NAS North Island

[scottcolbath]

I'm staying on Coronado this weekend.

Can anyone offer up some suggestions/tips for photo ops (if any) out there? I don't even know if there is an "outside the fence" there. Should I rent a dinghy? 

S.C.

[Jay Beckman]

Kaspar has shot there many times IIRC...

"Dog Beach" is a spot I think some use.  Not sure about the "roust factor" there.

You can also go across the bay and with a very long lens, get some interesting looks from the hillside of the cemetery.

[Ned Harris]

Scott:
    I was there a few weeks ago. Dog beach is the place to go and it is an afternoon shoot. Cross over the bridge, turn left on Orange Ave., right of Isabella to Ocean Blvd. Dog beach is located at the northern most end of the beach, adjacent to the gate for North Island NAS. Park adjacent to Sunset park, walk down to the gate area, head out to the beach. I found the best shooting to be from the northernmost part of dog beach right at the surf line. No need to rent a boat.

[Joe Copalman]

I shot at Dog Beach back in April and really didn't have any problems.  I had been advised by a friend to keep a lower profile there, so I basically sat in the shade of a lifeguard tower (forgot to pack sunscreen) and read a book for a few hours, getting up to shoot photos whenever something was on final.  Closest thing I encountered to be hassled was a dog that came to pee on the support leg of the lifeguard tower nearest my backback, but that was about it.  Oh, and if you're a beach-digger, this isn't the beach to do it, lest you find an unwanted "surprise" buried in the sand.  True story.

Activity there varies, but most of what you'll catch are local H-60s, C-2s, and some Fairchild Metroliners operated by Berry Aviation, with some other civvie EW support, cargo, transient, and depot traffic mixed in there.  It was pretty slow when I was out there, but I definite caught stuff you really can't catch in Arizona.  And I made some great progress on my book.

[scottcolbath]

Awesome. Thanks guys.

S.C.