San Diego

Bodysurfing Sea Lions San Diego Sea Lion

Surfing Sea Lions of La Jolla, Winter 2024

I have a long term project photographing bodysurfing sea lions. As usual, the winter season afforded me a few good opportunities to photograph the California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) bodysurfing waves at Boomer Beach near La Jolla Cove. In addition, there were unfortunately a few individuals on the point who…

Phil CollaApril 12, 2024

Desert San Diego The American Southwest Wildflowers

The Year of the Desert Lily: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflowers in Spring 2024

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park occasionally has exceptional spring wildflower blooms. 2024 was one of those years, it was a nice, fairly typical bloom and not a Superbloom. The last Superbloom we had in Anza-Borrego was in 2017. (And no, 2019 was not a superbloom). But the 2024 bloom in Anza-Borrego…

Phil CollaMarch 28, 2024

Birds San Diego

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) at Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego

Peregrin falcons (Falco peregrinus) have nested on the sheer cliffs overlooking the ocean at Torrey Pines State Reserve for years. This past spring I made a few visits to try to photograph them. Peregrins are considered the fastest animal on Earth, mostly for the 200 mph speeds they attain while…

Phil CollaJuly 28, 2023

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Golden Winter Sunset along Torrey Pines State Beach and Sea Cliffs

Winter brings the finest coastal views in San Diego, and this evening's image of the Torrey Pines sea cliffs and beach, at sunset on a King Tide (the lowest of the low tides of the year), is an example. During the depths of winter, San Diego brings mild evening weather…

Phil CollaJanuary 23, 2022

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Hotel Del Coronado with Holiday Lights and Glorietta Bay at Sunset

The famed Hotel Del Coronado, one of the gems of San Diego and which sports beautiful holiday lights each December, is seen here reflected in the still waters of Glorietta Bay at sunset.

Phil CollaJanuary 22, 2022

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

San Diego City Skyline at Dusk, Mountains and Bay

Each year I capture my favorite views of the San Diego City Skyline, from a variety of vantage points around town. This image was created on a very clear evening in December, when the mountains to the east of San Diego we clearly visible. The photograph is so crisp and…

Phil CollaJanuary 17, 2022

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Spectacular Dawn over San Diego Bay and Downtown San Diego

Dawn glows over San Diego and Mount San Miguel as the waning lights of the downtown San Diego City Skyline are reflected in San Diego Bay. This was a sunrise to remember. If you like this image, please see more Beautiful Views of San Diego. This is an enormously detailed…

Phil CollaJanuary 13, 2022

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Sunrise over Sheraton San Diego Hotel and San Diego Bay

A brilliant pastel sunrise glows above the Sheraton San Diego Hotel, located on Harbor Island in San Diego Bay. This is one of the most massively detail panoramas I have ever created. Shot with the awesome Canon R5 and the razor sharp Canon 200-400 lens, it will print up to…

Phil CollaJanuary 12, 2022

Pelicans of La Jolla San Diego Seabird

Overcast Light, Pelican Portrait, Surf Background

It looks like our run of clear mornings may be coming to an end for a while. I knew this change brought the potential for a colorful sunrise, so I made my way downtown very early and caught some great light and clouds over the San Diego City Skyline. The…

Phil CollaJanuary 11, 2022

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

San Diego City Skyline at Dawn

Each year I reshoot views of the San Diego City Skyline to keep them current and to improve on what I have shot in the past. These two views are from a couple of my favorite locations, at dawn rather than the more common sunset timing. In one, a cruise ship…

Phil CollaJanuary 6, 2022

San Diego

Photographing Sea World Fireworks over Mission Bay, San Diego

To celebrate the approach of Summer 2021 and their impending re-opening following Covid, Sea World San Diego presented its fireworks show over Mission Bay frequently during the month of April. The timing was advantageous for a couple reasons. First, neither Sea World nor San Diego had not fully re-opened yet,…

Phil CollaApril 28, 2021

Beautiful Views of San Diego La Jolla San Diego

35 Beautiful San Diego City Skyline and Coastal Views

I love photographing San Diego's city skyline and the region's coastal scenes, particularly those that feature panoramas of downtown San Diego and its waterfront as well as long compressed coastal views that layer sea cliffs, beaches, and coastal mountains. I've been photographing San Diego and La Jolla in earnest for…

Phil CollaMarch 10, 2021

Birds San Diego

Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes Rushing on Lake Hodges

Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and Clark's Grebes (Aechmophorus clarkii) exhibit some of the most elaborate and impressive courtship behavior found in the animal world, including various vocalizations, swimming movements, the exchange of nesting material ("weed ceremony") and, most notably, the "rushing ceremony". When grebes rush, they rise entirely out of…

Phil CollaMarch 9, 2021

California Ocean Sunfish San Diego Underwater Photography

Diver Encounters a Gigantic Enormous Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) near San Diego

San Diego is the world's best place to see the giant ocean sunfish (Mola mola). I have made many trips offshore with my dive buddies to find ocean sunfish, sometimes as far as 40 miles out where the water is blue, warm and clear. Occasionally we will find one or…

