Photo 365 - Day 249 (Meow)

Day 249 (March 9th, 2011)
Title: Meow


First, I just wanted to say how much I love technology (as if you couldn't tell from all the geek-related things I talk about).  I mention this, because many moons ago, if we were just walking around and I saw something amusing or neat that I wanted to take a picture of, I would have been really bummed out if I forgot to bring my camera.  With today's "mobile communications devices" (you can't really call them phones any longer, because lets be honest - how many people use their phone for just calls?) you have so many more tools at your fingertips, including quality digital cameras built-in. 


With that being said, we were walking around Albany (trying to find an old button store - don't ask) and I saw this cute image in the sidewalk.  Now, when my brother and I were kids, we always tried to do this kind of stuff in wet cement - but boy did we get in trouble if we got caught.  I'm sure there are some driveways or sidewalks in the Santa Cruz mountains that still have our initials on them.  All I know, if I ever have to pour cement for anything, I'm going to go crazy drawing in it. 


Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 97 (City of Smoke and Fire)

Day 97 (October 8th, 2010)
Title: City of Smoke and Fire

We were driving around Santa Cruz along the beach enjoying the night air, when I decided to pull out the Canon and take a few shots.  I wasn't really trying to shoot anything particular or even get a good shot, but sometimes when you get home and look at the photos you shoot, you are surprised at what you get.  This shot is of West Cliff Drive, at around 10pm without any lights.  I was using my fixed 50mm lens at f/1.4 to try and get as much light as possible, but it was still taking 1/2 a second or more to fire.

I called this shot "City of Smoke and Fire" because the blurred lights from the houses look kind of like fire and the "smoke" is actually the trees.  Its ironic to me, because when I look at the photo I imagine a scene out of a "Blade Runner" type movie (or something very Cyberpunk), but in reality its all of these nice houses surrounded by trees right near the ocean. 


Whoever said "Photographs capture reality" clearly didn't play around with their camera enough. 


Enjoy!

 

(Click picture for larger view)

Photo 365 - Day 65 (Best Hat Ever)

Day 65 (September 7th, 2010)
Title: Best Hat Ever

Top Hat - 1930
Bowler - 1940
Fedora - 1950
Beanies - 1960
Cowboy Hat - Never
Baseball Cap - 1980
Baseball Cap (Backwards) - 1990
Baseball Cap (Sideways, 90 degrees) - 2000
And now - The Board Cap - Forever!

And while carrying a coffee and cell phone. 

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 64 (Sailing)

Day 64 (September 6th, 2010)
Title: Sailing

This Labor Day weekend was jam-packed with beach fun in Santa Cruz.  One of the things I love about a perfect summer day is all the sailboats!  There were an armada of sailboats out playing on the sea, from large 6-8 crewmen boats to little 2-man boats, but everyone was having a good time.  The water was really calm and the weather was perfect (78-82) for sailing.  So perfect in fact, I avoided even getting near a boat and just hung out at the beach taking pictures of them!  I figured, the last thing I'd want on a perfect day would seasickness and throwing-up all over the dolphins.

[Squeak] [Squeak] - That's dolphin for "Thank you!" 

Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 63 (Last Days of Summer Slack)

Day 63 (September 5th, 2010)
Title: Last Days of Summer Slack

We were in Santa Cruz for this Memorial Day weekend and it was a nice chance of pace from the "hustle and bustle" of the city.  The weather was perfect and so was the company.  We went and hung out a the beach for a bit, watched the boats and generally got some good End of The Summer slacking in! 


I got this particular photo with my 28-135 lens (f/14 at 1/400th).  I really liked the clear blue sky, all the boats (there are tons of them - just look at the horizon!), and the folks just relaxing.  There were also dolphins playing in the water, but I was unable to shoot them (they are fast and too small to get with this lens).  I thought about cropping the left side a bit, to remove that other group of people (as well as that one sailboat), but then I kind of isolated the main group as well as removing a nice anchor-point of the photo. 


Enjoy!