The Longest Pier on the Western United States Coastline

Today I’m featuring a photo shoot I did a couple of weeks ago. The subject matter is the Oceanside Pier in Southern California. I had not been to the pier for a few years, but remembered it well. It is the longest pier along the western US coastline at 1954 feet (596m). The current pier was built in 1987 replacing a number of prior piers lost to stormy weather. For more information: Wikipedia. The town of Oceanside is located in northern San Diego County just south of Camp Pendleton (which lies along the coast between San Diego County and Orange County to the north).

I had a couple of hours of free time (I was a car pool buddy for my wife coming and going from Northern Los Angeles to a bridal shower for my niece at my sisters home in San Diego) during the afternoon and had decided to do this photo shoot. The pier is very impressive and I had just viewed another photographers photoshoot of a pier and was reminded how impressive the architectural structure of these larger piers were. I also chose to do the shoot in black and white as I like the architectural detail that is highlighted in a monochromatic shoot such as this. For some reason I have always been drawn to shots under the structure of piers, thus the number of those on this shoot. At the end of the pier was a restaurant (prior to Covid), which we had frequented. I’m assuming a new tenant will be found as it is a great location.

I open the shoot with a shot I took walking from my parking spot to the beach area underneath the pier for the next few shots.

Oceanside, California Pier

Next up are the shots I took of the under structure in the order I took them.

The Support Of The Pier

Pier 3

Pier 4

Pier 5

Coming out from underneath on the other side of the pier which gives you another appreciation of how far out it goes with the restaurant building on the end.

Pier 6

I was walking out to the end and stepped off on one of the “pop outs” you see in this photo.

Pier 7

Passing the tower structures on each side as in seen above, I took this shot approaching the restaurant structure on the end.

Pier 8

And on the other side of the pier with all of the people fishing.

Fishing Off The End Of The Pier

The last capture is from the end of the pier next to the former restaurant looking back towards the coastline. You can see just how far out the pier goes from this perspective as well as from the shore looking out to this point.

Pier 10

In case you were wondering why three of these shots have names under them, those are the ones I added to my galleries. It always amazes me how many shots I take and how I whittle them down to just a few favorites. If any of those I hadn’t named strike you as “gallery worthy” let me know!! Thanks!!

Thoughts?

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More Coastal Art Prints

This week I wanted to continue the coastal theme of the last few weeks, but am switching sides of the North American Continent to the eastern coast. The attached three prints were inspired by the inter water coastal region surrounding Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s Vineyard is just off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The area is interspersed with islands and is popular for boating and fishing. It’s not unusual to see large homes, as this is the summer playground for the wealthy. The setting is naturally beautiful and an artists dream to capture the look and feel of this unique New England paradise.

The first print is titled Lighthouse Point In watercolor:

Lighthouse Point in Watercolor

The second print is titled Boat Moorings:

Boat Moorings

The third print is titled Sailboat in New England.

Sailboat in New England

Thoughts?

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Northern California Coastline

In continuing with my series of our road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle and back, this week I am sharing some of the photographs I took on the Northern California Coastline. The shots are from the Mendocino area of the coastline. That would be about halfway between Eureka (on the very northern California coastline and San Francisco).

The drive that day (Pacific Coast Highway) took us slightly inland for awhile and then rejoined the coastline. The slightly inland part was stunning as it took us through Redwood Forests. Unfortunately we weren’t able to stop and grab pics of that experience as the shots I would have liked to have taken occurred while we were driving without the ability to pull over. It was fascinating to see that you’re driving on this nice wide two lane (sometimes four) highway with broad shoulders, then suddenly the speed limit goes way down and you round a curve to the road narrowing down to just two lanes without shoulders. That was to protect the existing redwoods where their trunks are literally right next to the pavement. The road would wind between the trunks and I must say it was stunning.

When we were able to rejoin the coastline, I was able to get the attached shots.

Northern California Coastal 1

I loved the rock structures along the coastline similar to what you see along the coastline in Oregon. You can tell from the white tips of the protruding rock structures in the water that birds spend a fair amount of time gathering there.

Northern California Coastal 2

The other thing that is different along the northern California coastline versus the southern or central coastlines are the trees (similar to Oregon, but not as lush) that come right up to the coast.

Northern California Coastal 3

It was a beautiful fall day for strolling the beach.

Northern California Coastal 4

I love the different color shades of the ocean as the depth changes. Notice how clear the water is in the little bay.

