Santa Monica

The first time I saw the beach at Santa Monica was in 1967. The pier looks pretty much the same today and the beach is still a spectacular stretch of white sand. Of course the neighborhood is even more upscale and wealthy then it was in the 1960’s. They were just building the Interstate 10 and back then Santa Monica couldn’t compete with Westwood and Beverly Hills. Of course it is beachfront and as Los Angeles grew so did the price tag in Santa Monica.

It is a public beach so you see all kinds of people there from hippies and families to bodybuilders and of course tourists. There is a wonderful bike and pedestrian path that runs all the way from the Pier to Venice and Muscle Beach. It is a great walk for people watching and exercise.

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Santa Monica

Santa Monica

The Dragon of San Monica Pier

Santa Monica

Candidate #20—Dos Sombreros

I am going to be posting images that I may have posted before with a candidate # thereby collecting a list of what I feel would be likely candidates to print for a gallery show of new images of only digital photography. Right now I am focusing on images that are photojournalistic in nature. This image was taken at a beach in Quinatana Roo near Tulum Mexico during the winter of 2015. Please feel free to leave comments if you agree or disagree about including them in a “best of” list.

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 Dos Sombreros

Dos Sombreros

Morning Run

When I travel it is easy to take sunset pictures. I am out and about, alert, in the zone and ready for the light show. However, it has always been difficult for me to take sunrise pictures. I could blame it on my age but that would not be true. To take a sunrise picture you have to get up and to your location before the sun rises.

I love to walk (I use to run) in the morning after I have had my morning coffee. The morning is one of my favorite times of day. But then there is this guy. What time did he get up and start running? Who are the people that can do this? Are they human? It was dark when I got to the beach and I saw him run down the beach. This was taken about a half hour later as he ran back up the beach. He must be and A type!

Photographed at sunrise on a beach near Cancún.

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Running at Dawn

Running at Dawn

Reflections on a Hood

Everything looks different at sunset. I noticed the palm tree reflections in the afternoon as I walked up from the beach and thought, such a shiny car. At sunset I noticed the same car and thought, hmm I wonder if you could get a car painted like that, but of course you can.

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Reflections on a Hood

Reflections on a Hood

Golden Gulf Sunset–2016

I took a lot of sunset pictures this spring when we stayed at Sunset Beach in Treasure Island. Our balcony overlooked the Gulf of Mexico so I really didn’t need to do anything but open the door to see a sunset. Each sunset image is subtly unique and colors sometimes dramatically different. This one features a backlit Pelican.

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Gulf Sunset

Gulf Sunset

Surf’s Up!

I tried doing this a couple of times when I was young but just barely managed to kneel. I used to like body surfing and belly boarding though and remained mystified that human beings actually have enough balance to stand up on these boards and ride the waves. This young man was surfing before sunset on a Gulf of Mexico Beach near Treasure Island Florida.

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Surfs Up!

Surfs Up!

Longboards at Sunset

This is another sunset view from our condo on Sunset Beach in Treasure Island Florida. It was great fun spending a whole month on the beach. It was something we had always wanted to do and we are blessed to have the time, money and health in retirement to do some of the things on our wish list. The nightly sunset views from our balcony were stupendous.

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Long Boards at Sunset

Long Boards at Sunset

Cancún Sunrise

Another one from the unused image vault. I did put a full size image of this on my commercial site for sale but never shared it with my blog audience. In my opinion this was the precise moment of sunrise. When shooting a sunrise or sunset I always shoot a series so I get the perfect moment. Easy to do with free pixels rather than expensive film. This was taken last December on a beach near Cancún Mexico.

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Cancún Sunrise

Cancún Sunrise

Greeting the Rising Sun

As a photographer I have risen frequently to greet the morning sun. I am always struck by the birds. If you are going to take a sunrise picture you want to be on the scene before the sun rises. If you are real early in the eerie light you can hear the birds waking up but can’t see them. Then you will begin to see them perched and stretching their necks,fluttering their wings and then as the sun begins to peek out flight.

Taken in Mexico off a beach near Cancún.

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Greeting the Sun

Greeting the Sun

The Funky Mailboxes of Sunset Beach–Part 2

Treasure Island and adjacent to St. Petersburg. Sunset beach is a little dead end barrier island on the Gulf of Mexico and primarily made up of houses and small condos. There is little traffic, only two restaurants and a magnificent beach and small boardwalk along Boca Ciega Bay. Although we did most of our walking on the beach, we also walked through the community and noticed that many people had really special mailboxes. Here are a few of the better ones.

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