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A Month Of Sundays

~ A weekly shot of life

Tag Archives: beach

Week #83: Soul Full

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by jb in Ocean, Photography

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beach, ocean, photography, soul

DSC_4514

Whenever I’m at the beach, my soul feels just like this little girl jumping up and down in the waves. It reminds me that I need to feel like that more often.

This past week, I had the opportunity to be on the photo team for the school’s drama department. It’s my second year on the annual team — and despite how crazy-full the week is — shooting 1000 pictures a night, followed by culling, evaluating, editing, learning from mistakes, then turning in the best 5 (only 5!) to the team leader (for the lobby poster. We’ll use the top 70 per cast for the DVD) and starting over with a new cast the next day — I love, love, LOVE it! Photography fills my soul in an entirely different way.

I learned a lot on the photo team this year — about photography and myself. I’ll spare you the details (which may make you question my sanity, although I’d just blame it on cold medicine and sleep deprivation) but here’s one of my ah-ha’s:

My soul loves photography so much that I’m determined to learn everything I can about it and to do it every chance I get.

Which brings me to Chapter 3 and our weekly photo lesson. But first, I must share my gratitude for anyone reading this post, because making my weekly photography goal public has (finally!) made me make photography a priority in my life. It’s been at the bottom of my list for too long. (And if you suffer from the same disease of putting your personal goals last, I highly recommend committing to a goal publicly – even if it’s just to one person who will hold you accountable. Not new advice, but I can now tell you personally, it works.) Thank you!

Okay, here we go, Chapter 3 Assignment:
(from the awesome book “Nikon D7000: From Snapshots to Great Shots” by John Batdork. It was a lifesaver while shooting in a dark theater this week!)

  • Check out which automatic “scene” modes your camera has and take pictures using the different modes.

Hey, that’s not so hard, right?

Remember, these automatic modes are there for a reason and there’s no shame in using them! Their purpose is to use the settings that are usually best for that scene. For example, portrait mode creates warmer, softer skin tones. Landscape mode enhances the blues and greens — colors that are often found in landscape pictures and uses a small aperture (making everything in focus — not just what’s closest to the camera.) Sports mode uses a fast shutter speed to capture the action with less blur. See? It’s not cheating, it’s useful. And, if you want to learn more – you can use the information saved with each picture about shutter speed, ISO and aperture. When you understand what settings your camera is using automatically, you’ll know what to do if you want to adjust them by shooting manually. (Or you can happily keep using scene mode, take great pictures, impress your family and friends and not worry about it. It’s all good.)

Feel free to link to your pictures from this week or ask a question. Or just tell me — what makes your soul full? (Because I’m curious that way and I’d love to hear from you.)

Week #82: Mini Mavericks

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by jb in Ocean, Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

beach, Mavericks, ocean, photography, surfing

DSC_4359I’ve been fascinated with the Mavericks Invitational surfing contest in Pillar Point (the same location I took week #74’s “Time and Tide” photos) since I first heard about it years ago. It’s always been my dream to see (and photograph!) it, especially since it takes place a mere hour away from my home. This year, I got a little closer to that dream, because I found a site with a live feed of the contest – which I watched in absolute awe. And, I learned that there are public boat tours during the event that get up close to the surfing action – YES! (I just updated my bucket list with that!) To make it more exciting, this year’s winner was local “boy”, Peter Mel, of Santa Cruz who’s been in every Mavericks competition since it started in 1999. He won for the first time this year at the young age of 43. (Hey, perhaps it’s not too late for me to take up surfing after all?)

The day after Mavericks, the beautiful weather and crazy waves continued. I went down to Santa Cruz with some friends and caught a bunch of local surfers enjoying the big waves. (Okay, not Mavericks-big, which were *only* 25-30 feet high this year. But still bigger than I’d swim in, which is saying a lot.) It was the perfect opportunity for photo assignment #2 – shooting at various focal lengths, (which I did with my 18mm-105mm zoom lens) and good practice for the day when I get to cross “photograph Mavericks from a boat” off my bucket list, too.

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This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One thing I wanted to point out is that none of the focal lengths are “wrong”. The choice you make depends on what story you’re trying to tell, what mood and feelings you want to evoke – and that is entirely up to you, the storyteller and picture maker.

There’s no assignment this week, because I’ll be using my camera every day, taking literally thousands of pictures next week as part of the photo team for our school’s drama department. But rest assured, I’ll have a post and assignment number 3 for you next Sunday. (I can’t wait!)

In the meantime, enjoy some of my favorite photos and video from Mavericks; they’re as amazing as the surfers themselves.

My favorite Mavericks photos:

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/BigGregLong.jpg

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/DaveW.jpg

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/DropGreg.jpg

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TaylorRyan.jpg

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/DropZack.jpg

http://mavericksinvitational.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GB.jpg

Video of winner, Peter Mel, surfing Mavericks this year. It’s two minutes of pure awe and happiness! (I love seeing other people’s dreams come true!) And in case you’re wondering how they got that amazing footage, they used a GoPro video camera mounted on the surf boards — which made watching the live feed of the event this year even more amazing!

Image

Week #9

31 Sunday Jul 2011

Tags

babies, beach, silliness

jb: This adorable little guy was my “neighbor” on the beach one day. He’s about one and demonstrated mastery of three words – “hi!”, “bye!” and “doggy” – none of which (thankfully, in the latter case) he used with me. Instead, he repeatedly marched over to my blanket where I was reading, knitted his brows together seriously, pursed his lips into the sternest face someone with cheeks like a puffer-fish can muster, looked me straight in the eye, pointed one chubby finger very decisively at the ocean and just GLARED at me. No amount of “hi!” or smiling or any of the things I normally do to win kids over worked with him. (It was both intimidating and adorable, much like a hissing kitten.) He stood steadfast and determined. He didn’t say a word, but his message was clear: “Look – it’s the ocean, the world’s biggest puddle and your favorite place on earth! Stop reading and go play in it before it’s time for you to go home and you realize how much you miss the ocean. And yes, that hat DOES make you look ridiculous. And for heaven’s sake, reapply sunscreen before you get wrinkles.”

When he was sure I’d finally received his message, he toddled off on his chunky Michelin-man legs, back to the world of his beach blanket and sand-digging, satisfied that his day’s work was done. Clearly, he was wise beyond his years.

j: Okay, so of all the GORGEOUS pictures I took while on vacation in Humboldt and Mendocino, I chose this one to share. It’s because I’ll never post it anywhere else, and that seems a shame (though I’m not sure why). Here’s the thing. I walked by this car, parked at the curb. I read the Sharpie nonsense philosophy words, passed on, then went back and took the picture. I imagine this car got hit because someone was following too close, trying to read all the ways she could spell “realize.” At the moment of impact she was thinking, “Huh. That’s so…” and she didn’t get a chance to finish her thought. Interesting? Stupid? A waste of Sharpie ink? We’ll never know, but the duct tape adds a nice touch, don’t you think?

Posted by AMOS | Filed under Our View

≈ 5 Comments

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