Saturday, January 31, 2009

A Bit Closer to Home

I often end up traveling quite a distance to find the spots where I am inspired to work seriously, but this is one of my favorites and just a few minutes from where I live. You wouldn't expect to find such a wild looking place literally in the middle of one of the country's largest cities, but we are blessed with some fine natural areas here in San Diego. This location can be found just a Tiger Woods drive or so beyond the North Torrey Pines golf course (on TV, Feb 2-9, Buick Invitational), in Torrey Pines State Park. I come here often to just to hike and enjoy the view out over the ocean and as you can see... it's a rich area for artists and photographers.
I've shot this particular spot a number of times, but on this day we had an incoming storm and I knew from experience that the sky and light were going to be ideal. I almost missed my opportunity due to a social obligation that ran longer than expected, but finally managed to race home, change, grab my gear and get up here for that last 2 hours of light, for the best session I've ever had here.

"Broken Hill"-Torrey Pines, 2008

13 comments:

roentare said...

This is a stunning photograph to look at. Wonderful image itself for sure.

Great art!

I really love to travel to places like this one

storybeader said...

looks like a tripod would sink out there! Love the sky! Lived in Calif for a couple of years, and beautiful landscapes abound!

Grandy said...

What a beautiful picture!! :) I am having fun learning about my new camera as I see so much beauty out there...I just don't yet have the skill to capture it thru the lens like you do.

Nedko Nedkov / Недко Недков said...

Very nice blog!
All the best,
Nedko
www.nedkon.com

Unknown said...

Wonderful shot mark, you did a very good work with tones and colors. It makes me want to see a larger view to contemplate all the details in the rocks and in the foreground trees.
In Provence, we have a very small place with some very colorful sandstones, people name it Colorado provençal.

Mark Alan Meader said...

Thanks to everyone for the input as always.
James: I sometimes have to remind myself that I live in a "destination" where people come from all over the world to visit; of course Australia is such a place too.
SB: Don't worry, the ground is very solid.. it's sandstone. Soft, but still basically rock.
Patrick: Would that be the area in your icon image per chance? I've been wondering about where that might be because it looks like it could be Arizona or Utah rather than France. Either way, I'd like to see some work from that spot sometime if you have any.

Unknown said...

Hello Mark,

No, my icon image was done in an other place closer to my home. This place is just around Roquebrune sur Argens (i think you can find it on Google map). I use this image as an icon because i'd love to go to you're national parks. There is just one image of this place on my blog. You can have a look here.

The real name of the Colorado provençal is Roussillon and it's about 200 km far from where i live.

Mark Alan Meader said...

Wow.. without a close look at the vegetation, I would think that was somewhere here in the American southwest. I will investigate those locations when I get a chance. Thanks for the info.

Jackie said...

My new SIL is from San Diego. And I travel during the summer with my hubby in his truck.

We have seen many beautiful areas such as these all over California.

Great shot!:-)

Gregorio said...

Wow,The lighting seems to have been perfect.Your are a luck individual to have been there at the right time.You have captured the detail and texture just right.A wonderful shot.

Mark Alan Meader said...

Thanks Gregorio.. I'm the first to admit when I get lucky, but here I have to take credit for being familiar with both the site and the weather, and managing to get there and be ready for it. Doesn't happen that way too often, but when it does it's great.

Anonymous said...

This is really beautiful! Love the colours.

Mark Alan Meader said...

Thanks, Mei. I just came across your blog.. I'll have to take a closer look. I think my wife will like it, too. She is really interested in different kinds of food.