Beautiful Torrey Pines
One of the best places to take sunset pictures in San Diego is along the beaches of Torrey Pines below the cliffs. This is a place that glows golden and during low tides the gold cliffs will reflect against the wet sand.
It is extraordinary.
Beautiful Sunset La Jolla
Beautiful sunsets in La Jolla are common. Here is another night of beautiful sunsets here.
Windansea Beach Scenes
I love heading down the street from my house to one of the most beautiful surf beaches in the world. A palm-covered shack was originally constructed at Windansea Beach in 1946 by Woody Ekstrom, Fred Kenyon and Don Okey.
That shack still stands today and it is designated a historical landmark to the city. The palm fronds on the shack are replaced by locals when they fall off during storms.
Here are some scenes from Windansea today. It’s a beautiful place to catch all the warmth and beauty of San Diego.
Beautiful Joshua Tree National Park
I live in San Diego and Joshua Tree National Park is less than 3 hours away. I like it so much that I put it on my list of the Best Day Trips from San Diego. You can check that list out here. Best RoadTrips from San Diego. It’s a fairly easy day trip where you can end up in one of the most mystical places on the earth.
What makes it So Special?
The first thing you notice when you are driving to Joshua Tree is that you start to drive up. You’re going from low desert into higher desert. And when you reach a certain elevation, the famous trees that inspired Dr Seuss – The Yucca Brevifolia, or the Joshua Tree start to appear. The climate here is hot in August (it was over 100 degrees) but in many places in Joshua Tree it seems like a serene oasis in the desert. There is literally a forest of Joshua Trees that sit amidst very cool rock formations. Joshua Tree is out of this world.
The Lorax Tree’s that inspired Dr Seuss. They are quite appealing.
Cool and mysterious rock formations like Skull Rock are all over the landscape.
Because it is so unique. There are literally a ton of different things that people do here. Camping, Bird Watching, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Motorcycling, Astronomy, Photography, Movie Making, Geology. I got a chance to do many of the smaller hikes. The best locations are typically only about a mile from parking.
Everyone comes here and it is only about 100 miles from Los Angeles and just 45 minutes from Palm Springs.
Made Famous by U2
Back in the 80’s, Joshua Tree was the go to cool place after U2 Shot the cover of their album Joshua Tree here.
Mysterious Place
Joshua Tree is a mysterious place with a long history. It was a place where miners and cattleman gathered due to the geology and the fact that there was water here in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The miners were searching for Gold and the Cowboys were hiding their cattle in hidden valleys here. In 1994, the location was elevated to a National Park Status and tourist from all over the world come to visit. There are sightings of an old miner ghost out here. Apparently he haunts the place at night so you have to be careful.
There are miles and miles of roads like this. Its a motorcyclist dream. As long as you don’t get caught speeding.
Beautiful Sunsets at Joshua Tree
I would have to say the best time to plan your trip to Joshua Tree (like any other desert location) is around sunset. The colors and the contrast really kicks up and the place is truly out of this world. This is a place I will come to many times in my life if I am lucky.
Photo Walk on Sunset Cliffs
I have often talked about Photo Walks. You know walks where you bring your camera and you hope to take a nice picture. I talked about it in my post, How Photography can change your life. It did Mine. You can check that post out here. How Photography Changed my Life.
People commented on the post quite a bit saying how they felt the same way about photography about me, and how it was the little things about taking pictures that helped them to live better. One comment in particular really touched my heart however. An elderly lady, talked about how her husband who was wheel-chair bound, recently bought a camera. Every day she would wheel him around and she did it so that he could take pictures. He could take pictures of life that was happening around them. Every day they went out together.
I realized that photo walks were very important. I have two legs that I should not take for granted. I walked several miles tonight along the beautiful Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. Here are some of the sights that I captured.
Some kids cliff diving off the rocks while a paddle boarder watch. I am not sure I would make that jump.
A bird soaring over a particularly nice cove.
I like how the sun hits these sheer sandstone cliff walls and makes them look golden.
Another photographer tries to capture the last rays of the sunset.
