19-AUG-2014
Welcoming committee, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A gateway featuring four surfboard shaped arches, believed to be the largest colored acrylic moldings ever cast, dominates the entrance to Imperial Beach’s iconic pier. I abstracted the 20-foot high monument, known as “Surfhenge,” by zooming in on the welcoming committee at the moment -- a sole pigeon, perched atop aluminum letters that spell out the name of the city itself. The bird brings the abstracted image to life, while the brilliant colors draw the eye into the scene.
11-AUG-2014
At heart of town, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The sport of surfing is at the core of Imperial Beach’s image. The “Surfhenge” gateway pays homage to town’s proud surfing heritage, and the 1,500 foot long pier that stretches beyond that gate offers a place to watch and photograph the local surfers at close range. It is also the most southerly located pier on the West Coast, and is a prime fishing spot. I stood a block away to make this image, and used a long telephoto lens to compress distance. Using the rows of parked cars as my foreground, I am able to draw the eye towards the vividly colored acrylic arches of “Surfhenge.” I waited for the crowd at the beginning of the pier itself to thin out, and when the silhouetted couple became visible (just to the right of the arches), I made this image of the most important spot in Imperial Beach.
22-AUG-2014
The Tin Fish, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A fast food restaurant, known as “The Tin Fish,” dominates the end of the Imperial Beach pier. I photographed that silhouetted restaurant just after sunset, using the lush colors of dusk to bring both beauty and a sense of calm to the scene. The distant neon signs glowing in the window and cupola of the restaurant add a nostalgic touch as well. I waited to make this picture until a pair of young bodysurfers entered the lower right hand corner of my frame. They add a measure of scale incongruity to the image.
09-AUG-2014
Surf shop, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Imperial Beach is highly regarded in surfing circles. This small town draws surfers from all over the nation, and many international visitors come to surf as well. There are several well-stocked surf shops to serve their needs. While shooting in one of them, I was drawn to the curving tips amidst a forest of surfboards for sale. I honed the curving tips down to less than a dozen, creating a series of rhythmic curves that seem to mimic a series of waves.
08-AUG-2014
Well-equipped, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The sport of skateboarding is an offshoot of surfing. This young man carries both a skateboard and a surfboard as he heads towards the ocean. It is an incongruous sight, and I intensified his purposeful stride by including the long wall stretching through the background. The wall features a flow of repeating tiles and windows that seem to draw him forward. I use the late afternoon light to add a theatrical mood to the scene.
16-AUG-2014
Surf sale, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This shop had so many surfboards for sale that some of them were stacked amidst the palms on a nearby sidewalk. The brilliant yellow board on top of the stack caught the sun, and dominates this image. I abstracted the background and the palms to simplify the image and stress the power of the primary color here.
21-AUG-2014
The west’s last beach, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I made this image from the Imperial Beach Pier, anchoring the composition with a surfer on his way to the waves. The rhythmic flow of whitecaps echo the flow of bathers on the beach and the flow of beachfront condos that line the shore.
16-AUG-2014
Confrontation, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This surfer confronts the challenges that lie in his path, while the image, in turn, confronts the viewer. His hands imply the sense of balance that is essential to riding the waves.
16-AUG-2014
Making the most of a wave, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Another surfer not only demonstrates exquisite balance – he seems to be moving forward and sideways at the same time in order to prolong his ride. The board leaves a semi-circular explosion of water behind it, expressing the power and thrust of nature itself.
17-AUG-2014
Sharing the wave, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Two surfers ride the same wave, as one takes the high road, and the other takes the low road. The wave itself resembles Niagara Falls in miniature when photographed at one twelve hundredth of a second. I made all of the surfing pictures in this gallery from the Imperial Beach Pier, which gave me a high vantage point to shoot down on action such as this.
17-AUG-2014
Master of the moment, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The body language of the surfer in the foreground is decisive and masterful. He slices through the top of the wave just as it crests. Meanwhile, the surfer in the background still holds to his board. He seems to be going too slow to risk rising to his feet.
