I haven't been able to do much if any photography for a few months sadly. However, the week of Labor Day I will be in the Santa Cruz area and up and down the coast in that area a little bit. I know that this is a great location for coastline landscape photography, so I cannot pass up the chance to at least try my luck at some seascapes, etc.
My question is, can any of you recommend some locations for me? Preferably something within a few miles of Santa Cruz. I am interested in locations with interesting rocks formations, things that would make an interesting foreground, as well as locations that might not necessarily be crowded, as some famous locations sometimes are.
If any of you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. Specific locations that I could pinpoint on a map would be fantastic.
I'm making in a policy to not be overly specific about locations in forums these days - a subject that may be worth a separate thread at some point. However, I will say that if you head north from Santa Cruz you should be able to find many worthy subjects, many without an overly time consuming amount of searching. A bit of exploration will pay off for you.
Just north of town is a little state park that has all kinds of old structures and a coastline nearby. I've spent a good day there, and it is really only a few miles north.
I don't usually get too far north of the Monterey Peninsula. which is a ways south of Santa Cruz - but after the low lands leading to Monterey, once you hit the peninsula, Pacific Grove and then Carmel, you're in classic rocky coastlines with Pt. Lobos, Garrapata State Beach, etc. However, these areas aren't as likely to be uncrowded, especially Labor Day.
the falls folks are talking about, and showing the nice shots of, is McWay Falls, which is at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park near Big Sur. So, Big Sur should be on the list if you're going that far. The rainbow bridge along the way is iconic in the area, as is the general coastline there, of course.
If you want to shoot some non-landscape, the Santa Cruz boardwalk has some nice old stuff to see and shoot. You can usually see sea otters in Monterey bay, near cannery row, which also has nice old architecture as well. And yeah, plenty of redwoods in the area in the state parks. Pt Lobos, I think Ansel called the most beautiful place on earth.
I would encourage you to look for Hole in the Wall Beach... it is rather hard to find. Going up the 1 from Santa Cruz, Hole in the Wall/Panther Beach is right before you hit Bonnie Doon Beach. It is an unmarked beach (i.e. there is just a dirt pull-out), whereas Bonnie Doon is well-marked.
