Mr. & Mrs. Conor Gentes

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my cousin's wedding and celebrate the marriage of Conor and Elle. It was a great to be able to have all the family together. It usually is quite the task to get 50 Browns together. 

The wedding took place right on Lake Washington during the evening and was an absolutely gorgeous location for the ceremony to take place. Luckily, we had a very warm and sunny day-- no rain to be found here! 

The ceremony took place in Elle's father's backyard with around 150 chairs set up on the lawn to accommodate all of the guests between the both of them. I knew that I was not going to be able to get a clean shot of the wedding party coming down the aisle based on where I was sitting and I didn't want to get in the wedding photographer's way, so I resorted to using my wide angle lens to try and get as much in frame without sticking out into the aisle. 

My plan was to switch to another lens once Elle and Conor were at the front, but per the wedding photographer's request, no cameras were permitted during the ceremony. As much as I would have loved to shoot some shots of the couple, anyone with a camera was going to be thrown into the lake. I would rather not risk that with my equipment... The ceremony was filled with humor and was overall beautiful and the setting was perfect. 

As they were setting up the tables for the dinner portion of the evening-- or as I like to call it, free food-- the guests were all asked to step off the lawn. I walked around and was able to grab some shots of the tables and setting once again. All of the name tags for which table you were assigned to were hung with clothespins on a string that was on a picture frame. I thought this was a creative idea that was a spin on your traditional place holder!

As the sun was setting right behind Mercer Island, the lights turned on overhead and just made the already beautiful location even better! Everything for the decor was done by Elle's family from the lights to the dance floor. The dance floor was built right on the water next to their dock. They even had the band set up on the dance floor for the festivities later. What a cool idea! 

Before the dancing, it was time for the speeches. I was going to head to the front to get a better picture of Conor and Elle, but it was right during the speeches. I got stuck up front in between a couple tables and right behind the videographer. But hey, I was OK with that because it meant a better location for shooting photos of the lovely newlyweds. :) 

Concluding with a night of dancing and sending the new couple off in a boat decorated in white Christmas lights, all in all, it was a night to remember. Congrats to Conor and Elle and a HUGE thank you to all who helped make it a wonderful night and put it all together.

A Sky Full of Color

After getting back from San Diego and being disappointed by the lack of color in the sunsets, the Washington sunsets did not disappoint! I was out playing golf with my dad earlier that evening and mentioned that the sunset was going to be awesome tonight. There were clouds in the sky and the light looked just right. As we got back home, I quickly grabbed my camera and headed over to a school park close to my house to get some better shots than what I could get from my backyard. I like these two shots for the colors that I was able to get when properly exposing for the sky and keeping the foreground elements in shadow, which is the effect I was going for.

Heading back, I looked and saw some writing in chalk along one of the brick walls of the school. "DUDE. be nice." Months earlier, a guest speaker came to one of the local middle schools to tell them about his story of change for the better. He gave a call to action to help make their school and community a little bit better by making changes to treat others better. Check out the "DUDE. be nice." apparel line and Mike Smith, the guest speaker that came to help represent the "DUDE. be nice" apparel brand.

Cabrillo National Monument

While it was a gorgeous day, sadly, Cabrillo National Monument was our last stop in San Diego before flying back to the Pacific Northwest. We headed along the coast to Cabrillo National Monument, which is about a half hour from downtown San Diego. The park is situated at the very tip of Point Loma peninsula and oversees all of San Diego including Coronado Island and the famous Hotel Del Coronado. Our first stop at Cabrillo National Monument was down the hill to the tide pools. Supposedly we were there during low-tide... I guess when you're spoiled by Oregon tide pools, you can come up disappointed. Except for the occasional small crab that would run away to hide from any people invading their habitat, the tide pools were barren. 

Getting down to the rocks was a little bit of a trek in flip flops while trying to navigate loose rocks and dirt. (I definitely thought that there was going to be more sandy beach than there ended up being!) Even though there wasn't much to see in the tide pools, the coast was still impressive. The California coastline is still some of my favorite stretch of coastline along the West Coast. While the time of day wasn't ideal for photos, the photos still go to show how rugged the coast really is.

After we headed to the tide pools at the base of Cabrillo National Monument, we drove back up to the top of the hill to see the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. This was the original lighthouse built at the very top of the hill in 1854, but later became inactive when New Point Loma Lighthouse was built at the base of the hill in 1891 and served as a beacon that marked the edge of the coastline. 

