Bailey’s First Trip to the Beach
Out little buddy had his last round of shots yesterday and was cleared by his Veterinarian to make his way onto the Dog Beach in our neighborhood. Here are two clips of the fun:
This was shot using the video setting on my Nikon D90 set to the highest resolution. I have not played around woo much with the Video Mode but after seeing how nice the results are, I will be doing so more often in the future.
Summer Solstice Festival – Long Beach, CA
On Thursday evening when we were out walking Bailey, we noticed that a lot of tents were being set-up in a few spots on the beach in Belmont Shore. We took a stroll over on Saturday afternoon to check it out and from what we understand, it was a Summer Solstice Festival.
We found vendors that were promoting their take on sustainable products with items that ranged from clothing to water purification. Probably our greatest find that afternoon was the strawberry lemonade from
(it was so good we went back over on Sunday for more).
I little off to the side of the lemonade was an area on the beach where it seemed like a few bands were hanging out getting ready to perform (but now that I think of it I don’t remember hearing any music while we were over there). Parked in that area was this massive, hand painted bus that was a lot of fun too look at. When I got closer I noticed a lot of little mantras that we stenciled on over the brightly colored mosaic of the bus.
Here are a few shots of them along with a few that I took as we walked around that afternoon:
Grand Prize Winner !!!
A couple of weeks ago I met up with Steve Ip for a special Photographers Night hosted by Aquarium of the Pacific. The doors were opened for photographers and all their equipment from 6-9 that evening. It was an amazing opportunity to wander through exhibits freely.
As part of the night, the Aquarium of the Pacific sponsored a photo contest via their Flickr Group in which three prizes were awarded. I am pleased to announce that upon returning home from work this afternoon I received notification that my entry was the Grand Prize Winner!! My award entails an “up-close encounter” with either sharks, sea lions, or otters that can be shared with up to 3 friends. I am extremely excited about this!
Without further ado, here is the winning entry:
The other winners can be seen here.
Random Shots
Here are a few random shots that I finally got around to working on. I hope you like them …
Aquarium of the Pacific – Long Beach, CA
Here are a few photos taken on Saturday of our trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It took over a year for us to finally make it there but it was definitely worth the trip. While I am not too versed in taking photographs through glass, I feel like I got a couple nice shots and with practice, will get more in the future.
One of my favorite exhibits was the Lorikeet habitat. For a mere $3, you are able to get nectar that the birds will happily jump onto your arm to feed. Using the new tricks I learned in CS3 allowed me to really get across the brilliant colors of these birds.
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Walking Around Belmont Shore
One thing that I have found myself doing over the past few months is to jump on my bike with my camera bag and head down to the beach path to find some shots to take. I started out this morning with my usual routine but once I got down there I saw that there was a thick layer of haze over the beach and ocean. So, I made a quick u-turn and headed back to the house. I am glad this happened because I think that when I do this, I am moving too fast to really see what is going on. Cruising from point to point on a bicycle is fun but maybe it is a little too fast. So, with the unwelcoming conditions and this thought in my head, I set out on foot through a few of the streets around my house.
This was a great idea because without the tether of the bicycle and the ability to take my time and really see what was around me, I think that I got far more and better shots today.
Click on the image below to see the gallery.
