Bolsa Chica Wetlands

So I was sitting at home this past Saturday thinking "I'm on vacation and why am I just sitting here", so I packed up my gear consisting of two Canon Mark IIn's. One with the 300 f/2.8 attached for my bird shots and the other with my 24-70 f/2.8 for some scenic and sunset shots. I'm trying my hand at HDR and wanted to see what I could come up with.

So I left early enough to give me plenty of time to walk around to see what was out and the type of activity there was. So enjoy the shots and although I wasn't really happy with my sunsets I did do a b&w play with HDR on one shot.

Love to see what your thoughts are on the last shot.

Griffth Observatory / Old Abandoned LA Zoo

Paige, from Paige Nicole-Photography, an on-line photograher friend of mine, whom I officially met last year during the Tulsa Shootout "Mpix Meetup, came out to LA to visit and watch a close friends concert at The House of Blues in Hollywood. This was Paiges' first time out to California and had a list of things she wanted to see and do during her visit.

This past Wednesday my daughter, Paige, and I spent the day together exploring around Hollywood. We started the day driving through Griffth Park, which lead us to the Griffth Observatory. This first shot shows Griffth Park with Hollywood in the background. If you look closely you can see the Old Capitol Record building just above the tree-line.

One of the many trails around Griffth Park. I liked the separation between the trail and Hollywood in the background.

You can't go to the Griffth Observatory without getting a shot of you with the Hollywood sign in the background. This is my bud Paige.

Doing the portrait thing with a shot of my sweetheart (daughter) and Paige.

I really liked how this one came out.

One of the places Paige really wanted to go to was the old abandoned LA Zoo. Now I have heard of this place, which is located in Griffth Park, but have never been there. So we did a little exploring and found it. We had a great time exploring and wandering around taking pictures.

I have to give credit to my sweetheart for taking this shot of me and all my stuffed muffiness. Great job!

Had a great time hanging out and found a new place to take pictures.

Anza Borrego Desert

Spent the day in the Anza Borrego Desert with Peter Tellone of The HDR Image, Shelly from Shelly Rosen Photography , and Shannon from Shannon Edmonds Photography.

Peter frequents the Anza Borrego Desert and offered to take us out to a few spots for some exploration and hopefully some sweet sunsets.

Our first stop was actually a senic over look and just prior to this I saw this catus budding out of some rocks on a slight hill, so once we stopped I took a little hike to find the cutus. Although I didn't find the one I initally saw I did find this one and took a couple shots of it. For these two shots I did use my 300 f/2.8. Thats right - I brought my 300 for a day of senics and sunsets, but my thought process was in the desert there is an abundance of wildlife and if I did encounter some I would have the lens to shoot it. Well at least that was the thought.

Now once we arrived onto the valley floor we stopped for a restroom break and some lunch. Not a lot around, but I was able to grab a shot.

I'm not sure what the name of this wash / canyon is called, but it was very cool. We spent some time there checking the area and taking pictures, or can I be so bold to say taking works of art. Ok, maybe thats too far, but either way I was very nice. Shelly brought her son and he was really getting into taking pictures. I have to say this little guy is such a cool kid with a great personality. I'm sure what ever he does he's going to be awesome.

Can I get a big woot woot, finally there is some wildlife for me to shoot, although this guy didn't get too close. I was still able to get some shots and with a bit (cough, cough, wink, wink) I ended up with this.

The future is nothing but up for this young man.

The last place of the day "Fonts Point". This was the location we were hoping to get the sunsets, but as things would have it the horizon was very hazy, but we made it work. So here are the last few shots.

I think this last image is fitting for the evening and time spent in the desert. Here is Peter with Matthew, both setting up their camera for the shot.

Now I did take some HDR, but I will need some time to play and see what I end up with, as those are simply out and really away from my box, but keep checking as I will post them once I've finished my mojo on them.

It was a great day and although I didn't take a bunch of shots, I had a great time simply hanging with Peter, Shelly, and Shannon, oh and how can I forget Matthew. I hope to do this more often. I hope you enjoy the shots.

CIF State Semifinals - Boys Soccer - Millikan vs Crescenta Valley

With their win against La Costa Canyon in the CIF State Playoffs Millikan continues to the CIF State Semifinals against Crescenta Valley

In this match up Millikan struck first scoring a goal, but Crescenta Valley quickly returned the favor by putting one of their own into the net. The game stayed pretty close until Crescenta Valley matched their goal with another one giving them a pair. Millikan had drive and focus, but were unable to come up with another goal ending their drive for a state title.

Now to some action shots. I'm a firm believer when shooting sports you should get some safe shots prior to the game. What I mean by safe shots are those shots of players you either won't normally get, such as players riding the bench, or players that play away from the action. Now although goalies don't really play away from the action they do tend to be crowded when the action comes their way. You really need to position yourself in a place of advantage to focus on the goalie and only the goalie. So I make it a practice to get some shots of the goalies while their warming up. These first two shots are of those.

Here are both teams being brought onto the field by the ref's

Millikan's coach with his head bowed during the national athem.

Now for some action.