Aquarium. February 2021

One month ago, a massive swell delivered 40-foot-plus waves and the world’s best big wave surfers congregated to get rides of the decade. Most of my photographer friends wait patiently for the biggest swell of the year to shoot Mavericks. On the other hand, I wait patiently all year for the lowest swell which tends to happen around mid February to mid March. I was a bit spoiled from last year; Hawaii-like water at Ocean Beach with clarity I’ve never before seen. There wasn’t much hope this year, as XL swell after XL swell slammed the coast almost all winter, which was great for surf but not great for clarity. The swell finally dropped to 2-3 feet this week, but intermittent rainstorms made it difficult to pick the right day to dive. To have everything line up: the swell, the wind, the sun, and the tide, is a rarity around here. But it does happen, maybe once a year, or once every couple years, and today was one of those days. Three foot swell, a -1.0 ft low tide, and the marine layer burning off by the lunch hour, I dropped everything and returned to one of my favorite spots in all of California. 

Red and Yellows. February 2021

I spent several months reflecting on my photos from last year, figuring out which camera settings is ideal and what I could have improved on. As I jumped into the cold, clear, water, I was surrounded by vibrant marine life, sea stars of all colors, anemones, urchins, coral, even a nudibranch and camouflaged sculpins. It’s just crazy to see the amount of life per square foot here. It’s almost a contradiction, the more tumultuous the waves are, the more life exists. The walls along the underwater trench were alive and colorful. I was surprised to see the giant red and purple urchins in the same exact crevices as last year. Upon further research, red sea urchins can live up to 200 years old! It will be hard to harvest them for the dinner table knowing this fact, as they will provide decades of photographic joy if left alone. I’m not sure if I feel right chowing down my subjects especially in an area as teeming with life as this. I think the best way to enjoy the tide pools is to just be a spectator and an admirer. 

Coralline Sunset. February 2021

The more I return to the same spot over and over, the more I learn what factors would compromise its ideal conditions. The more time I spend exploring the coastline, the more I am asserted that the best things in life are free. I would go as far to say I don’t own any of my photos, nature created the scene after all. Nature is the real artist. 

Punching Through. November 2020

On my last day, I snorkeled three reefs off Laguna Beach with an old friend. The clarity was a good 15-20 ft. The wildlife wasn’t as great as Catalina of course, but still fun to snorkel. The last time I was here was about 5 years ago, time flies doesn’t it? I’d stay down south another day but I didn’t want to put on a wet wetsuit again. I had some amazing black cod for lunch at Bear Flag Fish Co., it was a great way to end the trip. 

All my problems seemed to go away temporarily the moment I entered the underwater world. No notifications, no deadlines, just the muffled noises in the water and focusing on what’s in front in the very moment. I usually feel reinvigorated after a ‘water moment’, drawing new inspiration and motivation. This year is different; I think being attached to my electronic devices every day for hours on end, I’m not able to completely clear my mind as I have in the past. Despite being happy with the spontaneous trip and the photos, the stress still lingers, but I think it was worth it. 

Giant Kelpfish & Garibaldi. November 2020

Casino Point. November 2020

It was another early and cold morning start the next day. Off to Catalina Island via the Catalina Express ferry. I carried about 30 pounds of gear on my back from the dock all the way to Casino Point, my shoulders were ready to give up but my mind said otherwise. The first group of divers were entering the water. There was a bit of texture from the wind waves and current, which was not preferred. The water looked pretty clear, and cold. I started seeing Garibaldi left and right, their bold orange color makes them easy to spot. I frantically set up my camera, put on my weights and fins, and jumped into the blue. Immediately I was mesmerized at all the different variety of fish just one step off the stair entry: Calico Bass, Sheephead, Garibaldi, and Zebra Perch just to name a few. They seemed incredibly fond of humans; only when I got within a foot or two they slowly drifted away. I saw an enormous school of Blacksmith, they surrounded me when I swam toward them. With the rough surface texture, it was very difficult to get a clean over under shot, I’ll have to come back on a calmer day. After about three hours in the water and filling up the memory card, my stomach started to feel uneasy due to the constant back and forth motion of the waves. Staring down at stationary objects while moving really throws off my equilibrium; it was time to get lunch and relax the rest of the afternoon. As I waited at the float for the departure boat, I was treated to a reverse sunset color gradient of pink, lavender, and periwinkle-blue, with the full moon rising over the channel. 

Urchin Barren. November 2020

The next morning, I stopped by Coal Oil Point hoping to snorkel it again with better visibility than last time. The forecasts showed the swell being only 0.5ft, but when I got out of my car, I knew the swell was much bigger without even seeing the waves; I could distinguish the decibels of the waves crashing just by ear. With no zoom lens and no handplane, I was forced to stare and salivate at the offshore surf and dolphins in the lineup. Maybe I should have brought the kitchen sink? Oh well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I met up with an old colleague for a socially distanced lunch, staring at more perfect waves. Not feeling content that my camera hasn’t been used, I booked it further south to a tide pool spot I had in mind before sundown. After a quick scope of the area, my eyes light up when I found a protected trench with sea urchins lined up the sides of the rocks. The water was surprisingly clear. Another debate ensued, was I going to just sit and stare again? I had maybe 30 minutes of light left, and this was my only chance at this spot for the trip. I raced back to car, suited up and jumped in. Immediately I saw the entire floor was covered in purple urchin. While displeasing knowing why  it was an urchin barren, the colors still amaze me. Bait fish surrounded me, and I spotted some shy Garibaldi in the rocks. As the light faded, the tide rising, I quickly maneuvered around trying to get a few decent photos. Shooting tide pools is one the most challenging forms of photography I have yet experienced. The extreme levels of light, dark underneath and bright over, strong current, waves, visibility, and virtually unlimited ways to compose an image, made most of my photos unpresentable. When one turns out though, I can stare at it indefinitely. 

Man I’m stressed out. The inundation of media and information, family drama, stuck at home; I just feel as if I’m running on autopilot, not even conscious of what I’m doing anymore. I can no longer do any one thing well, too much going on, too much to manage and process. I’m continuing to log changes in my health that started earlier this year: a sudden sense of nervousness while eating, disquieted dreams almost every night instead of a couple times a week, and a steady deterioration of my eyesight. It’s as if I never slow down anymore, always thinking of the next thing, and the next thing, trying to do more but end up doing less.

Planning this trip was not off to a good start. I had to cope with a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Was it going to be foggy? Was it going to be too windy? Forecasts showed a large WNW swell along the northern coast, gale force Santa Ana winds down south, on top of it all, who knew if everything was going to be shut down again? Refreshing the 30 tabs I had open showing reports for each location, it got to the point where I considered just cancelling the whole idea. But there was nothing really to lose. I had to go. There was no way I could have cleared my mind sitting at the computer for the entire holiday weekend. I only wanted one thing, a photo of a Garibaldi. 

With expectations low, I took my snorkeling gear out of the closet and drove down the coast. I stopped for lunch at Partington Cove again, and ate the same sandwich on the same rock as my February road trip. The drive down Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline never ceases to amaze me, the winding road juxtaposed with the vast blue Pacific Ocean. I made it to Morro Bay right before sundown and treated to perfectly groomed backlit offshore surf. I may have set my expectations too low, as I left my zoom lens back home thinking I wouldn’t have needed it. Oh, the regret.