Unfortunately, the tower to the lighthouse was closed and I wasn't able to get into the tower. I wish I could have because it would have been spectacular to be able to grab a panoramic shot of San Diego! In an attempt to get the best picture I could of the light, I stuck my camera through a gate blocking the entrance to the tower and fired away. Luckily I was using a wide angle and was able to show most of the light and capture some of the detail in the light. I knew shooting with a wide aperture would let me get it in focus. After all, the camera was arms length away and I couldn't see through the viewfinder to focus or aim... :)

Close to the visitor's center is the statue of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the first European to step foot onto the west coast of the United States. The land for Cabrillo National Monument was first purchased in 1913 by Woodrow Wilson, but it wasn't until 1939 that a statue of Cabrillo was put in place. The location of the statue has Cabrillo overlooking the entire bay of San Diego. It was quite a popular spot and everyone wanted their photo taken with the famous discoverer. 

I have to say, this was not a bad last stop before heading to the airport straight from here.

La Jolla Scripps Pier

Upon deciding to come to San Diego for our vacation, I knew that this was one of the places that I had to photograph. We headed about 30 minutes north of San Diego to La Jolla, CA. This is where the Scripps Institute of Oceanography is and is home to the Scripps Pier. We got there right before sunset. I knew that I wanted to get there a little early so that I could grab multiple different views of the pier before setting up my tripod for the shot that I really wanted. 

I was surprised at how many surfers were still out in the water when we got there right before sunset. I was able to grab some shots of the surfers coming out of the water after their day in the surf. The surfers provided a nice foreground for the pier in the background. 

Luckily, it wasn't particularly hard to grab a shot of the pier the night that we were there. Besides a family portrait photographer and a family, I pretty much had the pier to myself. While photographing the pier, one of the locals commented on how this was one of the calm days. Apparently the sun sets right at the end of the pier three times per year and is chaotic. He said that some photographers get there hours ahead of the sunset just to be the first in line to grab the shot (and it's not an easy shot to get!). 

Even though the sun didn't set at the end of the pier, I still was able to get this shot of the pier. 

It was so cool to see how the pier seemingly disappeared into the distance and almost looked as if there was no end to it from this vantage point. I set up the tripod and knew that I wanted to control my shutter speed to get this shot that I had envisioned. Even without the sun setting at the very end of the pier, I still came away feeling pretty happy about this shot.

Sunset Cliffs

For one of our last nights in San Diego, we headed over to Sunset Cliffs, a spot that I had read about and seemed like a wonderful spot to try and catch some photos. We arrived right during the golden hour, which gave the cliffs a beautiful orange glow. Driving along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, we pulled the car over a little ways before the actual park to grab a different vantage point. I was able to carefully walk down the sandy, loose cliffs and grab a nice shooting spot. Climbing down loose cliffs is not so easy when you're carrying a camera, bag and tripod. Even right before sunset the cliffs looked awesome. I actually think that this was the best lighting we had while we were there.

Right before getting in the car to head further up along the shore, I turned around and was able to capture this. There were a few surfers out, but I didn't have a zoom lens with me so I was limited to capturing the beauty around them. There weren't many waves for them to catch anyways. I kind of wonder how they were able to get down to their surf spot because as far as I could see there weren't any stairs. 

Once in the parking lot at the actual Sunset Cliffs Park, I headed down an alternate route to the cliffs. The sun was just above the hills and gave off some great color. 

Even with the name Sunset Cliffs, there wasn't much of a sunset-- at least for the night that we were there. There was a low cloud bank that limited the light that we could see. I broke out my lens that I usually use for portraits and was able to capture my brother, Quinn, sitting on the cliffs. Although there wasn't a sunset, I loved the light it gave for some quick impromptu portraits. :) 

While I would have liked a more vibrant sunset, I still say it was a successful trek over to the cliffs.

Balboa Park

Continuing our stay in San Diego, we decided to go check out Balboa Park. Balboa Park is an urban cultural park, which was established in 1835 and spans 1,200 acres. We decided to go after hearing about the wonderful Spanish colonial style architecture that dominates the buildings around the park, a majority of which have been transitioned into museums. 

The San Diego Museum of Man featured an exhibit that showcased human torture devices... We passed on checking that out. However, the building had amazing architecture. 

View of the San Diego Museum of Man taken from inside The Old Globe in Balboa Park.

