It’s cold and dreary here in Sydney, so let me reminisce with the best photos I took during my trip to Southern California
Our trip to Southern California has really shaped me into a different person today. I think about palm trees and beaches a lot, I eat avocado on toast about 2-3x a week (maybe more) and sometimes I have to tell myself I don’t drive on the right-hand side of the road.
Working from home has also been drab. I don’t often get to see and collaborate with my coworkers and the GGSP studio experience is missing from my life, thus, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to take photos these days. So, I thought I’d freshen up my website and blog with some of my best photos in SoCal.
You can also view them in the gallery here.
Balboa Beach
After landing in California at 6 am in the morning, we drove to our Air BnB location and slept in the car after lunch for hours. I was nervous about driving but the next day, we headed to a Balboa Pier as it wasn’t too far from Irvine and we would later meet Tim for dinner.
Once we arrived to Balboa, there weren’t many people around- probably because it was the cooler season. I used this particular lifeguard base as a table so I could adjust my camera and I stupidly screwed a small Joby GorillaPod made for mobile phones too tightly onto the base of my Canon 80D. It was stuck on so tight that I couldn’t remove it the entire trip!
Once I sorted out my settings for the camera, I stepped back and captured a few shots of Lee on the beach then back of the lifeguard base.
Some specs: Canon 80D, Canon EF-S 24mm 2.8 STM
Here at Mission San Juan Capistrano, Lee and I took our own place to explore this heritage site before meeting up in the church. When I peered into the corner, I enjoyed the fact it was really quiet and quickly snapped Lee on their phone
Some specs: Canon 80D, Canon EF-S 24mm 2.8 STM
Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park is another location that everyone must visit when in SoCal. Not only is it popular with the tourists, it’s popular with the locals who set up for camping or hiking trips.
It was one of those areas where I’d park our car and we’d head off our separate ways to take in the peaceful nature. Unfortunately, Lee had to be my subject for a lot of my photos but I’m sure they didn’t mind! This picture captures that dreamlike and dramatic landscape that Southern California is famous for. In the distance are the snowcapped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
Some specs: Canon 80D, Canon EF-S 24mm 2.8 STM
Knott’s Berry Farm
A trip to California isn’t complete until you’ve visited the various theme parks it has to offer. We headed to Disneyland (on a public holiday of all days) and as you would expect, it was bustling and expensive! But we had a great time, especially at Star Wars: Galaxy Edge.
Two days later, we were pleasantly surprised by Knott’s Berry Farm! It wasn’t as busy, which worked in our favour because we went on so many of the thrill rides twice. The food was delicious, particularly the famous Boysenberry infused foods and desserts.
Some specs: Canon 80D, Canon EF-S 24mm 2.8 STM
Anza Borrego Desert State Forest
This is probably my most favourite photo that I shot throughout the entire trip. I’ve used it many times as a header or banner, front and centre on the website homepage, and even have it printed out at home.
Anza Borrego Desert State Forest was a good 2-3 hour drive from where we stayed, so we did arrive a bit late according to the tourist board. Our car wasn’t equipped to travel off-road either so we stuck within a 15km radius of the town. There was also a roundabout, which you don’t often see in the US, and once we went through there and drove down a path we encountered these huge metal sculptures in these sandy plateaus. Lee started sketching away whilst I was testing my camera and taking self-portraits. It was so bright and sunny, it was hard to look directly into the camera without hurting your eyes so many of them have us looking off in the distance.
Once Lee was finished sketching, I asked them to join in on the self-portrait. I set the camera down to photograph the car and the mountains using the Canon Connect phone app to remotely take the photo. I shot about five photos and decided this was the best one.
Funnily enough, we hung around the desert area until dark to see the stars. I was hungry and tired from the whole experience that I left the lens and two lens caps on the back of the car and we drove off into the sunset. The nifty fifty was never to be seen again!
Some specs: Canon 80D, Canon EF 50mm 1.8 STM