American Kestrel at Half Moon Bay

Lumix G5, Lumix 100-300mm

I've been going to this section of Half Moon Bay for years because I read that at certain times, there is an abundance of raptors to be seen there. But every time I go there, I only see a few at a time.  I went there a couple of weeks ago, and this time was no different, I only saw this lone America Kestrel, also known as a Sparrow Hawk, roaming his territory. It's a small raptor that moves and flies quickly which makes it very difficult to photograph.

--Warren

Half Moon Bay

HTC One X

Dolph, does this look familiar? :)

--Warren

Happy New Year!

Lumix DMC-G5, Lumix 100-300mm

I saw this fellow photographer on a damp, evening trail the other day.

I hope everyone has a great year of photography.

--Warren

Cute Dog

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

I saw this cute dog in Half Moon Bay. He was impatiently waiting outside for his owner while making pathetic whining and whimpering noises, which of course, drew my attention.

I post these pictures because I was pleased with the images and impressed (I know, again) by the performance of my 9 year old Nikon D100 and Tamron zoom lens. And I can't resist a good looking pooch :).

I made these images extra large (1500 pixels wide) so that you can see the quality for yourself when you click to see the original file.

At this time, I want to ask all our contributors to do our semi-regular check-in. Let us know that you're still out there, at least looking at and enjoying the pictures even if you're not actively contributing at the moment. What have you been up to? Are you interested in starting up our "Project of the Month" again?

Please let me know if you no longer plan to contribute to our blog and I will remove you from the contributors list. You can still be subscribed to our notification system via Google group email if you just want to keep up with viewing our progress (and not contribute images).

I'm looking for a few new contributors to our blog. If you know of anyone who might be interested in our private photoblog concept, please tell them about us, and hook us up.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you who are still active here. I really appreciate that you spend the time to participate. Our photoblog started out as an experiment 7.5 years (!!!) ago, and it somehow managed to survive all these years. I hope that it continues to be a viable and enjoyable place for us to share our photographic passion.

Well, that's it for now. I'll have more thoughts to share with everyone in the near future. I look forward to hearing from everyone.

--Warren

Surfers, Half Moon Bay, CA

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 45-200mm

Here are my contributions to our January project.

It was an unusually warm and clear winter day at Half Moon Bay. So this is what Californians do in the winter :)

...more pictures to make Dolph homesick!

--Warren

Photography Couple

Nikon D100, Nikkor 300mm f4.5

I went to Poplar Beach in search of raptors again, but I found other photographers instead. And they weren't stalking birds, they were setting up a shot of their little daughter with the ocean behind her.

--Warren

Poplar Beach Surf and Sand

Nikon D100, Nikkor 300mm f4.5

Looking north from the Bluff Top Trail at Poplar Beach.

--Warren

Gazing Out

Nikon F4s, Tamron 24-135mm

A moment before I took this, she was looking at the tidepools. Then she decided to take a break and looked out towards the ocean.

--Warren

Gazing Down

Nikon F4s, Tamron 24-135mm

What this man is doing is certainly open for interpretation, isn't it?

He is actually staring intently into the tidepool looking for marine life, at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve near Half Moon Bay.

--Warren

Poplar Beach, Half Moon Bay

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

Late evening shot of Poplar Beach from the Bluff Top Trail. I mentioned the beach a lot from my previous posts, so finally, here's a picture of the beach itself taken about 30 minutes before sunset.

--Warren

Sunset at Half Moon Bay

While with Warren and Gail, I got this shot of Half Moon Bay. This was a while back.

-- Eric

Church at Half Moon Bay, CA

Yashica T4, Ilford XP2

Here's another one to feed Dolph's homesickness :P.

Eric, how did your shots at this location come out? (Eric was there that day too.)

--Warren