Bringing Ideas To Life

A bulk of my daily thoughts are of photographs.  I imagine ideal situations and what would work for an individual based on their spirit and personality.  Sometimes when I get these ideas, I jot them down on a piece of paper to remember for later.  I have a few pages of them for people I know.

I was challenged to make one of these ideas a reality.  I took the challenge and I am glad that my friend Kristy Jo was up to help me realize the vision I had of her.

Most of my portraits include the surroundings to give you a sense of place of where I took it.  I don't tend to get close to the face until now.  I am starting to move in closer to get a more intimate look at each subject.

K. J. writes her own music and plays the guitar so I wanted to incorporate both in the shot and keep it up close. I saw she had a small wall painted in chalkboard paint so I thought it would be perfect if she hand wrote some lyrics on it and stand in front of it with her guitar on one side of her face, her face in the middle and the lyrics on both sides of the frame.  As you can see with my scratchy sketch, I was able to get close to my vision.

When I take a portrait of someone, I am open to let things happen naturally.  She turned the guitar around and hugged it and it turned out to be my favorite of the bunch.  Although I wanted the image I drew out to be serious, the one that seemed to bring out her personality is the one with the smile in it and by chance, her "smile" lyric happened to be in the background.

I look forward to get more images out of my brain...

Piers and Pelicans

There is something about a pier that brings everyone together. People walk on the pier, under it, surf alongside it, fish off of it, grab lunch on it, and of course...take pictures of it. Yesterday, I took a stroll on the pier in Oceanside and took pictures of things that I found on it, around it, and under it. People enjoying the day...just being in the moment.

As you know, I love birds and water so I had a nice time taking pictures of both, along with people doing what they love. I walked along the beach to find a young man playing his guitar and singing while an older gentleman was looking for treasure in the sand. As I walked on the pier, I was shocked to see pelicans sitting on the rail watching the people walk by. They didn't mind people getting close to take pictures so I took the opportunity to snap a few for myself.

As I looked away, perhaps I approached one too close (or he was hungry) and I felt a slight pinch on my arm as if someone was grabbing me arm from behind. Looking back, I realized that the pelican was biting my arm. Not once, but twice! So, I took the hint and scooted away.

Pelicans are amazing creatures. Their wing span is longer than a teenager and they can soar across the water so gracefully and effortless. Wouldn't it be great to be a pelican for a day? They are so beautiful to me.

Here is a moment in time of people and animals enjoying the day together in Oceanside, California. For more, click HERE