Point Reyes

| Photography | By Shawn Parker

I think that I’ve found my favorite isolated place in California.

We’ve made a couple of trips out there lately and despite it almost always being foggy and cold its a wonderfully serene place. Most folks seem to head out to the lighthouse and then leave without exploring the beaches and cliffs. This means that we can spend a nice and quiet time on the beach wandering, talking, reading, or photographing.

This isn’t to say that the area around the lighthouse isn’t worth exploring. It is (the shack and deer photos below are from that area).

The fun starts on the way in with a beached ship in Martinelli Park in Inverness. Park at The Inverness Store and then go around the back to access the area. Be prepared to get a little bit muddy, but its well worth the stomping around.

Out around the point there’s not just the lighthouse that is interesting. The overall scenery, wildlife and accompanying buildings are fun to work with as well. That and when you show up on the wrong day or at the wrong time you can’t get down around the lighthouse 😉

I recently made a small investment in some old lenses. Old as in older than I am. Below is a shot from a Super Takumar 200mm f/4 mounted via a Fuji to M42 adapter. I also picked up a Super Takumar 28mm f/3.5 and a Takumar 135mm f/2.5 in a bundle for $150. The feel, both physical and visual, of these lenses is great. The 135 is flare prone and I really need to watch where my light source is, but overall I really really like these lenses.

Venturing out to the different beaches is where the fun is. Wandering the nearly empty beaches creates a nice sense of solitude and really makes you feel like you’ve been able to ditch civilization for a while without having to disappear deep in to a mountain forest.

These trips also served to make me adore the Fuji X-E1 even more than I did before. I don’t think that I’ll ever reach the point where I sell the SLR as I still have a few specialized needs, but it has reached the point where I need to dust it off when I go to use it. The X-E1 is comfortable in the hand, the quality is wonderful, and Fuji just keeps making it better through firmware updates (Focus peaking coming soon! So excited!).

Tagged as: california deer fuji fujifilm lighthouse pentax photography point reyes scenic shipwreck takumar weather x-e1

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