As many of you know, I was chosen to participate in shooting a photography tutorial course with Frans Lanting ( World Renowned Nature Photographer) Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world and has been commissioned frequently by the National Geographic Society, where he has served as a photographer-in-residence.

It was a fantastic day of shooting starting before sunrise to well after sunset. Frans presented us with a brand new Gura Gear Camera Bag for joining the workshop !    http://www.guragear.com/  

We shot at Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing first.  These Harbor Seals were very interested as we approached in the boat. We had to stay very low as to not to startle them before I got the first shot below . I also thought the one seal on the shore looked like he was was waving to me :) 

Sunset was at "4 mile Beach" in Santa Cruz - The cliffs and rocks took on a orange hue as the sun set behind them . I took this shot with a 30 second exposure to soften the water. All in all -  a great day ! Can't wait to attend the classroom taping next week in San Francisco at the Creative Live Studios . 

More to come ! 

Melissa 

Elkorn Slough- Santa Cruz

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