17-AUG-2014
A moment later, disaster strikes. Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Within one second after I made the previous image, my burst-shooting mode caught the same pair of surfers in action. The wave now seems to explode beneath them. The surfer in the foreground, who seemed to be doing so well only a second earlier, is abruptly pitched backwards. His body language expresses futility, and he looks skyward in frustration. He will go no further on this run. Meanwhile, the surfer in the rear seems to have stopped abruptly as well. He still rests on his knees, but he, too, is left behind in the wake of this wave. This image shows us that surfing is a sport where skill does not always triumph. Sometimes nature plays its own hand, and the surfers must try again.
11-AUG-2014
Body-boarders, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
To best photograph this sport, I learned to track the surfers as they tried to select a suitable incoming wave, then lock focus on them as they tried to mount it, and finally follow the action with burst mode-shooting once they were up on the board and underway. This pair never mastered the treacherous quirks of this particular wave. Instead, they chose to ride it all the way to shore on their bellies, instead of their feet. The expressions on their faces at this moment best tell the story.
20-AUG-2014
Blinded, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Some of my favorite surfing images turned out to be striking moments of failure. The surfers vary in skill levels from day to day and hour to hour. The waves vary in difficulty from moment to moment, as well. This surfer is already engulfed in flying seawater, and my image of him reveals one foot already on its way off the surfboard.
17-AUG-2014
Adieu, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The sheer scale of this particular wave dwarfs this vanishing surfer as he bids farewell to this run. The wave abstracts his entire body. We see only a shadow of the body, his arm, and his upraised gesture of futility. The luminous green wave is striking in its power and size.
19-AUG-2014
Futility, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
In photographing a sport such as surfing, it is important to continue making images even though a surfer may have already failed. Many of the surfing images I made at Imperial Beach express the sense of futility following a disastrous run. This is one of the most eloquent. This surfer already has fallen off his board and is virtually invisible. We only see his hand emerging from a surging wave. Just as important, his board rises from the sea, echoing his absence. Meanwhile, I fill the frame with a double dose of massive waves, expressing the power of nature over man.
17-AUG-2014
Persistence, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This image of a surfer towing his board through the waves to get another chance at success is a study in persistence. Just getting back into position to catch a good wave is not a simple task. It takes physical strength and some dedication to haul a surfboard into the face of such massive oncoming waves for just another try. The green, blue and white colors of the churning ocean tell a story as well.
25-AUG-2014
Mastery, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I froze the eloquent body language of this surfer at a shutter speed of one-four thousandth of a second. It shows us that he is in complete control of his ride over the waves. Adding to his mastery of the sport is his flamboyant appearance – his entire body is covered with ornate tattoos. The blend of skill and decoration makes a memorable image when frozen in time.
16-AUG-2014
Early warning, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I quickly learned that much of a surfer’s success comes from his (or in this case, her) understanding of oncoming swells and waves. This woman is evaluating the height, speed, force, and direction of the approaching surfing opportunities. Wave evaluation is a tricky task, and was shouting a warning to her colleagues as I made this image. The blue color of the ocean here is particularly powerful. The colors of the sea depend upon the nature of the light itself, as well as the depth of the water.
08-AUG-2014
Follow the flow, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This surfer is moving sideways rather than forwards. He faces the massive wave that roars toward him as he threads horizontally along its base. I organized my photograph diagonally to emphasize the thrust of his unusual path as he follows the flow. By using a wider focal length, I increase the amount of water he has yet to successfully negotiate.
08-AUG-2014
Carving a curve, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This image is one of my favorite surfing pictures because of the story it tells. This surfer carves a curving slice into the diagonal torrent of water racing behind him. He triumphantly throws one arm up and extends the other down -- not only keeping his balance, but also celebrating the thrill of mastering the force of nature itself.
(This particular surfer, whose name is Bo Elliott, was among the most skilled I had the pleasure of photographing. A few days after I made this picture, he came up onto the pier where I was shooting, and asked me if I had made a picture of him in action that he could forward to his family in Georgia. He was the only surfer that I would actually get to speak with in Imperial Beach, and I was happy to oblige. I sent this photograph, among others, to Bo, and later received a note of thanks from his father.)
