Posts

,

Where to shoot in Santa Cruz – Part 2

Part 1 of these series I talked about Four Mile Beach, gave some tips and showed some of the pictures I have taken on this beautiful beach. In Part 2 I want to give you more tips about another wonderful beach in the Santa Cruz County area.

Part 2 – Panther Beach

Santa Cruz Coast

Panther Beach is located around 9 miles north from Santa Cruz and around 2.6 miles from Davenport.

How to get there

If you are using Google Maps, use this link to get the exact directions to the parking lot. The parking lot is a dirt road on the side of Carrillo Hwy 1, it is quite big but still, it might get crowded on a sunny day.

To get to the beach you need to go to the end of the parking lot and follow the trail, you will cross a railroad and then go down a dirt trail that can be a little tricky sometimes, nothing terrible but you need to be careful.

Panther Beach

If you want to take photos from the cliff, after the railroad doesn’t take the trail down, take the trail on the left and you will get to see the beach from the top, which is a pretty amazing view on both sides.

Panther Beach

It is not recommended to get too close to the edge, so please be very careful and don’t risk your life.

What to do

Once you get down to the beach, if you go the right, you will find some cool rock formations where, if the tide is high, you can get small waterfalls which are fun for long exposures or you can also get action shots of the waves.

Santa Cruz Coast

California Coast

Both photos above are from the right side of the beach, the first one is however with an exposure of 1.3 seconds while the second one is 1/250 seconds creating totally different effects on the water.

On the left side of the beach, there is a huge wall that has a hole in it, because of this some people also call this beach Hole in the Wall Beach. In this area, there are some rocks that are great for long exposure and you get a direct view of the sunset.

Santa Cruz Coast

If the tide is not high, you can cross through the hole in the wall and go left to another beach, some people call that beach Hole in the Wall as well, in Google Maps I see is called Seven Mile Beach.

California Coast

This beach is huge and gives an even wider view of the sunset, on the far left end of the beach there are some rocks that are great for different compositions.

Santa Cruz Coast

If you get to this side of the beach, just make sure the tide is not that high so you can cross back through the hole in the wall because as I far as I know there is no other easy way out. If there is, please let me know in the comments.

Santa Cruz Coast

This beach is very popular not only among photographers but the public in general, so it can get very crowded. After the sun goes down, people enjoy bonfires on the beach which can also generate great photo opportunities.

Santa Cruz Coast

I hope you find some of this information useful if there is any other tip that I missed please leave it in the comments.
If you visit this beach please let me know your experience in the comments.
Thanks for stopping by!

Don’t forget to follow me on social media and please feel free to share this with your friends using the buttons below.
/0 Comments/by
,

Where to shoot in Santa Cruz – Part 1

I received an email from a fellow photographer asking me for some suggestions on where to shoot in the coast, I replied to his email with several options to consider. After replying I thought why not put those tips into a blog post so it is available to everyone, so I decided to create a series of posts describing some of the beaches I have been to in Santa Cruz and some tips about how to make the most of your trip.

Part 1 – Four Mile Beach

Four Mile Beach

Today I am going to talk about Four Mile Beach which is a beach north of Santa Cruz that offers a lot of photo opportunities.
But first things first, let’s talk about some general tips:
  1. Before going anywhere always check the weather, you don’t want to drive an hour or more and then find the weather is not ideal for shooting.
  2. Do a quick search and look for a webcam in the area so you can confirm the coast is clear, a little bit of fog can add some drama to your photos, but if the fog is too thick most likely the light is not going to be great.
  3. Bring water and please use a reusable bottle.
  4. Dress in layers, California coast can get really cold really quickly, also a beanie sometimes can come handy.
  5. If possible wear waterproof shoes or have a second pair in your car. Sometimes waves can catch you off guard and you don’t want to drive back home with your feet wet.
  6. Don’t forget your tripod.
Four Mile Beach is a big beach with a lot of room to walk around so if it is your first time visiting get there early so you can explore and find the areas that you want to shoot when the light is right.

How to get there

Traffic to Santa Cruz can get really bad, especially on the weekends if the weather is good, so what I usually do is I leave late in the afternoon so I can get there around 1 or 2 hours before sunset. In this way, I avoid traffic since most people at that time are leaving Santa Cruz but I get there with enough time to explore, set up and shoot the sunset.

If you are using Google Maps, it will give you directions to the beach and not necessarily to the parking lot, so use this link to get the exact directions to the parking lot.

The parking is a dirt road on the side of Cabrillo Highway 1,  once you are there you need to make a short walk down to the beach, around 10 min.

Four Mile Beach

What to do

Once you get down to Four Mile Beach there are several options, I have usually just gone to the left where there are some rocks that depending on the tide can be a lot of fun because you can do long exposures of the water flowing down the rocks or capture the waves when they strike the rocks. You can also find a lot of surfers at this beach, so you can get some cool action shots as well.

Four Mile Beach

Four Mile Beach

Four Mile Beach

If you pass this rocky area there is a more sandy beach where you can catch the sunset, play with long exposures, whatever you want to experiment with.

Four Mile Beach

Four Mile Beach

If you continue walking you will find some more rocks that will provide additional views, I have yet to completely explore that side.
Sunset is over, now what? Well I usually stop by one of the many great restaurants in Santa Cruz for a warm meal, a few suggestions are:
I hope you find some of this information useful if there is any other tip that I missed please leave it in the comments.
If you visit this beach please let me know your experience in the comments.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media and please feel free to share this with your friends using the buttons below.
/0 Comments/by

Portfolio Items