Santa Monica Spectacle, originally uploaded by noeltykay.

Early last month I saw that Thomas Hawk had posted an entry on the Zooomr blog regarding Photowalking in Santa Monica. Thomas had even used one of my images of the pier on his blog entry. To say the least I was flattered, and I just had to participate in this event..

Normally when I have the time to go shooting I am by myself. I love taking a few hours and walking around an area and capturing images. Santa Monica by the water is a favorite place for me to walk...as is shooting LA nightscapes. I always wanted to go shooting with others...I liken shooting photos alone as to playing a round of golf by myself or surfing on an empty beach. Make a great shot on the golf course alone, or catch a killer wave with no one around...you are simply not sharing the excitement with others in the moment. Surely you walk away from shooting with those images which you captured...and the great ones can be shard with anybody...but...it is not the same as sharing the moment.

So Saturday at 4PM I met a group of people including Thomas Hawk and coordinated by Trevor Carpenter in front of the Apple Store in Santa Monica. As soon as the majority of folks showed up Thomas put me at the wheel to navigate where we should go considering this is my neighborhood. We strolled from Wilshire and 3rd Street to Broadway and Third with a walk in the park on Ocean Avenue. From there we ventured down to the bike path and walked along catching Rollerbladers, cyclists and skateboarders...



At about 6:30 or so we congregated ont he pier for a quick bite to eat before heading on the sand to capture the sunset. My hope was that we had a Sunset so that everyone who participated could capture the background colors of the sky set against the man made beauty of the pier as seen here in a picture taken last October...



Unfortunately mother nature was uncooperative with the fog coverage, however, I did check the lunar and tide schedules in the paper earlier int he day...we were scheduled for a sunset at 7:52PM and low tide was at 9:02PM. If we weren't going to get a sunset opportunity at least we would be able to take advantage of the low tide which enable you to capture the brilliant colors of the pier reflecting off the water...it is truly magical!



I honestly think the low tide was a bigger hit than a gorgeous sunset had we had a sunset. People were encouraged to get in the water with their tripod and most did. It was an awesome sight to see...finally I was sharing something I LOVE to do with others that have the same passion for photography as I!!! Where or when am I going to be hanging out in 70 to 75 degree weather with perfect water temperature with a great group off people taking pictures long after the sun goes down?

It was truly a great experience and I look forward to the next Photowalking opportunity! I am hoping to make Alameda if time permits.

If you would like to see more of the images captured by the Santa Monica photowalking group...

Click here for the Zooomr link

or click here for the flickr link