Free Photo Guides USA – California

Half Dome, Yosemite

2010-11-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Rick Whitacre has written a wonderful photo guide to Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Half Dome is so tall that you can see it from many vantage points through park. And Rick has described many of these vantage points in this photo guide.

Read the Half Dome Open Source Photography Guide.

Cathedral Peak, Yosemite, National Park

2010-09-18T09:42:00.001-07:00

Rick Whitacre has written a photographer's guide to Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park. A favorite of photographers who are not afraid of a vigorous hike, Cathedral Peak is one of the most recognizable peaks in Yosemite. Although many visitors choose to camp overnight at Cathedral Lake, it is possible to make the round-trip hike from Tuolumne Meadows in one day.

Bodie State Historic Park

2010-04-04T17:57:00.001-07:00

Bodie State Historic Park calls itself the best-preserved ghost town in the United States. Over one hundred buildings are saved in a state of "arrested decay". A few years ago I visited Bodie twice with Lance Keimig's Mono Lake Workshops. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Bodie after regular park hours and photograph the buildings under the full moon.

Bodie is a very popular tourist attraction. I hope you find this photo guide useful.

Sonoma Coast State Beach

2009-09-08T18:45:00.001-07:00

Today I posted an Open Source Photo Guide for Sonoma Coast State Beach in Northern California. Located less than two hours north of San Francisco, Sonoma Coast State Beach includes 17 miles of beaches from Bodega Bay north to a point four miles north of the town of Jenner.

While the beaches themselves are sandy, there are a lot of large sea stacks and arches only a short distance off shore. Landscape photographers will find endless possibilities photographing from both the cliffs above the beaches, as well as from down on the beach. Each of the beaches are accessible by a short walk from one of twelve parking lots along Highway 1.

During the summer, this region is especially interesting to photographers because of the thick fog that blankets the beaches in the morning, then slowly burns off during the day.

Montana de Oro State Park and Point Buchon

2009-07-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't been publishing any new Photo Guides for the past few months, but I have been photographing and collecting lots of material for the OSPG project.

(Panorama of Spooner's Cove, Montana de Oro State Park)

This month, I'm publishing a guide to the connecting properties of Montana de Oro State park and the Point Buchon property. Only a few miles west of San Luis Obispo, Montana de Oro includes some spectacular sand dunes, sandstone cliffs, and rocky beaches. The Point Buchon is a less-developed property that continues the landscape south of Montana de Oro. Point Buchon is privately-owned (by the local electric company), but it's open the public five days per week. It's also less developed than the state park, which is nice if you appreciate that sort of thing.

Although the coastline is known for surprising weather, it doesn't always look this miserable in Montana de Oro. But sometimes it does. So whether you're a sunny photographer, or a drizzly photographer, you'll probably find something to love at "MDO".

Wolf Ridge, Marin, CA

2009-02-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

After a quick start, followed by a long break, I've finally uploaded another California Open Source Photo Guide. Wolf Ridge is an abandoned US Air Force missile tracking site on top of a 900-foot ridge in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco. Wolf Ridge offers spectacular views during the daytime, and some great old structures to explore at night.

Sweeney Ridge, Guide #5

2008-11-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

I've added a Photo Guide for Sweeney Ridge between San Bruno and Pacifica, CA.

Sweeney Ridge offers spectacular views from the Pacific Ocean over to the San Francisco Bay. Last month I was fortunate enough to photography the abandoned Nike missile site on Sweeney Ridge until a full moon and perfectly clear skies.

Golden Gate Bridge, Guide #4

2008-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

The Golden Gate Bridge is the fourth Free Photo Guide for California. I've included three locations on the south end of the bridge, three locations on the north end of the bridge, as well as information about walking across the bridge, and riding a ferry beneath the bridge.

(Golden Gate from Horseshoe Cove)

I've also contacted multiple photographers who are intimately knowledgeable about California. I expect many of them to be able to contribute new photo guides in the future.

Rodeo Beach, Guide #3

2008-11-19T22:23:00.000-08:00

Rodeo Beach is the third Photo Guide available for California.

Added Guide #2: Pigeon Point

2008-11-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

I added a second Photo Guide for California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The area includes two beaches: one that is exposed to the open ocean, and another that is a protected cove. I also included information about the ever-popular annual Fresnel Lighting Ceremony, which was held last weekend.

First California photo guide: Sutro Baths

2008-11-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the California, USA section of the Free Photo Guides. I have published the first photo guide for the California region of this project: Sutro Baths, San Francisco. Sutro is great for each of daytime, sunset, twilight and night photography.

This guide is currently 95% complete. I still need to add the satellite view with the annotations. That should be done by tomorrow.

I'm currently working photo guides for Pigeon Point, Sweeney Ridge, Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin Headlands. Most of these guides should be online by the end of the month.

Andy Frazer