Ingrid and Fireworks in Coronado
Monday, 7 Jul 2008 | Friends, Photography, Restaurants
Toni and I decided to spend the 4th of July in San Diego this year. It was an easy choice because it was so much cooler and I wanted to take photographs of fireworks over the San Diego Bay.
After dinner, I took pictures of Ingrid with her mom. I wanted to capture them together. Ingrid surprised her mom with a kiss during our little photo shoot which made for a lovely image as you can see above.
I was excited to meet Ingrid's daughter Mikaela and her mother Ginnie for the first time. I recongnized them both since I have seen many pictures of them on Ingrid's Flickr photostream. We had a wonderful lunch at Swadee Thai in Coronado. It's a favorite of Ingrid. I loved the decor, food and the colorful outfits worn by the women at the restaurant. I'll have to ask if I can take pictures of their colorful dresses next time. Ingrid's son Bryce was fascinated by the hidden Mickeys on my Hawaiian shirt.
Toni and I parked and walked to the Coronado Ferry Landing to watch fireworks shot from four barges on San Diego Bay. The fireworks were spectacular and I got some very nice shots. It was a great 4th of July.
Griffith Observatory Flickr Meet
Monday, 30 Jun 2008 | Flickr, Friends, Photography
I got together with fellow Flickr enthusiasts on Saturday evening to visit and photograph Griffith Observatory. I was excited to go since I had not been to the observatory in at least fifteen years.
When we got there, I was so happy to find an absolutely primo parking spot right away! Oh, and the weather and view were lovely that day. There was a cool breeze and it wasn't insufferably hot like it had been a few weeks ago.
All in all, we had a wonderful time and though I didn't shoot as many photographs as usual, I did get a few keepers. I was very pleased with the results of bouncing my SB-800 off a reflector and even the wall of Griffith Observatory for portraits.
Later, we went to dinner at Fred 62 where some of my friends adapted my portrait flash bouncing technique using an unfolded paper napkin as a bounce surface. It worked amazingly well, even with a built in flash on a Nikon D40 using the shooters hand as a GOBO to stop direct flash hitting the subject. It was a ton of fun.
Max Exudes Personality
Sunday, 29 Jun 2008 | Pets
There's a dog park which sits adjacent to my work and shares the parking lot. When I pulled into the parking lot on Friday morning, I did a doubel take. I saw what appeared to be a chocolate brown Standard Poodle wearing goggles sitting in the passenger seat of a bright red Volkswagen Cabriolet.
I knew right away I had to get a photograph of that dog! I walked over to the owner, a nice man named Frank, and asked if I could take a photograph of his dog in the car. He told me he would be leaving the dog park in a half hour, so I told him I'd come out to meet him at that time.
Frank informed me that his dog Max wears the goggles when riding in the convertible to protect his eyes from flying objects. I took a few shots with Frank holding a fill flash to camera left. I thanked him and the duo were on their way. I'm so glad I took the time to photograph Max. I'm sure you'll agree it was well worth the effort.
Baby Photo Session
Thursday, 26 Jun 2008 | Photography
I had a wonderful photo session at a favorite client's house in Newport Beach recently. Beth commissioned me to take photographs of her new baby Kamryn and her daughter Kayla who was graduating from High School.
This photograph of Kamryn at a mere 15 days old is the one Beth chose to include with her baby announcements. I was amazed at the clarity of Kamryn's eyes and her attentiveness. She is a beautiful baby. Congratulations, Beth and David!
