Sunset Cliffs

Last night, my friend Kevin hit me up spontaneously to see if I’d want to go photograph the sunset in Ocean Beach. My initial thoughts were…I’ve got to get cleaned up, I need to pull out the photography equipment, where will I park…and then I said f%^k it and told him “yes.” That he offered to drive was a huge bonus. We went to Sunset Cliffs, lucked out on parking, and just caught the sun as it was sinking below the horizon.



Kevin at work:



With the telephoto lens:



…and the wide-angle:



Just plain old normal lens (albeit without auto-focus anymore!):



We were both pretty happy that we made the time to catch one of nature’s most amazing wonders, and a beautiful reminder of why we Californians pay out the wazoo to live here.



Back in the day (aka the 1980s/90s), pretty much every day I was in San Diego I was at the beach AND in the water. I still have my boogie boards, but they just don’t get any use.



Ah, Spring Break 1986:



Afterwards it was time to eat. The Hob Nob was an easy decision.



Kevin shoots beautiful photos; he poses for dorky ones.



The meatloaf dinner hit the spot (in the right way):



And so did dessert:



The moral of the story: instead of overthinking and being a bundle of negativity, STFU and just do it. You’ll be glad that you did. I know I was.

See more photos at my main website.

The Woolsey Fire

Almost a week after it started, the horrendous Los Angeles Woolsey fire is only at about 57% containment. The loss of lives and property is devastating to the residents of Malibu and surrounding areas. The Woolsey Fire is now one of the largest on record for Los Angeles County, dating back more than 100 years. The fire has destroyed at least 504 structures, damaged 96 others, and burned 98,362 acres according to the L.A. County Fire Department. Approximately 57,000 more are still threatened.

The cause of the Woolsey Fire remains under investigation.

See more Los Angeles photos at my main website.

Sunset at the Mansion

Nothing like a good flu bug to help you get caught up on your website and make you realize you have photos from almost 2 years ago that haven't yet seen the light of day.



These sunset gems from the Haunted Mansion don't really need a whole lot of explanation.









See more Disneyland Haunted Mansion photos at my main website.

Diary of a Fiery Photo Shoot

I love a challenge, and when Ryan told me that he was interested in doing a shoot involving fire-breathing, I immediately said "yes!" The sign here says "no smoking"; fortunately, it said nothing about spewing streams of fire.



We both arrived early, and took things easy as we waited for sunset to approach.



People (and animals) were still out enjoying the warm water.



Well, maybe not all that warm.



Ryan showed me some of the ideas and locations he had for shooting out the fire so that I could be prepared. You can't exactly ask someone to "hold that pose" when they are breathing out fire.



Closer to sunset:



Surfers getting the last waves in:



And then it was time.



It is amazing how quickly it gets dark. Ryan's first few breaths allowed me to fiddle around with my settings. There was a lot to coordinate on the camera for something I had never done before.



After a few, I started hitting my groove.



I had to shoot at an ISO that was much higher than I wanted it to be; on the next one, I would definitely begin at least an hour earlier.



The water shots definitely had the most potential for looking cool.



The waves were not exactly what Ryan had hoped for, so it looks like there might be a round two.



Besides, he had run out of 151 for the fire. I'm getting awful flashbacks of Hawaiian Punch and trash cans.

See more Daveland Ocean Beach photos at my main website.