Northern California Coastal 5

We hit the weather perfectly along the entire drive. The prior day we had left Seattle very early and made it all the way to Arcata, California just north of Eureka along the coastline. On this day our destination was Santa Cruz along the northern portion of Monterrey Bay, which is south of San Francisco. The next day we drove the final leg home exactly two weeks after we left.

Because of the current pandemic I did want to touch base on how we handled that issue. We were diligent with our masks whenever we were out of the car. We brought sanitary wipes for pumping gas and hotel rooms. The hotel rooms were an issue we researched ahead of time and found that the Hilton chain of hotels seemed to have the best programs. We were able to do remote check-in prior to arrival so we just went to our room and keyed in the code we were given. The rooms had tags sealing the door to verify the room had been disinfected. To protect our family here in Los Angeles and in Seattle we got tests done before heading up and after returning just to verify we were ok.

Thoughts?

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Central California Coast – Excerpts from a Photo Shoot

I wanted to share a couple of shots I captured last weekend on a drive my wife and I took along the Central California Coastline. There are a number of “pull-offs” scattered along the coastline and these captures were from one of those.

California Central Coast 1

 

California Central Coast 2

 

California Central Coast 4

Thoughts?

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What a Difference A Day Makes – Excerpts from a photo shoot

In staying with the subject matter of lasts weeks post about our week in San Diego County, I have attached four pictures that tell the weather story of the week. The beginning of the week started with storm clouds and dreary weather. There was what was left of a hurricane and now a tropical depression to the west of the Baja in Mexico that was changing course and heading towards the Baja Peninsula and eventually the Desert Southwest of the US grazing Southern California in the process. Having lived in San Diego for over 24 years and then Arizona for the last 5, not anything unusual and actually kind of welcome rain for the desert. This particular storm brought drizzle and light rain to the San Diego area and multiple inches of rain to Arizona. Having said all of that, it moved quickly and I was able to get some before and after pictures along the beach where we were staying. The pictures present two totally different aspects of beach life in San Diego County.

The first two say to me….”beach season over”…”pack it up and get the heck inside”. The clouds give such an ominous look to the coastline. Both shots are looking southward towards the city of San Diego. 

Storm Clouds Coastal San Diego County 1

Storm Clouds Coastal San Diego County 2

Then just a couple of days later, I took the following two pictures.

The Bluffs At The Beach

Looking south towards the city of San Diego. You can actually see the bluffs of La Jolla on the horizon.

Ocean Surf In Carlsbad, California

This capture is looking north towards Oceanside and the mountain ridge in Camp Pendleton leading into Orange County and Los Angeles.

Thoughts?

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Pondering The Surf – Featured Art Print

Pondering the Surf

This particular art print is something a little different from my usual norm. I typically don’t focus in on people, but in this case there was a mood element that caught my eye. The look of solitude and intense thought is what drew me to this scene of a man just standing and “pondering” the surf. To create the mood I was perceiving, I used the same technique I had used on the New Orleans series I featured last week. With that series, it complimented the old world look… in this case it helped create a subtle mood to highlight the sense of what I saw in this scene.  Because of that element, I have also used this print twice in my Inspiration Gallery with a prayer overlay on one and the Lord’s Prayer as on overlay on the other. 

Whether it’s a black and white or color photograph or one of my digitally painted art prints, my attempt is to capture a moment or a scene that invokes some type of an emotional or visual response. Thoughts? (side note: the setting for this print is a seclude beach on Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. The beach is accessed by hiking a trail that takes you up and along the cliffs of the Na Pali coastline and then down onto this beach) 

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“Eye of Sun” The Art Print of The Week

“Eye of Sun”  The Art print of the week is from my Tropical Gallery.  A sunset over the Pacific Ocean taken along the beach in Carlsbad, California (North San Diego County). I love the way the palm trees frame the sun as it goes down. I used an abstract oil painting technique to give it an edgy modern look to celebrate the vibrant colors.  Enjoy!

Eye of Sun

Source: Tropical Gallery

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The Morning Fog

The art print I’m using for this post is a watercolor of a New England fishing village. The setting is a coastal New England town in the early morning. The fog is still hanging over the harbor and creates a serene peaceful scene. Using  watercolor to capture the scene supports the softer hues and tones.

The Morning Fog

The setting reflects the gray subdued lighting with just a hint of color in the middle building, the grass and the trees.  Thoughts? Comments?

This particular art print came from my Landscape Watercolor Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!