Monday 15 March 2010

Falling in love again or magical Monterey

It's just over a couple of weeks before I fly east to my favourite place in the world, the Central California coast. I fell in love with the place last time and hope to do the same this time round. It's a shame it's so expensive but I need a little luxury after the last few months. I've booked a few nights at the place above, the InterContinental Clement Monterey which is the most beautiful (and expensive) hotel I've ever stayed at. To get there, though, I'm being forced to endure visiting Santa Barbara, Cambria's Moon Stone Beach and the Santa Cruz mountains as well.

I think I'll cope.

The Clement Monterey from the boardwalk.

Taken from the hotel room balcony- boats on their way out at dawn

From the balcony again pre-dawn.

5 comments:

Keera Ann Fox said...

Oh, i love the colors in these photos! Enjoy your trip! I know I will if you keep posting such lovely pictures!

Anonymous said...

Good on ya Tom! I love this part of the country! Santa Cruz is one of my favorite places in the world. Thanks for the pics!

Tom said...

Keera - that's why I love taking photos at sunset or sunrise - the colours are just so much better!

Blake - I see you got that horizon thing sorted! The next lesson is the rule of two-thirds! ;)

We never got as far as Santa Cruz last time but I'm looking forward to it (and returning to Monterey - I want to retire there!). I'm planning to drive from Cambria to Santa Cruz on Highway 1 which should be a real blast!

Tom

JestrBob said...

@ Keera and Tom Sunrise and sunset are considered the golden hours. The colors and contrast are the greatest at that time.

Something that works as well as the rule of thirds is the Phi - The Golden Ratio Works wonders when you are doing close-up or Flowers.

Also I ran across a third method of composition a year of so ago. It was all in German so gaining an understanding of it went slow. It amounted to a variation of Phi ratio and diagonals.

The coast is best in the fall and spring months. Since you are driving up the coast take the time to stop about one hour south of Monterey and visit McWay Falls. The other two must see Natural places to visit is the Moss Landing Estuary Reserve and Pt Lobos State Park.

and I want to retire on a sailboat.

Tom said...

Bob - many thanks for the tips about driving up route 1. If you have any more, let me know!

Any idea of how long it should take to drive from Cambria to Monterey on route 1? It looks to be about 100 miles or so but I know the road isn't fast and I'll be stopping all the time for photos, but just trying to get an idea.

Thanks,
Tom