10-AUG-2014
Golden moment, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Just as a setting sun turned the Pacific Ocean from green to gold, a young boy carrying a belly-board sprinted into my frame. His flying feet forced explosive bursts of water into the air, leaving a trail of glistening drops behind him. Meanwhile, a series of three waves surge towards him, creating a rhythmic matrix of horizontal lines that echo his dash through the edge of the surf. The image looked to me as if it came out of a dream. When I put this photograph through post-processing, I added a slight haze of grainy texture to the image, which intensifies the dreamy glow that gives this image its atmosphere and mood.
25-AUG-2014
Suiting up, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Sunset surfing begins with putting on a wet suit just before the sun dips below the horizon. I caught this surfer as he pulls the upper part of the suit on to his body. His upraised arm symbolizes his imminent departure. The texture of the sea acts a counter point to the texture of the golden clouds that fill the sky.
09-AUG-2014
Surfers at sunset, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I photographed 26 sunsets during my stay, and every one of them offered new content. As I made my sunset pictures, I noticed dozens of people, many using smartphone cameras, making pictures along side of me. When some of them shared their images with me, I noticed that all of them included only the sun, sky and sea. They all looked alike. On the other hand, I prefer to make sunset images that include additional content and context. Most of them featured people enjoying the sea and its shore as it was bathed in golden light. This image uses a setting sun as atmosphere, but most of the image is filled with a sea of varying hues. Near the bottom, a silhouetted surfer finishes his run at left, while three belly-surfers prepare to float on smaller waves. This image not only expresses the beauty of nature – it also tells the story of how man uses nature for his own pleasure.
10-AUG-2014
Day’s end, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
On a few nights during my visit, I was fortunate to be able to photograph the sun touching the sea as it passed through a distant bank of translucent clouds. The clouds render the orb of the sun in various shades, ranging from yellow to pink to orange. I caught such a multi-colored sun in this image, just as an incoming silhouetted surfer was finishing a successful run. The small surfer adds a sense of scale to the scene, as both man and nature combine to symbolize the end of the day.
27-AUG-2014
Point Loma, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
“Sunset” photography can go well beyond the actual setting of the sun over the ocean. Once the sun has vanished below the horizon, dusk may bring magical colors to bear on a scene such as this one. This surfer lies flat on his board, waiting to catch an appropriate wave and ride back to shore. The sun may be gone, but the pink and orange sky still illuminates the texture of the water itself, and throws the waves that thread through the image into relief. The peninsula in the background is the San Diego area known as Point Loma. It lies as flat on the horizon, just as the surfer does on his board.
23-AUG-2014
Heading home, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I placed the end of the Imperial Beach Pier in the upper left hand corner of this image, and then waited for someone to enter the lower right hand corner to give me a diagonally organized image. I was able to shoot numerous figures moving through that lower corner, but the body language of this surfer on his way home best told the story I was looking for. I wanted an image that summed up the end of a surfer’s day, and the body language of this person – head tilted forward, one arm wrapped around the board and the other handing before him – perfectly matched my intentions. The landmark restaurant at the end of the pier identifies the locale, while the pattern of broken clouds floating over a pink sky underscore the end of this surfer’s day.
09-AUG-2014
Diehards, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Well after the sun had set, and the ocean had turned to a creamy pink color, I noticed two young body boarders walking the water’s edge, probably looking for a good spot to have fun while they still could do so. More importantly, there was another surfer kneeling on his board in the background. Adding them together within the same frame, I am able to photograph a symbolic community of diehards – pushing their participation in this sport to a limit set by nature itself.
25-AUG-2014
Surfhenge, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This 20 foot high gateway to the Imperial Beach Pier Plaza was created by artist Malcolm Jones and dedicated in 1999. Each of the four translucent surfboard shaped arches weigh three quarters of a ton. They symbolize giant surfboards stuck in the sand, and pay homage to the surfing heritage of Imperial Beach. The presence of feathery clouds in the sky inspired me to make this photograph with a wideangle lens from across the street, allowing me to not only include the clouds in my image but also the feathery palm trees that dominate the scene. I layer this handsome gateway with people in both the foreground and background, flanking the giant boulder that draws the eye through the monument and give a sense of scale to the image.
