Pacific Grove on iPhone 6

Yesterday was hot, and I have a sunburned back to prove it.  We drove down to the Monterey Bay and spent the morning and the early afternoon on the beach of Pacific Grove's Lover's Point Park.  Save two dead sea lions rotting in the sand and seagulls stealing whole bags of Cheetos, it was an amazing Saturday.  The ocean was calm and clear, the sky was a deep warm blue, and the light was brilliant, promising the arrival of summer soon.  The kids slept through the entire ride there, and only whined a little bit on the way back, nothing a song or two couldn't take care of.  Also, Grandpa John stopped by and hung out with us, making the family fun complete.

I didn't bring my camera as I already had a ton of stuff to carry (traveling with kids is like a perpetual move across the country, even if it's just a day trip), but I had my phone charged and my eyes peeled for the good sights.  I am very happy with the snapshots I took home - my new year's resolution was to return to shooting for my own pleasure, and it's definitely working out great.

I hope you are having a spectacular weekend, too!

Escape to Santa Cruz

This weekend we visited Santa Cruz.  It was like coming home - suddenly I didn't look like the odd kid on the playground, but blended perfectly in the crowd.  The weather was magical, be it a little ominous in light of the snow blizzard that's engulfing the East Coast.  Temperatures in the low 80 confuse the heck out of my biological clock but I admit I enjoyed it.

Santa Cruz is an amazing place!  It is the land of the fifty year-old skateboarders.  There are beach bums, regular bums, and just people who look like bums but aren't.  Nearly everyone has tattoos and their hair is a bit too long, and they wear weird clothes.  Tie dye is very popular here.  So are VW vans in bright colors.  I saw an actual open top military Jeep pass by full of teenagers who were listening to Sublime as loud as they could.  The rich drive their vintage cars on Highway 1, and the not-so-rich ride bicycles and carry all of their earthly possessions on their backs.

There were a billion dollar view villas overlooking the Pacific, piercing parlors and record stores, liquor stores and cafes, souvenir shops, cotton candy and deep-fried everything on the Boardwalk, calliope music and arcades, yuppies and hippies, yoga moms, youths looking like gangsters, people smoking cigarettes and other stuff at street corners, beach goers and surfer dudes, and sunshine - lots and lots of sunshine!

And honestly, as crazy and unusual all of this seemed, I feel it's still more natural and organic than the wastelands of Suburbia.  In Santa Cruz there's a real sense of culture, of community.

We arrived at high noon so I resorted to taking photos countre jour.  I was shooting while pushing a stroller, so don't judge my composition technique too hard!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Happy New Year!

In the last day of 2014 I rented an 85mm Nikkor, f/1.4 lens and went down to Mountain View to test it.  Shooting candid street photography and taking portraits of strangers is one of my favorite pastimes, but between hanging out with my kids and doing family sessions I haven't had the time to indulge in proper improvised photo walks....

As you can see, the lighting conditions were not perfect; at high noon the sun beats very harsh even in the Winter.  The lens is a bit narrow for my taste, through its sharpness and speed makes up for it at least partially.  Next I really want to try one of the ultra-wide lenses, 24mm or so (or even a fisheye), again with such a large aperture.  Stay tuned!

P.S. My favorite image must be the jumping shot - thanks Jeff and friend (sorry, I'm terrible with names...)!

Last Days in London...

Well, this is it.  All of my London archives have been revised, edited anew, and posted here.  These images are taken during my last weeks and days in London before we moved to the States.  They are  quite random and quite precious - although I was eager to start anew I truly liked the city and I still miss it sometimes.  This is where I learned to light-hunt!  

The still life macros shown here are barely retouched - the quality of light in London was almost always perfect as the sun was filtered in the most exquisite way through the clouds.  Also, favorite images from Oxford Circus, Tower Bridge, the Tube, the South Bank and St. Paul's, Market Place, and a snapshot from the only time I rode in a Black Cab.

Enjoy!

A Good Sunday

We attended a great birthday party today - there were animals to pet and friends to talk to, and although we couldn't stay for the cake, we had such a fun time.  Getting out of the house and taking photos was long overdue!

I am loving the beautiful warm light in these.  As the season changes to Fall, the sun shines so softly! 

Kids, Cats, and Cameras

And just a few more shots from the same day - after we came home from the park Johnny decided to attack Shelby.  It is the sweetest kiss-attack you can imagine, even though the cat would disagree.

America is a tune. It must be sung together.

~ Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds

This is the first of many images from the archives I will be posting here in the days to follow.  Finally got around to carry out a massive backup project, and I would like to share my favorite candid photos.  

I took this one in the winter of 2008.  John and I still lived in London at the time and since we got married earlier that year, the California trip served us as a Honeymoon as well as a visit to John's parents.  We has a swell time - rode horses, (sort of) swam with dolphins, had a Chinese Tea Ceremony, and drove all the way down to LA to see the sights.

The Golden Gate is something to behold, and seeing it for the first time was quite a memorable experience.  So it was for these Tibetan monks, I believe.

Taken with my old point and shoot Kodak.

The Londonist

I'm almost, almost ready to post a bunch of forgotten but quite awesome archive images from all over the place before I disappear into obscurity (read: have that baby and go into hibernation mode) for awhile, and then return with a vengeance and about a million newborn photos.

These are from London, and judging by the fact they were taken with my old point and shoot Kodak, they date from 2007 and 2008.  Just a few random street shots I find funny!  And no, I have no idea why the profane graffiti in the last one seemed so hilarious to me.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!