06-SEP-2015
Dash at water’s edge, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This small boy, dashing through the incoming tide with a belly-board in his arms, becomes even smaller when I compare his size to the series of four gentle incoming waves that fill the frame. I abstract the scene by converting the image from color to black and white. The image becomes timeless – the boy learns how to approach a natural force here, while nature counters with an age-appropriate challenge.
26-SEP-2015
Twilight cuddle, Mission Beach, California, 2015
It is that “golden moment” between daylight and darkness. The sun has set, and leaves its glow upon both sky and water. The body language of the man and woman cuddling under a beach umbrella complements this romantic setting. They seem oblivious to everything happening around them. We can see what they don’t see here – a silhouetted surfer surged through my frame just as I was composing this picture. The surfer, using an outstretched arm for balance, hurtles towards the left, while the woman below the umbrella, using one arm to embrace the man, faces towards the right. The couple under the umbrella never looked up.
26-SEP-2015
Spectator sport, Mission Beach, California, 2015
When photographing surfers from the Mission Beach boardwalk, I used a long telephoto lens, and usually tried to find a spot where beachgoers were not randomly cluttering the foreground. Yet in both this image and the following photograph, I tried to incorporate people on the beach who may have been watching the surfers as they made their runs towards the shore. In this case, the woman at left partially bends both arms and plaices her hand on her hips. Meanwhile, a softly focused, silhouetted surfer comes splashing to an abrupt halt in front of her and her friend. He also extends both arms, but his are fully outstretched, a futile attempt to remain upright.
22-SEP-2015
Topsy-turvy, Mission Beach, California, 2015
I also used this pair of bystanders to add meaning to a surfing image. I was following the course of this surfer as he raced through the waves towards the shore. As he came closer to the beach, I saw him begin to falter. I also noticed a man and a woman chatting with each other at water’s edge. I framed them as they talked, and hoped that this surfer might somehow enter my frame as well. I was in luck – he did more than just plow into my frame. As he entered it, he lost his balance and turned completely upside down right in front of the people in the foreground. The man appears to be watching this surfer take an incongruous spill, but the woman does not even seem to notice. She scratches her back and focuses entirely on her conversation, providing us with a double incongruity.
11-SEP-2015
Last ride, Mission Beach, California, 2015
The surfer at left is taking his final run – the sun has set, and twilight has turned to dusk. The ocean reflects the fading colors of the sky, providing a spectacular backdrop for a surfing shot. I make the three surfers in this image quite small, creating an image that is not as much about surfing as it about the colors of nature and the environment they provide. This scene also offers a striking incongruity in scale.
26-SEP-2015
Homeward bound, Mission Beach, California, 2015
It was nearly dark when I made this image of group of surfers heading off the beach. The delicate colors of their costumes, boards, and towels are enhanced by the flat, dim light. The La Jolla peninsula can be seen through the evening mist at right, while the waves themselves seem to be following in the wake of these surfers and their retinue. Meanwhile, the shutter stops them all in time, as we watch the array of bare legs frozen forever upon the sandy beach.
24-SEP-2015
Departures, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This image speaks of departures. A group of surfers carry a heavy board home from the sea at day’s end, while the sun itself barely still hangs in the sky. In a few moments, both these surfers and the sun will vanish, and so will the colors that gild the sea and splash the sky with orange and yellow light. I silhouette these surfers against a setting sun, creating an abstraction that emphasizes the effort of their legs, frozen in time. Meanwhile, the sun burns a white-hot hole into the image, while creating a mysterious yellow halo effect within the orange sky.
23-SEP-2015
Sunset surfing, Mission Beach, California, 2015
The most memorable sunset photos are often made with nature’s help. For example, the sunset in this photograph is greatly enhanced by a layer of thin clouds passing over the face of the sun just as it begins its disappearance. The sun becomes more than a yellow ball – it contains not only yellow hues, but orange and brown as well. The line of clouds echoes the thrust of the horizon itself. Such thin cloud layers floating over sunsets are rare in San Diego. I saw them on just two out of the 26 evenings I spent shooting there on this visit. Yet this sunset itself comprises only half of this image. The lower half is just as important to the story this picture tells. This image speaks of the relationship between man and the sea. The foreground surfer just about to enter the water with his board, and the smaller figure of a surfer already among the waves, combine to symbolize human interaction with the natural world. The sea itself can also be seen here as a symbol of human origins. The two halves of this image blend to express a moment of sheer awe.
05-SEP-2015
A golden moment, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This vertical image produces a story in colors. The yellow sun is halfway down, while delicate clouds hover above it within an orange sky. The sea is blue, and seems to flow towards the beach in four gentle waves. The water at the bottom of the image is only ankle deep at beach's edge. It reflects the golden color of the sky, providing a fitting setting for this lone surfer as he emerges from the sea and leaves the memory of a sunset ride behind him.
25-SEP-2015
Surfing gear, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This photograph offers a transition from sea to land. I found this surf shop manager setting out belly-boards painted in colorful abstract designs just as another day at the beach begins. I abstract him by shooting from behind, as well as in shadow. The picture is more about what he is doing than what he may look like. In the background, we see the historic roller coaster at Mission Beach’s famous Belmont Amusement Park, giving this image its sense of place.
27-SEP-2015
Green Flash, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This work of public art stands adjacent to San Diego’s historic Belmont Park amusement park on the boardwalk at Mission Beach. It is called “Green Flash,” named for a phrase associated with the flash of green that sometimes appears at the very end of a sunset. This translucent sculpture, commissioned by the public arts program of San Diego, was created by sculptor Malcolm Jones. I photograph it early in the morning, as light from the rising sun passes through its acrylic panels. I use a wideangle lens to embrace not only the art work, but the four palm trees and street lamp that stand just behind it, the towering clouds overhead, and the Belmont Park roller-coaster in the background. I abstract the scene by spot-metering on the illuminated panels themselves, simplifying the palm trees, the adjoining building, and the clutter at the base of the sculpture, by throwing them all into shadow.
10-SEP-2015
Liberty Carousel, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, California, 2015
Belmont Park was opened in 1925, as the Mission Beach Amusement Center. Originally built to provide recreation and amusement, it was also intended to help its owners sell land on Mission Beach. In the early 1980s, the park fell into disrepair, drawing the homeless, and vagrants selling drugs. The city found new owners to redevelop the park, and by the 1990s, it had been revamped and open to millions of visitors. This carousel is an antique reproduction. It features historical and patriotic decorations, including this Liberty Head, draped in the national colors. I moved in on it with a long telephoto lens to best convey the expression of the figure and the details showing the wear and tear of time upon its face. While this face may be peeling and patched, it still conveys the sense of tradition inherent in an antique carousel.