07-AUG-2014
Colorful entry, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
One of the most important advantages of staying in one location for an entire month is the ability to return again and again, at different times of day, to photograph the same subject in many different ways. I photographed Surfhenge, the gateway to Imperial Beach’s pier area, nearly every day I was there. I made this photograph late in the afternoon, when the translucent arches framing this public art monument were in their most colorful state. I used a nearly 300mm telephoto focal length for this image to compress the spacing of the arches until they merge into a single band of vivid colors. I photographed a variety of different people passing below the arch and in the surrounding background. This image combines two figures – one man carrying a water bottle is wedged between glowing green and red acrylic, while another stands upon the green grass in the background, bordered by green and yellow arches. A palm tree trunk stabilizes the entire frame at the left hand edge. This piece of civic art becomes living art, part and parcel of the community itself.
05-AUG-2014
Selfie, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I knew that the translucent acrylic “surfboard” arches comprising the Surfhedge gateway to the town’s pier always project vividly colored reflections upon the surrounding sidewalk around 5:30 pm each day the sun may be shining. One afternoon, I used a 24mm wideangle focal length to link my own shadow with these striking reflections, creating a self-portrait that symbolizes my personal impression of a town so closely identified with the sport of surfing.
10-AUG-2014
Spirit, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This 18 foot high sculpture, entitled “The Spirit of Imperial Beach, depicts both surfing and sand castles, activities closely linked to this town’s identity. Created in 2008 by the sculptor A. Wasil, the sculpture features a seven-foot tall lifeguard surrounded by children building a fantasy city out of sand. I photographed this sculpture in a number of ways, and rather than literally describing the statue, I found the most successful approach was to link it to the surrounding architecture and vegetation. I photographed only the huge lifeguard, and used an off to one side vantage point to blend it into the geometry of the background building and its surrounding palms.
10-AUG-2014
Detail, Spirit sculpture, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This is the same sculpture appearing in the previous image. Only this time, I emphasized a small detail that validates the popular appeal of the entire artistic effort. The sculpture includes two bronze children at its base, making castles in the sand while flanked by large bronze fish placed just below the towering lifeguard seen in the previous image. I moved in on the foot of one of those children that seems to be riding on the back of the fish. Both the child’s foot and a fish’s fin have been rubbed so many times by visitors that the patina has worn off, and the bronze base is showing through. This detail expresses how some people interact with this piece of art – for them, viewing it has also become a tactile experience.
23-AUG-2014
Sea and Sky, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Among the works of public art that are placed at the end of major Imperial Beach streets ending at the sea, the sculpture “Sea and Sky” is by far the most simple. Sculptor Ken Smith uses reflecting light that flows from the highly polished stainless steel surface to enhance an abstract vision of a graceful seagull flying overhead. I have abstracted Smith’s work in my camera, using a wideangle lens to photograph it from underneath, with the sun creating a halo just behind the stylized seagull. My interpretation of Smith’s art stresses only one part of his sculpture -- flight. To see the entire sculpture, view the next image in this gallery.
28-AUG-2014
Same sculpture, different story, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This photo of the same Ken Smith sculpture, which also was the subject of my previous image, takes an entirely different viewpoint here and tells another story. The previous image was an abstract vision of a soaring seagull. I made this image from a distance and included a rising moon, a lifeguard tower, and a group of people having a chat in the background. I abstract it in shadow, rendering it largely as a silhouette. I reveal the entire sculpture here, depicting an abstract sea otter floating on its back and playing with a large sphere on its belly. The wings of the flying seagull now become the tail of a playful otter. The curved shape of its back echoes the curve of slender quarter-moon overhead.
06-AUG-2014
Mermaid mural, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This mural adorns a nearly block long wall of a souvenir shop on the town’s main street. I saw this cyclist approach and watched him approach the mermaid that seems to be awaiting his arrival. As his head meshed with the white background, I made this image. The young man’s red shirt echoes the color of the huge lollypop he has just passed.