Phil CollaApril 27, 2020

Beautiful Views of San Diego California San Diego

Torrey Pines State Reserve and Broken Hill Sunrise

This is a great time of year to get out along the coast of San Diego: dry clear mornings, tourists are mostly gone and the sun is far enough south that we have nice long shadows well after sunrise. For 35 years I have been running, hiking and photographing Torrey…

Phil CollaOctober 17, 2019

California Carlsbad Desert San Diego The American Southwest Wildflowers

Sorry but No, 2019 Was Not a #Superbloom

It's official: 2019 was not a wildflower #superbloom. Huh? But Internet said? In spite of what was trending, 2019 in southern California was just #spring. What about #elsinore #poppypocalypse? That was an entirely predictable social media feedback loop of herd behavior. As far as the flowers themselves go however, Elsinore…

Phil CollaJuly 3, 2019

Beautiful Views of San Diego La Jolla San Diego

Torrey Pines State Beach Golden Wintertime Sunset

I've been running, hiking, swimming and photographing Torrey Pines State Beach and Reserve for 37 years. It is the most spectacular section of coastline in all of San Diego County. When I lived in Del Mar and ran it almost daily I would sometimes be blessed with solitude on the…

Phil CollaMay 12, 2019

Carlsbad Desert Joshua Tree San Diego The American Southwest Wildflowers

Photographs of Southern California’s Spring Wildflowers — the 2017 Super Bloom

During March and early April of this year I was chasing the wildflower bloom around the southernmost parts of California. The wildflower bloom was indeed spectacular and went on for weeks with vast displays of color. Was it a "super bloom"? I'm not sure. Somewhere during March the interwebs began…

Phil CollaJuly 16, 2017

Aerial Photography Beautiful Views of San Diego Panoramas San Diego

Aerial Panoramic Photo of Sunset Cliffs, San Diego, California

This past spring my daughters and I took a couple flights over San Diego to shoot panoramas while the conditions were good. This is one of my favorites, showing the beautifully scalloped coastline of Sunset Cliffs, north of Point Loma. You can even see the sandstone outcropping we jumped off…

Phil CollaAugust 5, 2015

California San Diego

San Diego County Fair at Night, Del Mar, California

The Del Mar Fair -- or, for noobs, the "San Diego County Fair" -- has some great lights at night. My favorites are the ferris wheels and whirling rides. This year I added a new image to my collection, one in which the full moon is rising above the fairgrounds.…

Phil CollaJuly 3, 2015

Aerial Photography Beautiful Views of San Diego La Jolla San Diego

Aerial Panoramic Photo of Torrey Pines Golf Course and Black’s Beach

This aerial panorama of Torrey Pines Golf Course will print huge: up to about 4' high and 10' wide! In the center is seen Torrey Pines Golf Course south course, with the north course to the left. I played Torrey Pines often when I first moved to La Jolla and…

Phil CollaJune 1, 2015

Aerial Photography Beautiful Views of San Diego Panoramas San Diego

Aerial Panorama of Point Loma, Cabrillo Monument and San Diego Bay

This is a highly detailed aerial panoramic photo of the southern end of Point Loma, with Cabrillo Monument and both old and new lighthouses visible. The original Cabrillo lighthouse is seen atop the bluff, while the new lighthouse is down near the water's edge next to the green lawns. North…

Phil CollaMay 11, 2015

Aerial Photography California Panoramas San Diego

Aerial Panorama of the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge

One of the images I wanted to add to my collection of San Diego aerial photos was a very wide, very detailed image of the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge. I could have taken a single image with a very wide lens -- such as this image taken a few…

Phil CollaMay 6, 2015

Aerial Photography Beautiful Views of San Diego La Jolla San Diego

Aerial Panoramic Photo of La Jolla Cove and Scripps Park, San Diego

Panoramic aerial photograph of La Jolla Cove and Scripps Parks (center), with La Jolla's Mount Soledad rising above, La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Caves to the left and the La Jolla Coast with Children's Pool (Casa Cove) to the right. The undersea reefs of Boomer Beach are seen through…

Phil CollaApril 29, 2015

Aerial Photography California San Diego

Aerial Photographic Survey of San Diego Marine Protected Areas for Lighthawk

I recently made a special flight with my pilot friend Steve Parker in collaboration with Lighthawk. Lighthawk's mission is "to accelerate conservation success through the powerful perspective of flight". On this flight, we were trying to produce new aerial images of several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the San Diego…

Phil CollaApril 26, 2015

San Diego

Paradise in February: San Diego

President's Weekend was nice here. The rest of the country is freezing, yup that's pretty bad. Southern California is in the midst of a bad drought and our Sierra Nevada is missing its usual snowpack which is going to hurt in the coming months, but at least the warm winter…

Phil CollaFebruary 18, 2015

Birds Pelicans of La Jolla San Diego Seabird

The Original Wind Surfers: Pelicans, Waves and Surf

Wikipedia describes the origins of wind surfing in the 1940s and 1950s. It couldn't be more wrong. For as long as they have existed, sea birds and their ancestors have plied the oceans, riding the updrafts of surf, waves and sea swells to gain efficiency and a free ride. My…

Phil CollaFebruary 16, 2015

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California San Diego

Stars, A Galaxy and … Wind Turbines?

