Must Visit Places on your Northern California Photo Itinerary

Every few months, my friend Sonia and I become very restless and decide to take a trip together. Sonia is a fellow photographer and understands the logistics of travel when it comes to making images. Quite contrary to popular belief, image making is an intense, energy consuming process. Days are planned around the most ideal light, there are early wake up calls and late nights and scouting picturesque locations becomes more of a priority than eating at fancy restaurants. Photographers travel differently but I will write more on that subject in another blog post. The most recent trip Sonia and I had taken together was Northern California at the beginning of September. The main goal was a road trip through the Pacific Coast Highway. We had both dreamt up our own versions of what that road trip would look like and while we were able to experience a lot during this eight day journey, I can tell you this for sure: the trip has stirred my appetite for more. I now want to go even further north, exploring the places that are less known and less crowded than the famous PCH of the Californian coast.

Pacific Coast Highway is a route that takes you from south to north of California, or vice versa, depending on where you are starting from. The road itself extends into Oregon as well, but we did not have time to venture that far. Our starting point was a place I had long wanted to visit: Point Reyes National Seashore. I have first read about it in Outdoor Photographer Magazine many years ago when I just started dabbling into photography. The photos of the foggy, somewhat mysterious coastline mesmerized me at that time…It’s been 10+ something years that I finally got to see it in person and it was, hands down, my absolute favorite place of the entire trip. In fact, I really need to go back there again 🙂

In a nutshell, Point Reyes was chilly, foggy and desolate – the perfect conditions for some moody-type photos. There are many hikes you can take in the area but even the drive itself is an absolute delight. We had the fortune of being on the main road just prior to sunset. Heading north in our rental car, we took notice of the sun setting to our right, turning the sky golden pink, drowning the scenery in pastel hues, too incredible to ignore. Any time one of us wanted to make a photograph, we were able to pull over as the road was practically empty. At one point, a herd of long antler dear appeared on the horizon. They trotted calmly, oblivious to our presence. I got out of the car to capture the animals’ long antlers silhouetted again the setting sun. At that moment, I was incredibly thankful not just for the scene before me, but for listening to my gut about packing the telephoto lens earlier – 20mm would have not been able to capture the majesty of the animals against the setting sky quite the same way.

Point Reyes was the best place for moody, quiet type of photography. It left me with a sense of remoteness of a place and vast coastlines waiting to be explored. I’d definitely recommend bringing a telephoto lens (anything 85-400mm) to this location in addition to your wide angle, as you never know what wildlife you may encounter or if you decide to “compress” the jagged hills of the sprawling coastline. Point Reyes is also the home of a very famous landmark – the Cypress Tree Tunnel, the photos of which most of you have inevitably seen at some point while browsing the net. The literal alley of giant Cypress trees terminates at the gates of an abandoned historic building that you cannot enter, nonetheless this is a very interesting place to photograph. I chose it as the place for my Red Dress Travels series. Sonia and I stayed here for almost an hour making all kinds of images from different angles. Choosing sunset was the best idea for this and once again, we practically had the place to ourselved with very few other travelers appearing for short periods of time.

Next we headed south and visited towns like Santa Cruz, Monterey and Big Sur, the more popular destinations on the PCH and thus, unfortunately, way more crowded. We could tell that the world, just the same as us, had become restless and was yearning to travel once again, despite the pandemic being still not quite such a distant memory. The key feature of all these destinations is their smaller town charm and it’s unmistakable beach vibes. There are plenty of photo opportunities there, from street style photography to quiet seascapes.

In Santa Cruz we photographed during the most beautiful sunset and chased after surfers hitting the big waves – with our cameras of course 🙂 Even though scenes like these reminded me of Florida, the chilly air called for warm jackets and the water was not swimmable without at least a wet suit. Other than swimming, we explored the coastline; ragged, stormy and sometimes quite difficult to get to. We got lost looking for a “secret beach” that a local recommended in his youtube videos, but we never quite made it. Instead, we walked more than 5 miles in each direction, stumbling upon a dead seal and a group of hungry vultures waiting to pounce on its not yet decaying body. Nonetheless, the walk was beautiful and worth it. Many times not a single other person was found in sight. It was a perfect place to create landscape type photos or an environmental portrait type session.

We finished our trip in San Francisco and I decided to photograph the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I will admit that photographing as iconic of a sight as this famous bridge can be daunting, but I didn’t want to leave the trip without at least one image of the landmark. Not knowing the city well, I could only focus on the locations that are more known among travelers and photograph it from there. The fog of san Francisco has always fascinated me and the season to “catch” most of it was at the beginning of September. Instead of worrying that I’m not an expert of the area, I decided to plan a bit more and take advantage of whatever presents itself to me. I made sure to get up at sunrise and visit the bridge from up close and from some distance, choosing to walk the famous Baker’s Beach and chatting up with locals along the way. I may not have captured the most unique photo of the bridge, but I managed to get a few interesting shots to be added to my collection 🙂 Again, a telephoto lens came very much in handy, as it allowed me to compress the bridge against the fog and the clouds, creating somewhat of a surreal mood.

For all those thinking of driving the Pacific Coast Highway, I’d definitely say go for it; it’s a beautiful route to take on and to create many beautiful images. But for this one, research ahead of time, as seasons can greatly affect availability of lodging: this is a very popular road to drive and visit. For those of you who prefer more peaceful, less crowded destinations I’d say go as north as possible within the state and stay north, as it seems far less crowded than the south. Bring at least two types of lenses: wide angle and a telephoto as walking long distances with heavy gear should not be an issue for the most part. As always, plan around the best light and take advantage of all that comes your way, allowing your creative vision to shine through 🙂