Pacific Coast Highway 2019

This trip was supposed to be to the Big Trees in the El Corte de Madera Redwood Forest.  That was not to be.  The park was closed for some reason.  I broke out my google maps and found another park further up Skyline Drive to the Purisima Creek Redwood Preserve.  This park was open but the trail was deep in the forest and one could see but a few feet in front.  I couldn't even get an entire redwood in one frame.  I did find a few incredible forest shots and some small wildlife.  I also found one spot in the trail with a view of the coast.  I was looking at Half Moon Bay and Maverick's Beach.  It wasn't that far off so instead of calling it quits with a very unsatisfactory shooting day, I made my way to The coast and traveled from Half Moon Bay to Pigeon Point Light.  I'm glad I did.  It turned out to be quite memorable.  At one point, I had just taken some shots of fields of Mustard and was just rolling again in the car when I spotted a raptor of some sort flying past.  I stopped. grabbed the camera and caught one shot of its rear end out the driver-side window.  It wasn't until I got home that I found out it was my one and only Northern Harrier.

I took a trip down the coast from Monterey to Big Sur and made a ton of images that day.  There's something about the ocean that brings out my inner child.  I didn't want to stop.  The only thing that did stop me was the night.