Just a typical day at Newport Beach…
Flyover
Sailing into 2023
Happy New Year!
Beach Patrol
Watching egrets on a southern California beach was new to us. We were used to seeing them in the marshes of the Bay Area, but watching them march through the waves on Newport Beach was a whole different experience. I took many more photos than I needed!
Summer’s End
As I get ready for today’s Labor Day barbecue, I think about how Labor Day meant the end of summer when I was a child. Now, most schools have been in session for a couple weeks or more. This image is from last October’s visit to Huntington Beach; summer is still in full swing in Southern California!
I am thinking of getting my Fall wreath out soon though. . .
Into the Blue
White sails on a blue sea- is there anything more peaceful?
Here Come the Pelicans!
Here is another almost abstract image created by using intentional camera movement and slow shutter speed. Although it might look like I added a texture, this is almost straight out of camera. I find it so interesting the different effects that can be created this way.
Morning Flyover
The morning fog was just beginning to give way to a bit of sunlight as I took this photo of a gull flying overhead at Newport Beach. I love the quiet of mornings at the beach!
Beach Walking
Ocean
Here is another ocean image taken at the same time as the one from a few days ago. I’ve been experimenting making colorful textures (a total departure for me) in an attempt to create a different painterly look than usual. I like how they blend with ocean and beach photos.
Sunset Surfing
We are hoping to travel to California in the next month. Our son and wife will both have their second shots, my photography group will be finishing up the semester, and the beaches beckon! It’s been a long year without family, friends, and travel . . .
This image is from one of our trips three years ago.
Beach Lady at Sunset
Over the last few years I’ve taken many photos of people at beaches in Southern California- and probably my favorites are my Beach Ladies. After we get our second Covid vaccinations, I hope to get out of the house, out of town, and out of state to do more beach photography!
Below is a Beach Lady watching surfers at sunset- taken two years ago
Sea Change
“Sea change is an English idiomatic expression which denotes a substantial change in perspective, especially one which affects a group or society at large, on a particular issue.”– Wikipedia
When we were in Newport Beach at the end of February, we were already aware of the likelihood of the pandemic- and I look back at my photos and can’t help but see that awareness in the photos I took. Revisiting those photos, the phrase, SEA CHANGE, entered my mind. The world transformed so much in the weeks following our visit- as if undergoing a “sea change.” I used this photo sequence of a wave cresting and crashing for our final assignment (a triptych) in my photo group.
Nature Heals
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.
~John Muir
Kim Klassen, my very first photography mentor and whose video tutorials taught me Photoshop nine years ago, has brought back her Texture Tuesday linkup! When I saw the announcement last night, I leapt at the opportunity to download her free textures and participate! I have gotten away from still life and have ventured into other areas of photography, but am so, so grateful to come back to Kim’s special world, especially NOW! Thank, you Kim!
https://kimklassen.com/texture-tuesday-2-o-is-here/
Social Distance
Today’s photo was taken on February 27 on Newport Beach, and how things have changed since then! Even then, we were very aware of the looming health crisis and had brought hand sanitizer and lysol wipes with us to California, but how quickly things have escalated! We barely leave the house ( have gone on two walks), and we have never felt so far away from our children and grandchildren. We are keeping busy with projects that have been long-postponed- mostly going through boxes of photos and videos- trying to put some order to a an almost 50 year collection of our photos and movies and another 50 year collection of my parents’- and then the photos from earlier generations and extended family. We are avoiding the stores, but at some point will have to risk it, I guess.
When I first edited this image a couple weeks ago, I saw it as a peaceful beach scene- but now I see it in the context of social distancing. The mother and child are each looking out of the scene- at other people? at the empty beach? I added a slight frame to emphasize their containment within their own little 6-10 foot space.
My hope is that we all emerge from our separate spaces into a kinder, gentler world- and are truly grateful for our families, our health, our friends, and our planet!
Be safe and well, my friends! And stay home!
Patience
Another thing about the beach- there are surfers! There is a lot of patience involved in surfing , I’ve discovered on my beach walks; there is more waiting than actual surfing. But then the right wave comes, it’s magic!
melinda anderson photography 