Senior Portraits

Those who follow my blog know that I primarily shoot sports, although I've been doing some wildlife and portrait work recently.

Well recently one of my sisters asked if I would take some senior portraits of my nephew and of course I said yes. I am trying to become a better portrait photographer and that's what brothers and uncles do.

Our families all went to a local park to take these pictures. I was very pleased with was I was seeing on my camera's LCD and viewfinder and when I got home and uploaded them I became even more so. Not to toot my own horn but these are some of the best shots I've done. I tried some new techniques with composition and processing and was very pleased.

Those of you who do this sort of thing I would love to hear what you have to say about my end result. Thanks in advance.

My Love

After hearing about Rancho Los Alamitos, which is located just southeast of Long Beach State University and in a private community, my wife, daughter, and I went out there to take a look and see if there was any potential for senior portraits. I heard about this location from a new found friend and fellow photographer.

I thought I would take advantage of this and take some nice shots of my wife and daughter, but we ended up having some car problems that delayed and limited our time there. We explored the area while I took some shots of my wife and daughter, who also took a nice shot of my wife and I. You'll see that these shots are all upper body and tight. That was done on the request of my wife.

So with that said, here are some shots to share. I do have a great deal to learn about lightning and posing, but I am happy with these shots.

This first shot was taken by my daughter and shows my wife and I.

A shot of my daughter.

This is just one of those shots you either like or don't. I wanted to get a shot of my daughter and saw it looked with my wife in the background and liked it.

Water Balloon "WAR"

What is a summer without a water balloon fight, or in this case a "WAR" We all remember our child hood days with playing in the sprinkler and water hose and having the best time of the summer, well now it's our kids time to enjoy the fun of summer, but then again, most, if not all of us have refused to grow up.

So sit back and enjoy my rendition of the water balloon fight.

Here are a few shots of some of the young participants, or should I say victims.

I think someone needs to have a couple of burgers before he goes to battle. Mom always said, "Don't go to war with an empty stomach."

And who can go to war without a nice cool drink.

What can I say, but when you have to go you have to go!

Now we must prepare for battle by building up on ammo.

Now once all is prepared for battle you need to cleanse your body and soul. This makes you one with your enemy and at peace.

Make sure you get all of those nooks and cranny's.

Now we are ready for war. With the first balloon thrown all are wondering will it strike true.

Yes, it hits it's target. Nothing like a water balloon to the head.

Some times those balloons don't explode when they hit, which makes it that much better.

A thrown that went wrong and blew during the release.

After the battle was over, it was time for the wounded to heal and prepare for the next "WAR".

THE END!!!!!!!!!!

Bolsa Chica Wetlands

When your wife and daughter go to Palm Springs for the weekend and your son goes to his girl friends house, what do you do. Well in my case I went to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands to relax in the evening air, take some shots, and watch the sun go down. Does it really get any better than that.

So, with everyone gone I got my gear together and drove to Bolsa Chica. The evening was great. the wetlands are adjacent to Bolsa Chica Beach, so not only did I have a nice evening, but I also had a cool beach breeze.

Now I really know nothing about the wildlife at the wetlands, I tend to go just to get out and see what kind of shots I end up with. I do know that the terns have been out recently and they tend to offer one a lot of opportunities to capture some nice shots of them as they hunt for their next meal. So with that said here are some of the shots I took this last Friday. Enjoy.

I'll open my shots of the Terns with this dive.

Since I started with a Tern dive I will end with another one. Hope you enjoyed these shots as much as I did taking them.