On a lark one evening in 2014, my buddy Garry McCarthy and I headed out to the desert to do some night photography with only one caveat: try someplace new (in other words, not Joshua Tree again). We headed east and somewhat south with sort of a plan but really…

Phil CollaJanuary 28, 2015

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California San Diego

Lunar Eclipse Photo Sequence, October 8 2014

Lunar Eclipse Sequence Over Broken Hill, Torrey Pines State Reserve. While the moon lies in the full shadow of the earth (umbra) it receives only faint, red-tinged light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. As the moon passes into the penumbra it receives increasing amounts of direct sunlight, eventually leaving the…

Phil CollaNovember 10, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Surfer’s View of Scripps Pier Perfect Sunset, Solar Alignment, La Jolla

Twice each year, the sun sets perfectly centered in the long thin window of the Scripps Research Pier pilings. Photographing this event is frankly rather formulaic and straightforward, to the point that people pack the narrow space on the shore between the pier pilings well before the sunset to ensure…

Phil CollaAugust 12, 2014

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Panoramas San Diego

Panorama of the Full Moon over San Diego City Skyline

I shoot a lot of images of the San Diego City Skyline, to keep them fresh and because I am always looking for a reason to be down along the San Diego Bay at dawn or dusk -- it is such a beautiful city. A few months ago I made…

Phil CollaMay 27, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego California San Diego

High Resolution Panorama of San Diego City Skyline and San Diego Bay

Here is another recent panoramic photo of San Diego, photographed on a beautiful spring afternoon. This one spans nearly the entire width of the bay, and includes the yacht marinas of Shelter Island in the foreground. I photographed this with a top quality 300mm f/2.8 lens and high resolution camera,…

Phil CollaMarch 20, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego California San Diego

San Diego City Skyline, Full Moon Rising, Sunset

A new photograph of the full moon, just rising over the mountains behind downtown San Diego, with the San Diego County Administration Building seen lit in the foreground. This is actually just a small portion (about 5%) of a huge panorama stretching the entire length of the San Diego City…

Phil CollaMarch 19, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego California San Diego

Full Moon Rising over Downtown San Diego, Sunset

A new photograph of the full moon, rising at dusk over a view of downtown San Diego and its beautiful harbor front and city skyline, viewed from Point Loma, California. I have recently made a nice series of new images of the San Diego city skyline, harbor and rising full…

Phil CollaMarch 18, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Dawn at the Ocean Beach Pier, San Diego

I recently sold a beautiful 60" print of "Dawn at the Ocean Beach Pier, San Diego" for display in a client's home. I've had images presented in quite a few print publications, museums, aquariums, etc. but the most rewarding sale is to a client who wishes to include my photography…

Phil CollaMarch 14, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Torrey Pines Sunrise in San Diego Magazine

One of my favorite shots from 2013 was featured as a nice-looking spread in the January issue of San Diego Magazine: Torrey Pines State Reserve's famous "Broken Hill" at sunrise, with La Jolla and the Pacific in the background. (Here is a link to the full-width pano: Torrey Pines Broken…

Phil CollaJanuary 17, 2014

Beautiful Views of San Diego Panoramas San Diego

San Diego Awakens, Sunrise over the San Diego City Skyline

This was the scene that greeted my camera on a recently cold winter morning, as dawn crept in from the east and the nighttime lights of downtown San Diego gave way to morning. Cheers and thanks for looking! Sunrise over the San Diego City Skyline Image ID: 28858 Location: San…

Phil CollaDecember 14, 2013

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Encinitas Sign over Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, California

California has many funky beach towns, and Encinitas is one of my favorites. Swami's, Moonlight, Stone Steps, D Street. My kids are lucky to spend their summers on the beach in Encinitas. In the middle of town, a vintage-looking ENCINITAS sign arches over the Coast Highway 101, a landmark in…

Phil CollaDecember 10, 2013

Beautiful Views of San Diego Panoramas San Diego

Panorama of San Diego City Skyline at Dawn, Storm Clouds and City Lights

I arrived very early one morning at one of my favorite spots from which to photograph America's Finest City, only to find the sky engulfed with thick storm clouds. However, as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I could see the pastel colors that spread outward from the city…

Phil CollaDecember 8, 2013

Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel at Sunrise, Embarcadero Marina, San Diego

The blue pre-dawn sky, with just a hint of the color that is to come with sunrise, serves as a backdrop for the distinctive towers of the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, overlooking the yachts in their slips along San Diego's Embarcadero marina. Cheers and thanks for looking! Manchester Grand Hyatt…

Phil CollaDecember 5, 2013

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