5 Reasons Why You Need to Buy an Instant Camera
I am often intrigued by Polaroid cameras and photography. I blogged about it before and even tried to make Polaroid work for me. Read the Blog Here – The Polaroid Project.
At the time, I felt that Polaroid had become more of a curiosity than a must have and I found that it wasn’t worth the hassle. But over the past year, my thoughts keep returning to Polaroid cameras and their place in photography and I have come to the conclusion that the Instant Camera is something that every household should own.
I bought an instant camera today. It cost me $79. That’s pretty inexpensive. And the film is only about $1 for each exposure. Again much better than I had initially found with my original project.
I bought the Fuji Film Instax Mini 8. A simple camera with a flash and exposure control.
The film looks cool, just like original polaroids with the border. The film cost about $1 an exposure which is totally affordable.
What Recommendations do I have for buying a Polaroid Camera?
Well first off. You don’t need to buy a Polaroid Camera you can buy an Instant Camera. I know everyone is fascinated with the hipster retro-aspect of Polaroid and I think that’s where a lot of people make mistakes. I certainly did.
I bought an old retro Polaroid for about $100 on Ebay, then I had to hunt down film from the Impossible Project and pay about $2 to $3 for an exposure. Since the camera was old and the film faulty, almost all of my exposures looked pretty bad. I was trying to go for a retro look and it was costing a lot of money.
So my recommendation is to buy an instant camera from Fuji or Kodak or even the new Instagram camera that should be available in 2014. These will all be cheaper and take better pictures. The new Instagram camera will even have the traditional filters to place on the pictures before printing. That camera looks exciting to me. I will probably buy one. Check it out here – The SocialMatic.
Now this camera looks pretty awesome. I am waiting for it, anxiously.
The second thing I would recommend is to buy something that has a flash and a way to control the exposure a bit. You will be using the camera indoors and outdoors so you need some control.
So its that easy. Buy something cheap. Something New and Something Inexpensive. And as always, make sure you check the price of the film because that will end up being your biggest expense by far.
So here are my Reasons Why you Need to Buy an Instant Camera.
1. Facebook has created the need for something more permanent
This sounds weird but it occurred to me that Facebook completely changed the way that 90% of people in the US look at photography (including myself).The process for photography, even after digital photography came about almost always involved printing so people could look at the pictures. I used to print the best pictures and send them to people.
I have thousands of photos on Facebook. What is going to happen when I get so sick of Facebook and delete my profile?
People no longer do that. The process today is snap a picture and upload it online – most notably – Facebook. The problem with this is that people no longer print pictures and there is no longer a permanency to any photograph that they take.
But what happens when they get so sick of Facebook and want to pull their profile down? Almost all of their pictures will disappear forever. Facebook is going to be responsible for your grandchildren not knowing what your life is like. Despite the fact that people take tons of pictures, they probably will have very little to show for it.
You need an Instant Camera to make it easy for you to take pictures and have them printed.
2. You need to hold some pictures to feel them.
I remember when I converted all of our old family pictures to digital pictures for my Mom and Dad. My mom asked me a question, and she was right. She said, “But don’t you want to go through a box and feel the pictures as you go through them?”.
That tactile approach to photography is missing today. Having an instant camera will restore it to your family pictures. You need to hold the pictures to really feel them and experience the moment.
The experience of going through an old musty box of pictures and finding one of your Mom with a beehive haircut is something we need to keep hold of.
3. It will teach you the basics of Film
Remember when film drove the way that we took pictures? It was expensive and it was time consuming. And most of all you didn’t want to keep changing the roll of film in the camera every two minutes.
Well digital cameras changed all of that and we live in a better world. But we are missing film – the look of it and everything else nostalgic that it offered us. Having an instant camera is a great way to retain the way photography and film used to be without having to go through the same headaches.
An instant camera will teach you to wisely take your photos. That is something we are missing with digital cameras.
The old Kodak Tourist Camera. Changing film on this was a bear.