We arrived at the park around 1:00pm and the first stop we made was Spreckel's Organ Pavilion where there would be a free organ show at 2:00pm. The organ is the world's second largest outdoor organ and attracts over 100,000 visitors to it's shows per year. I was amazed to find out that the organ itself weighs 100,000 pounds and contains over 4,500 pipes. When we first got to the organ pavilion, there was no one there. I was able to grab some shots to showcase the venue. There was a quinceañera photographer there so I had to act quick not to get in his way of taking photos before the girl's big celebration. 

I decided to skip some of the concert and take advantage of the time my family was there to explore the rest of Balboa Park. Everywhere from the Visitor's Center to the Spreckel's Organ Pavilion was packed! It was an 80 degree Sunday afternoon, so I guess all of San Diego came out to relax in the sun. It seemed like all of the buildings were constructed with utmost detail in mind. The details in the architecture blew me away.

Even the Visitor's Center was amazing architecturally.

People gathered around the fountain after grabbing an iced coffee drink to cool off from the hot sun.

I stopped over to the Botanical Building as one of my last stops in Balboa Park. Close to the entrance, a man was dressed in traditional tribal attire. I stopped to chat with him a little about the history that he was representing and he told me a bit about his attire and his spear. His spear alone was over 200 years old! (At least if I dropped it it didn't feel like it would break. Phew.) I snapped a couple pictures of him in character. (No, this is not a statue. He really was that ripped!)

I headed back to the organ pavilion in time to hear the last few songs. I'm sad to say that I missed a guest organist's compilation of John Williams' songs. The organist was doing a set that had a theme of patriotic American songs-- fitting for being Fourth of July weekend. Before the show started, the Spreckel's Organ Society was collecting donations in an attempt to regain the title of world's largest outdoor organ. In addition to the donations, they were selling umbrellas to anyone in attendance to keep them out of the direct sun. This made for a really cool photo! The umbrellas all added a splash of color to the otherwise neutral color architecture. Make sure to check out the Spreckel's Organ Society to hear more about their events.

I loved this image in particular because of the plane that I captured in the upper left hand corner of the image. San Diego is unusual in the fact that the planes fly so close to the city in their descent. Driving through town it's not uncommon to have a plane 1,000 feet above your head (or less if you're on one of the main roads closer to the airport). On the bright side, there's not much travel time to get to the airport from the city!

San Diego Marina

As I am beginning to get more involved with my photography and developing my style, I figured a good way to do this would be to start a blog. Plus, now I can have a reason to go out and shoot more. :) 

Last night we flew into San Diego. I had only been to San Diego once before, but that was in the wintertime and so I can say that it is much nicer being here in the summertime. We were staying close to one of the harbors in the bay and decided to take a walk down there around sunset. Unfortunately, it was a little more 'industrial' than we thought it would be and the boats were no spectacle. It looked like lots of them were strictly fishing boats (no yachts to be found here). It was sunset so the sky made up for the lack of beauty in the boats.

As we were walking to see if one of the restaurants along the boardwalk looked appealing, I noticed one boat that was loaded up with probably 20 people set to go fishing. Apparently, it turned out to be a fishing trip where the boat would head out for a 36 hour trip into Mexican waters where they would be fishing for tuna. 

We ended up having dinner at a restaurant right on the water, which had beautiful views of the boats and the sunset. I was surprised at how warm it staying in the evening while we were eating. I have also noticed that the moon rises surprisingly early in Southern California and can even be seen in the mid afternoon. That made for a pretty blue sky and moonlit dinner outside. It had been awhile since I had eaten seafood by the ocean! This was shot with my new wide angle that I have been trying out and loving it! I was amazed at how I was able to fit everyone into the shot and didn't even need to scoot my chair back.

After dinner, my dad and I decided to head over to Coronado Island for a post-dinner photo shoot of downtown San Diego at night. I had seen photos of the skyline taken from Centennial Park and fell in love with the unique buildings that were featured. I am glad that I packed my tripod because without it there was not a chance that I was going to be able to grab a night shot of the skyline. Unfortunately, we missed the lovely blue hour, but there was still some slight blue that was left in the sky during my long exposure. I think my favorite building was the green, hexagon building-- it added a nice splash of color to the other buildings and loved how the buildings on each side of it helped to frame it. I think that I might be able to get into some more night photography. Out of the whole day, this was by far my favorite image that I shot.

While it was a long day of travel (first having to stop in Salt Lake City for a transfer), it was rewarding being in the warm, San Diego sun and having the opportunity to test out my new wide angle in a different environment. Can't wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store!