Underneath Tar Pit Park Pier

This location is underneath the pier at Tar Pit Park, which is a beach in Carpinteria California off the Pacific Coast Highway, south of Santa Barbara. There is a parking lot at the end of Dump Rd with a small fee. From there you can see the beach and the pier which is a very short walk away. Asphalt seeps out onto the beach, one of only five in the world. Use caution when walking as the asphalt can be sticky and get on the bottom of your shoes.

With consistent weather year round, theres no bad time to visit the pier.

Visit in the morning thru late-afternoon for clear skies like the featured photo. The pier faces southwest, though, which makes sunset ideal as the warm light will creep in from the right side of the frame.

The feautured image was taken during a road trip up the coast so we didnt have the luxury of waiting for ideal light conditions. To work around this I positioned myself in the center of the pier but also at a position to slightly block the sun with the pier as evident in the top left of the picture.

I preferred a wide-angle lens (24mm) to capture the leading lines and depth of the pier.

This is a great location for portraits and even wildlife so a longer lens is also great to bring along.

Right next to the pier is a seal rookery that is prohibited to humans. There is a cliff walk above the beach though that allows a nice view for wildlife photos.