4. Because they are Fun.
If you have a kid. Or if someone you know has a kid. Or if you are getting married. Or if someone you know is getting married. Or if you are going to be having any special events – you need an instant camera.They are a lot of fun and photography should be fun and bring people together.
The instant camera will generate a lot more interest in the pictures than if you bring your Iphone or your DLSR. The instant camera will allow you to create cool and different pictures that no one else will get. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the instant camera will be something you need someday.
5. Because Kids Get It, They know what we are missing with Photography today
Have you ever wondered why kids are so attracted to Polaroid and Instant Cameras? Well its because they get something that possibly we don’t and that is all the things that I mention here.
They understand that photo sharing is not just about sharing it on the internet. It’s putting the photo on a frame, or sticking it to the wall, or the refrigerator. It’s about having something to touch and hold that was instant and memorable. I think kids really get what is missing in photography.
If you have a family and get an instant camera you will probably find that they take a stronger interest in photography.
My nephew Charlie often tells me why he likes Film vs Digital. There is a return to film and Instant Cameras are a great way for you to hold on to that experience
I’m glad I got my instant camera today. I probably won’t be able to share many pictures online with it but I am sure that I will get to share them in other ways that might just end up being more important in the long run.
Photographing a Great Family
The Frank Flare
It was 7th grade. We were playing flag football on the black asphalt at St Rose. Our name was the Dallas Cowboys and for the moment we were playing as good as them. We got back in the huddle and Mike barked out the play – The “Frank Flare.” Oh God here we go again I thought to myself. This can’t possibly work- again. We’d already run the play at least a half a dozen times in the last dozen plays and the other team could not possibly fall for it.
The “Frank Flare” was an ultra-simplistic passing route were I would basically run three steps diagonally off the line of scrimmage and turn around. As soon as I did, Mike would throw the pass. It was perhaps the only pass route I could ever think to execute and given the ball was being thrown from less than 5 feet away, the only pass my ham-fisted like hands could catch.
But it worked. And it worked again. And again. And Again. And many times more. And all the way to the Championship. It was my first, and my last foray into football greatness.
A Great Family
That was a time I had with Mike Macie my childhood classmate and friend. And here I was 30 -some odd years later meeting him again but this time with his family. 5 kids and his Wife Mary who also a great friend and a very special person to my sister. I didn’t even actually know Mike and Mary were married until my sister told me but I was not surprised.
I remembered Mike as an extraordinary gifted guy and Mary as one of the funniest girls I ever met with and incredibly kind-heart so no surprise that they were together. As you can imagine, their family is great. Each of the kids (Thomas, Peter, Matthew, Luke and Libby) seem to have inherited all of the great qualities of their parents.
If you want to see the entire gallery of pictures you can click here. The Macie Family Be sure when you get the bottom of the page to click the link for the next page. There are 13 pages of pics.
A Day at Scripps Pier La Jolla
We met at Scripps Pier which happens to be one of my favorite spots in San Diego. The weather was a little overcast but the place is always beautiful no matter what the weather. I met the kids first. I could see them instantly as they each looked like Mike and Mary. I really liked the Macie kids they were so easy going. They would do anything that I asked.
Here are the kids running and posing for pictures along the beach for me, 30 seconds after I met them.
We had some fun running in the water. But I realized after we did it, that peoples pants would get wet. One of the kids, I think Thomas said to his Dad, “Hey it looks like you pee’d your pants” That was a great laugh. If you see any pictures that look like that you know that its just salt water.
I get nervous to take pictures with really photogenic people like the Macies. If the pictures do not come out – then the only person to blame is me. Or I guess I could blame my camera.
It is a bit of a bittersweet time, Thomas is heading off to College. This was a great chance to capture some late summer memories before Thomas goes off the college and grows a mustache and eats pizza everyday.
What I love about Photography
I guess photographing the Macie’s really reinforced what I love about photography. It’s about bringing people together. It’s about capturing what is the most important thing in life – love. And its about looking back at our lives – even if its only a day ago – and learning to appreciate everything we have been given. I think you can see all of those things in this family- and that is what makes them a GREAT family.
