Before the pandemic altered everyone’s lives in the spring of 2020, I used to make an annual sojourn to sunny Southern California every winter to stay with good friends and decompress, relax and reset. In fact I was on my way home from just such a trip in March of that year when everything started to shut down and I actually caught Covid in the Vegas airport as it began tearing through North America.

Later that same year one of my pups, Kneesa, passed away and so life began to shift even further away from the normal I’d known. With international travel no longer on the table for the foreseeable future and another aging pup, Kwinn, by my side, I made the decision to focus on exploring my own backyard here in the prairies with her.

When Kwinn passed away this October, I found myself in desperate need to return to the place that always brought me peace. It had been nearly five years since I’d last visited and while this trip wasn’t specifically one for photography, my gear came along to help me with my primary plan to decompress, relax and reset.

With no specific plans for shooting, I was able to take each photographic opportunity as they came with no expectations for any specific results. This allowed me the freedom to slow down and explore with a fresh enthusiasm and open mind; to engage with the world in a more creative way and lose myself in the power of play. As a result, I came home with some of my favourite photos of the year from a trip that was much needed and a long time coming.

The Sea
As a life-long prairie kid, I find the ocean challenging to photograph in any compelling way. But with zero expectations for this trip, I was able to head to the beach and allow myself the opportunity to let my mind wander and see things I might not have otherwise seen. Some images are straightforward California sunset shots requiring little more effort than pointing the camera at the sun but others became beautifully abstract examples of mindful thoughtlessness in practice, something I aspire to wherever I am.

(click on images to see in full)

I really enjoyed my sunsets at the beach but it was after dark when the ocean really came alive for me as I was fortunate to experience a series of nights with bioluminescent waves! My first night out was a bit of a write-off, photographically, but it was an incredible experience just to be able to witness these waves and it helped me figure out how to capture them better. Watching the waves over and over showed me that the bio waves were strongest on the set waves from deeper in the ocean so when I went out the second night, I found a better foreground position and learned to anticipate the set waves. This was my favourite shot from both nights: a two shot blend to capture the waves crashing against the rocks, followed up immediately by the glowing bio waves. I know that this wasn’t a particularly strong example of bioluminescence but I still feel grateful to have been able to experience another example of Mother Nature’s magic.

Bioluminescent waves.

The Desert
I have long loved the California desert. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to spend time in Death Valley, Joshua Tree, the Algodones and Anza Borrego and while I knew that I’d be heading to the desert on this trip, I had no idea where due to the aforementioned absence of plans. After a week of humming and hawing I opted to head out to Anza Borrego to see Font’s Point, an incredible overlook I didn’t visit on my first trip there in 2018 and it was worth every second.

I had rented a 4Runner and left on my 2.5 hour drive around 930am to avoid traffic congestion on the massive SoCal freeways. Once through Temecula the drive became a lot less stressful and I was able to relax for the final leg. After getting lunch in Borrego Springs, I first drove out to Clark’s Dry Lake and the Peace House where machines from the military industrial complex ironically flew overhead before making my way up the sandy wash to Font’s Point a couple of hours before sunset.

The view from Font’s was breathtaking; a landscape forged in madness and chaos and one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. After a quick scout, I sat along the ridge in quiet contemplation, enjoying the landscape and solitude until it was time to grab my gear. While I did ultimately shoot the sunset, I’ve long found the key to desert photography is to wait for the ambient light that can be found during civil twilight, immediately after the sun sets and the deep shadows disappear. I’m so happy I made my way out there and only regret not spending more time in the desert on this trip.

The Birds
As an avid birder, I almost always have my long lens with me on trips to capture some of the local birds wherever I might be. I didn’t spend a lot of time on this trip frantically chasing birds but my friends live within walking distance from the Back Bay in Costa Mesa so it was easy to get out a time or two for a looksee. I also always enjoy watching the shorebirds at the beach as they engage in their endless back and forth battle with the waves. I saw a few new-to-me bird species on my trip including the California Gnatcatcher, Black Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat and, my favourite, the Swinhoe’s White-eye, a pretty green bird native to parts of Asia that have been introduced to Southern California.

The Surprise
It goes without saying that no matter how prepared we are as nature photographers, luck plays a huge role in our success (or lack thereof). And my favourite shot of the entire trip was 1000% percent pure luck. While wandering aimlessly on the beach just before sunset my first night there, I noticed a couple of quarter-sized bubbles pop up from the sand in between waves. I assumed they were just sand bubbles but something told me to train my lens on one anyway. I had my Z 180-600mm on so it was a long lens shot from around 10 or so feet away and I didn’t think much of it. Later that night as I was reviewing my images I noticed something remarkable: there was an unidentified organism inside the bubble!

I reached out to a couple of marine biologists and visited to the Back Bay Science Centre to try to identify what it was and so far the most plausible theory is that it’s a comb jelly that inadvertently got trapped in the bubble but the jury is still out so if you know what this is, I’d love to hear from you! This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kinda happy accidents that really encapsulates the magic of nature photography. The odds of capturing this creature in a tiny bubble that existed for less than a minute between wave sets have to be astronomical!

I want to thank my dear friends, Jason and Holly for their incredible hospitality and making this trip so special. Processing grief is a challenging thing to navigate and having such great people in your life most certainly helps with the healing. As I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t a specifically a photography trip but as photography has played a key part in dealing with Kwinn’s loss, I’m glad I brought my gear and am really thrilled with what I was able to see and shoot. Having good friends to share it with made it all the better.

All images above are available as prints. Send me an email if you see something you’d like for your walls!