East Coast Expat

Born and raised in Northeastern PA. Graduated PSU '81. Knocked around Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland until '89 when my family and I moved to Half Moon Bay CA. I never looked back.

California Beachnik

What is a beachnik? To me it's like a beach bum but infinitely cooler. I go to the beach year round, rain or shine, sun or fog, to connect with myself, snooze, body surf, read and of course to take pix of the numerous wildlife and scenery.

Nature Photographer

I usually post my best wildlife pictures on iNaturalist under the moniker "dr00g". Here is my iNaturalist bio.

But these pix are just the tip of the iceberg. I've been taking pix since '76. You can visit the Table of Contents for a large variety of collections. Other highlights are Karl's Favorite Recent Picture and Karl's Favorite Bird Pix. Or you can be adventurous and start at Karl's Click a Pic Homepage. (I'm a system level programmer and web programming isn't really my thing.)

Recreation

I love to read. One of my favorite books is "Tent Life in Siberia" by George Kennan. It's a travelogue written by an American around the time of the American Civil War. He was looking for a western route to put a transcontinental telegraph line through Canada, across the Bering Strait, across Russia and into Europe. Makes modern tent campers look like glampers.

When I can I tent camp in the desert in eastern San Diego county when the temps fall below 100 in the fall. Random desert pix are tenting, panoramas and animations.

Probably my favorite outdoor recreation is tidepooling, usually at Gray Whale Cove State Beach. At negative low tide the far northern end is probably the best spot. Having a waterproof camera helps. The above picture is me tidepooling on an unusual spring-like day in January 2026.

I love to hike but mobility issues with my legs limits my range these days. I make my walking sticks from driftwood of Monterey cypress or coastal redwood I find on the forest floor.