Category Archives: marine life

Anatomy of a photo #25: Male Elephant Seal


I’ve worked with the nearby national seashore for years now, supplying them with images and documenting different projects around the park. Sometimes the park lets me take part in things like the elephant seal count. When this happens, I am … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a Photo #23: The bobcat marks its territory


I sat there, photographing this bobcat as it sauntered down the beach. I saw it stiffen slightly as it saw me, but it barely paused, as it kept on towards me. As it walked down the shore, I took many … Continue reading

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Birds of Tomales Bay: The Common Loon: A video


The Common Loon. I see these birds often, as I kayak along Tomales Bay and the Point Reyes National Seashore, and I am always sure to tell them, “There’s nothing common about you.” They are a fun bird to watch … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a photo #14: Three Willits in pickleweed


As I look through my photographs of animal images, I notice more and more that there are two main lighting conditions that most of my favorite portraits were taken in- early/late low angle sun, or else while the subject was … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a photo #10: Freezing the flow of water in an image: Gull and crab claw


This post relates to the importance of shutter speed. A fast shutter speed can freeze action, making something like water appear solid- almost like crystal or an ice sculpture. The picture above for example was taken with a shutterspeed of … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a photo #9:Harbor Seal portrait


I captured this image the first time I took my dad kayaking. It was early one afternoon in Tomales Bay, when the winds were calm. While I have seen many seals on the bay, we were lucky on this day … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a photo #5: Bubble Jelly in Drake’s Estero


This is a picture I took while kayaking in Drake’s Estero, a body of water lying within the Point Reyes National Seashore, one of my local parks. This one was simple to take. I have a small, digital point and … Continue reading

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New Zealand’s Red-Billed Gull: Feeding on 90 Mile Beach


The Red-billed Gull is one of those ubiquitous birds here in New Zealand, but as such it is a good bird for providing a study in their habits. This short video shows one of its styles of feeding. Enjoy, Galen

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New Zealand’s Pied Shag: A short video


Here is a very short video of one of the first birds I came across in NZ-

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Photo essay: Clammers on Tomales Bay: Part II


Part 2 in my Tomales Bay clamming series is hi lighted by Eloy Garcia, a man that has been visiting Tomales Bay, California for decades. Eloy’s method of catching his clams differs greatly from the majority of clammers out here. … Continue reading

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Clammers: A photo essay: Part I


I wanted to fool around with the idea of a photo essay, which is essentially a series of pictures with little or no text, but that still tells a story. This is Part I, and it is images of people clamming … Continue reading

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Anatomy of a photo: How do I photograph an otter eating a fish?


I can only answer this question by explaining how I got high definition video and 20+ megapixel images of a North American River Otter this past weekend. The first key factor was, well, luck. I was kayaking in an area … Continue reading

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