Today I decided to try out a new modifier, a 60” convertible umbrella and it is amazing. Now, I wonder why did it take me so long to get one. I always wanted to take a photograph that had rich skies and amazing cloud structures so today ended up being a double whammy for me. I tried to get my cousin to come out and take some photographs, but she refused at first. So I called out my dog and she was such a good sport and posed for me. She was rewarded afterwards with a yummy treat.
I am ready for my close-up!
Ooh, the neighbors dog is barking! 
After getting my mess all cleaned up, my cousin decided that she wanted to pose for some photographs. I took all my gear back outside and we decided to try some new things. Although none of us was prepared for a photo session, I think we were able to capture some good results. Posing is not my strongest area so we decided to do some basic poses as well as some random shots.
Who needs shoes, it’s Spring…. 
Tonya’s thinking…. &…. She Decided she will go hug our tree! 
Lets work with that a little bit…Perspective! 
Tonya’s favorite thing is to Jam out to music as our final shoot. Since my battery was dying, I put on Airplanes by B.o.B and she started to Jam out. This shot had a sensible feeling to it. 
Tonight was the night for the supermoon which last took place over 18-years ago. Tonight the moon will appear to be 14% larger and 30% brighter than it normally would. There wasn’t a better time to head outside and take some photographs. Since it was beginning to cool off quite quickly outside, the first thing I did was get a fire going. Tip: Spring & Summer are the perfect firepit seasons.
After getting a fire roaring, it was time to take some images. I took several images as the moon moved throughout the night sky looking at various lighting and foreground subjects. The first image that I took was just the moon itself.
The second image, I took of the moon was it passing through some of the branches in our tree.
The last image that I took was of the neighbor’s tree. Although it doesn’t contain the moon, I thought it would still compliment this short blog post.
Early Saturday morning my Dad and I left for Morro Bay for his vacation and birthday. I believe he had a great time, but I think he would have enjoyed it more if he didn’t currently have a back injury. We did do a considerable amount of activities while we were there and he pushed through a lot of the pain. During our trip we visited Morro Rock, Elephant Seals, Ragged Point, Hearst Castle, Natural History Museum, Hiked Montaña de Oro to the tide pools, hike in Monterey County and even walked Embarcadero.
I’ve been to Morro Bay several times now and they have this post card labeled “Morro Bay at Night” and it just printed completely black. I decided to do my own version of this called “Embarcadero at Night.” This image was taken off of the balcony in our room, and the black and white makes this image sale.
The first night, I completely missed the sunset. I walked across the street a half-hour before sunset to watch the lighting and wait for the tones that I wanted. For the duration before and after sunset I continued to shoot the scene, but the lighting wasn’t what I wanted. It was being obstructed by the heavy clouds that day. Not to mention that the winds were strong and it made for a very cold night. The second night, I did happen to score some sunset images. I spent a lot of time during this trip photographing at sunset and at night, because it is an area that I want to improve in.
Have you ever tried to photograph wild birds at night? It’s difficult, but I got lucky and I found a seagull resting on a dock post with amazing light behind him. I walked right on him and setup my tripod, dialed in some settings, composed and took the shot. While taking this and several other shots, the people in the restaurant were watching my every move. I can hear their thoughts, “please don’t turn around and take our picture. Please oh please don’t.”
“Sally sells seashells by the seashore.” My dad pushed through a considerable amount of pain to make it down to the tide pools at Montaña de Oro State Park to hold some starfish. Unfortunately there wasn’t any. I looked through every tide pool in hopes to find one so that the trip wasn’t a complete waste. I didn’t find anything except for hundreds of hermit crabs and some sea urchins. We did find some shells though. I have no idea what type of marine life these shells are from.
When we started hiking Montaña de Oro is was crystal clear outside, but it quickly turned when we started to head back to our car. The fog outside became so thick that we couldn’t no longer see the car, nor could you see the water from the edge of the cliff. It was amazing how quickly it rolled in. It did make for some interesting images later that evening.
That fog eventually worked its way into Morro Bay which is stayed through the entire night. The fog did allow me to capture some illusion photography as well as make some pretty awesome backdrops for some images. The first image is one of Morro Rock which represents an illusion. The first reaction that I got and that others got from the image is that it looks like I was on a plane or a helicopter passing by Morro Rock. In fact, it was taken off of the balcony in our room using a 70-200mm zoom lens.
This next image is of the harbor and bay. I don’t know why I like this image, but I do. Our hotel is hidden among the fog
One of my favorite images. While we were walking Embarcadero I wanted to go down to some of the docks. We came to the USCG and I wanted to check out some of their boats. Also at this dock is where the fishermen pick up their bait and the next thing we notice is that a harbor seal is yelling up a storm. Interested we decided to hang around a while and wait for him to come out. While waiting, one of the fisherman was done loading bait and started to head out into the bay. Intrigued by the lighting in the water I was thinking, I hope he comes this way. It started to head the way I wanted him to go and I found an opening on the dock. I composed my shot and I waited for the right moment then bam! I took the image and got what I wanted. Come to find out, the opening I was taking the images from was his docking spot. It was cool watching his vessel head directly towards me.
With all the fog lingering around it still didn’t stop me from taking a sunset shot. During sunset the fog looked like a huge wave, as tall as Morro Rock, heading directly towards Morro Bay. It was very interesting and the light was so amazing that I could not pass up the opportunity.
Last but not least, we have our friends. We went though three bags of peanuts feeding the squirrels. They are very gentle in taking food from you and some of them will even sit on your lap and eat. Make sure to always thoroughly wash your hands before touching your mouth, eyes and eating after feeding any form of wild animals. Remember wild animals carry diseases.
