With the weather warming up, it’s time to take a spring trip! My trip of choice? Rolling down the windows of my teal blue Prius, blasting Lorde’s “Green Light” on repeat, and driving up to San Francisco!
Of course I took the scenic route. Highway 1, affectionately known as “the one” by Californians, goes right along the coast and is absolutely beautiful. Enjoy these photos from my trip!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
PHOTO TIP: If you can, stop to take photos. The moving car will make your images less sharp.
Hearst castle has free-roaming animals. There were herds of cows, and then some surprise guests!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
ZEBRAS! I was just moderately excited (just kidding, they’re my favorite animals).

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
PHOTO TIP: I was shooting these photos with my D800 and my 70-200 lens. I wanted to get as close-up as I could to these awesome creatures!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
PHOTO TIP: Just because your subject is far away doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with your framing! I used a tree right in front of me to frame the zebras that were hundreds of feet away from me.
The zebras were keeping their distance, but then they ventured down to the water to drink. Look at the babies! So cute.

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
PHOTO TIP: I kept my 70-200 lens on the whole time to make sure I didn’t miss any of the action.
Back on the road, I had to stop to photograph the breathtaking scenery.

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
PHOTO TIP: These were taken with my D800 and my 24-70 lens. I used a wider lens to capture as much of the scenery as I could. The zoom comes in handy for mixing up the framing, though it’s not necessary. You can definitely use a prime lens to shoot scenery as well.
The scenery is constantly changing as you drive up the 1! So is the light, which makes it fun to play with.

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
Here I took a little break for a hike!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
And then continued on!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
As the light is changing as the day goes on, you get the benefits of moving towards sunset. I stopped my car by Bixby Bridge about 20 minutes before sunset and shot all the way through. How breathtaking is this scenery?!

Credit: Kylie Nicholson

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
After sunset I got an unexpected surprise- the moon! How magical. It took my breath away. I had fun playing with the edits on these. Check out how different lighting changes the mood.

Credit: Kylie Nicholson
I hope you had fun coming along my journey with me! Let me know if you have any questions!
Photographically yours,
Kylie
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