mike

  • Even gets better further north Trey. Glad you are having such a great time, and cant wait to see Hearts Castle pictures.

  • That entire coast has plenty of fences to jump that lead to amazing photo ops. Keep up the good work.

  • I agree, Trey, one of your best, but you have many bests 😉 !! I would love to be a little mouse and ride around in your shirt pocket while you are on your adventures, lol. Congrats on the google interview and have fun on your photo walk. I am a morning person. Being raised on a farm and always working early hours, with long drives to get there, does that to you. Even after you retire, you still get up early, especially with little buddies that need to get up. Aha, that’s what you need. A little dog along to keep you on your toes, lol. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful pictures and the stories that go along with them!!!!!!!!!!

  • That’s great. I was just there – check out these HDRs.

    http://paulparent.smugmug.com/Landscapes/California-Coast/10928226_xThGd#763315090_ZbKCC

  • Great vantage point!

  • casusan

    Oh wow! This is sooo absolutely beautiful Trey – could stare at it for hours!

  • A very lovely start for the day -;0) All the best on your presentations!

    Cheers,

    John

  • Thanks all very much!

    Gail – you are a good morning person then – maybe the exception is people that are raised on a farm! 🙂

  • Really super! I love it.

  • peacenique

    I always think of it as one of the most beautiful places on earth, it never disappoints me every time I go back since the ’60s and your photograph communicates the heart of this special place

  • I took my third tour at Hearst Castle last August but with my DSLR this time. Must have been awesome to have your run of the place and no time or people constraints!
    Can’t awit to see those photos.

  • next time it’s really worth camping out for the sunrise (not to mention the surf)!! thanks for capturing one of my most precious places yet again 🙂

  • I just showed this to my kids and they both went, “WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Great photo, so awesome, as always. 🙂

    I’m not a morning person either, but once I’m up I’m good, it’s just getting up that’s hard. To make it easier – or rather less easy to roll back in bed – I put my alarm as far away from the bed as possible. That way I’m already up, so I might as well get up. Works great when I put it in the bathroom, then it’s just a few steps to turn on the shower and hop in. 😉

  • Brian Miller

    Oooooooh, risking life and limb (not to mention wonderful sleep in the early morning) for a great shot!

  • Mike

    Trey, that’s a great picture as are all of your pictures. I have just recently discovered the beautiful art that HDR can create. I was in my local chain bookstore and came across a book titled, “A World In HDR”. I had never heard of the author before, but thumbing through the book I decided to purchase it and see what this HDR was all about. It left me speechless. I feel that I can now see color photography as something more than snapshots. In my mine, I see HDR is to color as Adam’s Zone System was to B&W. I have now purchased every book on HDR that I could find to study the authors perspective on HDR. Thank you for lighting this fire. I do have a question about this Pacific Ocean sunrise at Big Sur. Am I safe to assume that the sun is to your back and is reflecting off the ocean?

  • Excellent Coastal Shot! Love the sky… Say what do you use for camera/lens protection when shooting in around the surf. Here is Oregon we have to fight alot of rain and sea salt air. I’ve always worried about buggaring my equipment with moisture..

    Thanks agin for being a great inspiration..

    Michael…

  • Colin

    I always want to crop a little off the top of this one, but at the same time it would be a shame to eliminate any of those cool wispy clouds.

  • Lacey

    Beautiful!
    I’ve been there many times =)
    I wish I could upload the pictures from my comp!
    I’ve got some pretty spectacular shots!

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