It has been almost a week since I last posted. I really did not shoot much during the week, but I shot well over 400 shot over the weekend.
Saturday was spent shooting a friend and his family Saturday morning and I am very poeased with the overall results.
Saturday Night was spent raising money for my charity The Giving Spirit. We managed to raise over $1,500 through a raffle at a golf tournament called the MBA Masters!
Sunday was spent with my family barbecuing and I took the bulk of my images yesterday. After post processing I am sure I will have more to share in addition to this stauette I captured in perfect natural light.
Last Saturday I deicded to beat the heat by taking a five mile stroll along the boardwalk. As it has been for the past several weeks, it was HOT! Temperatures on the shore were in the 90's!!!
WIth the heat comes the flocks of people to the beach (including myself) to beat the record temperatures all over L.A. While walking by the pier I checked out one of my favorite photo spots...the rings. I normally shoot the rings sans anybody using them...however I figured what the heck. When I got home I thought what a great shot but it is a little too busy, the colors are drab and the horizon is crooked.
So I spent about half an hour color correcting, cloning and straigtehing...I love the results:
On my lunch break this afternoon I mosied on over the Veterans Administration for the weekly farmers market. Up until three weeks ago the Thursday farmers market had been held in Westwood, where traffic is a nightmare, parking is limited and cost $$$$. They moved the farmers market to the VA, where traffic is minimal, parking is abundant and FREE! I discovered the new farmers market last week and I will be returning every week on my lunch break. Of course I had my camera in tow...last week I purchased some peaches from a really nice guy who has incredible ink all over his body. I took a few shots and applied a little Photoshop selective color technique for what I consider a winning shot.
Bobby Fischer???
Sunday was as hot as I thought it was going to be. The wife and I spent some time picking up produce at the local Farmers Market. In the afternoon she spent time with a friend while I hit the pool at the Fairmont and then took a leisurly walk around the pier and bike path. I happened to go by Chesspark and noticed a young boy playing chess with an older gentleman. Made for a great selective color shot....
It is hot in Southern California! Temperatures in the San Fernando Valley reached a scorching 114 degrees yesterday. Thankfully the wife and I live in Brentwood which is closer to the Pacific and usually much cooler. Yesterday temperatures hit just over 90 where we live.
Today is going to be another scorcher! At the local Farmers Market, by 9AM temperatures were already in the eighties. Nothing like fresh Summer fruit to help keep cool!
The wife and I enjoyed a little excursion down the road at the Santa Monica pier for a little Twilight Concert Series. We ended up eating and leaving before Dick Dale performed...it was just too gorgeous, and we knew we would be able to catch some twilight shots...here's one...there should be many more in my flickr photostream in the next few days. Keep an eye out for them, you won't want to miss them!
Tonight there was a full moon so around 8PM I left the wife and took a drive hunting for the full round of cheese in the sky. I was hoping to find the moon somewhere near the beach for a pier/ferris wheel moonshot....however I was told that the moon was most likely visible, lw in the San Fernando Valley. When I got to the valley the moon was not in the sky...so, I took Coldwater to Sunset, and low and behold I saw the moon south of Sunset. I happened to find a broken meter and parked my car right outside the Bel Age Hotel...YAY ME! Parking is a bitch around Sunset. I walked up to the front desk and explained there was full moon tonight and i had previously been a guest of a hotel guest and had shot downtown from the rooftop pool...I asked if they could do mea favor and give me a key to the rooftop pool...they did and I took a bunch of pictures which I am editing and uploading to my flickr photostream...check em out and enjoy!
I love flickr! I have been using it for a year and a half and it has changed the way I share my photos! About three month ago I started blogging because flickr made it so simple. Well, recently I have been intrigued by Zoomr a new photo sharing community similar to flickr. I figure I need to give it a shot and see which service I prefer...the photo in this blog entry is my first photo uploaded to my Zoomr account. I shall report back after getting some time in front of the keyboard with Zoomr on the LCD.
Just got back from a wonderful trip with the wife to New York. We spent the majority of the time with her folks in Poughkeepsie...we did wind up in NJ, about 20 minutes from Atlantic City and what do you know...the state closes all the casinos!!!! Damn!!! My poker itch was terrible...regardless the trip was a blast...took over 700 photos...I hope to get around to post processing them sometime after work this week...here is one of a butterfly for now. This shot was taken with my 28-135 in my inlaws backyard.
