The Cement Jetty at D&W, Visit #2

This morning, I was back at Dockweiler for some more shots of the big cement jetty north of Imperial.  There was a lot of wind blowing straight onshore so the surf wasn’t much to speak of.  So no paddle out which is fine because it gave me enough time to get my 365 post up for the day.

Cement Jetty, Perspective 1

Cement Jetty, Perspective 2

Cement Jetty, Perspective 3

(The little bright spot in the lower left part of the puddle is actually a reflection of the moon.)

The Gillis Jetty Revisited

Today, the lighting was so even and lacking contrast that it was difficult to see the horizon clearly.  The sky just blended into the ocean which was sort of cool.  There was a whole lot less debris and seaweed that had washed up onto the beach than the last time I came to photograph this jetty.  Luckily, the weather was a whole lot nicer today too!

The Gillis Jetty, Perspective 1

The Gillis Jetty, Perspective 2

The Gillis Jetty, Perspective 3

The Serpent Jetty, Visit #2

Every surfer knows how much sand can move around from week to week.  It becomes really apparent when you have a point of reference like a jetty.  This morning, I went back to the Serpent Jetty to see how different it looked today from a month ago.

The berm that I was standing on last time wasn’t nearly as big as it was last month so I didn’t try to match the same perspectives as before.  Regardless, you can see in the final two images how much more sand was built up around the jetty today.

It’s this constant movement of sand that plays a major factor in the shape of the waves at your typical beach break.  You could have super fun corners one week and beach-long closeouts the next.

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 1

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 2

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 3

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 3 (from January 25th)

Cabrillo Beach

Shortly after starting this project, I knew that if I was going to keep it fresh and interesting for myself, I would need to be willing to explore a bit and find some new places. This past week, thanks to the suggestion of a few friends, I’ve hiked a couple trails that I’ve never hiked before and got to see some really cool stuff.

A friend on Facebook mentioned Cabrillo Beach in a message on Wednesday, and so last night, after I looked it up on a map I decided that I’d get up a little earlier and make the drive down to check it out.  These are some of the images I got this morning.  The clouds killed any chances of me getting a colorful sky, but based on what I saw, I think I will definitely be going back for some more pictures at some point soon.

Cabrillo Beach, looking west

The lifeguard station

The Cabrillo Beach Jetty

The Breakwall

The Jetty

The Jetty.  That’s pretty much how most locals refer to it.  I guess if you want to be more specific you could call it the jetty at Middles, but if you just called it The Jetty, most every surfer from Manhattan Beach to Ballona Creek would know what you were referring to.  This is the biggest jetty between Playa del Rey and Palos Verdes and also seems to get the biggest waves in the South Bay during any winter swell.

There is no convenient parking for this location.  Wherever you park, you’re looking at about a half mile hike to get there.  Maybe that’s the reason why I’ve put off shooting this particular jetty.  Every other place, I was able to park my car and walk across the beach to get the shot.  Now that I’ve shot this one, I can take a break from shooting piers and jetties for a while.

If you want to see this place breaking on a big day, check out this YouTube video of Tyler Hatzikian.

The Jetty, Perspective 1

The Jetty, Perspective 2

The Jetty, Perspective 3

The Serpent Jetty

It’s funny how you can live so close to something and not ever notice it.  That is certainly the case for me and this jetty in Playa Del Rey.  I have even hung out on the beach about 200 yards from this jetty and just never actually looked at it.  I gotta say that this is one of the coolest looking jetties I’ve seen.  I don’t know the name of this jetty, but I’m going to call it the Serpent Jetty until somebody corrects me.  I’m sure that the serpentine curve of the jetty serves some interesting purpose, but today it just served as a nice subject for my 365.

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 1

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 2

Serpent Jetty, Perspective 3