23-AUG-2014
Study in blue, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Underscoring the town’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, a pair of dolphins swims in perpetuity upon the side of an electric utility box.
Art students from a local high school designed and executed such paintings on at least sixteen such boxes. I was drawn to this particular box because of its emphasis on the color blue – one of the primary colors, and also symbolic of both the ocean and the dolphin, which usually appears to be bluish when seen in the water. I cropped the box tightly to remove all traces of the surrounding setting. In the process, I make the dolphins appear to be more a part of the ocean itself than they would be if any of the surrounding distractions were included in my frame. However, sometimes the surrounding settings for such utility boxes might help, rather than harm, the image. See the following image for an example of such an approach.
18-AUG-2014
Painted electrical utility box, Imperial Beach, California, 2014.
Most of the painted electrical utility boxes that I saw in this town were surrounded with distracting contexts. The dolphin painting in the previous image had to be severely cropped to make the image work as a photograph. However this particular box was surrounded by a strikingly simple context – a stretch of concrete, and three poles, each projecting a diagonal shadow pointing towards the box and the strange looking fish that adorns its side panel. I simply backed away to include the rhythmically repeating poles and their shadows, drawing the eye towards the yellow and green fish that swims in a painted blue ocean. Meanwhile, the shadow of the box itself adds a dimensional touch that enhances the image.
23-AUG-2014
Ocean riders, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Three life-sized bronze dolphins leap towards us at the entrance an Imperial Beach park. The sculpture is by Wayland, an environmental artist who specializes in endangered marine life. It is one of several sculptures in Imperial Beach sponsored by the Port of San Diego’s Public Art Program. I used a 24mm wideangle focal length lens to make this image. By moving below the leaping dolphins, I am able to emphasize the heights dolphins can soar above the water. I place the sun just behind the flipper of the dolphin at right. The resulting halo symbolizes the energy displayed by such animals as these. The palm trees act as a thrusting counterpoint, symbolizing the nature of the place itself.
18-AUG-2014
Meditation garden, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A small wall, covered in ceramic tiles, marks the center of public “meditation garden” in an Imperial Beach neighborhood. I photographed this wall from one corner, where a sculpted half-moon is incongruously transformed into the face of mankind. The remainder of the wall recedes into the shadows. The bright yellow house next door to the garden, covered in foliage, becomes my background. The eye is caught by the moon, and then is drawn through the image to the colorful house.
23-AUG-2014
Predator and prey, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Marine life murals often cover the exteriors of local shops. This store features a voracious shark painted on one wall, along with a rendering of a cartoony octopus on a nearby metal fence. I juxtapose the two characters, causing the jagged teeth of the shark to threaten the head of the octopus. I crop the octopus to emphasize its oversized fearful eyes. The red, blue and yellow primary colors add a shocking sense of urgency to the scene.
12-AUG-2014
The last bar and grill, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Imperial Beach is the most southwesterly town in the continental United States. And at the most southwesterly corner of town stands the most southwesterly bar and grill in the continental United States. I limit my impressions of it to the graffiti inspired signage on its wall and the immediate surrounding area. This image is series of horizontal subjects, starting with the double yellow line on the road, and moving on up to a parked car, the signage itself, a series of small palms. A blue awning caps the building. The incongruously exaggerated physique, hair, and tankard carried by the waitress portrayed on the sign complements the crudely scrawled lettering. The cartoonish drawing and the graffiti-like words combine to express the carefree nature of the establishment.
15-AUG-2014
Farmer’s market vendor, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Every Friday, a local farmer’s market offers taste treats to visitors and locals alike. I photographed one of its vendors as he checks his phone behind the counter of his booth. He is selling freshly prepared Indian food. My photograph expresses the nature of his multi-tasking. Not only is studying the screen of his smart phone at this moment, but the open container he holds under one arm tells us that he also remains ready to quickly serve a customer. The play of light and color on the scene is essential – the folds in the yellow canvas siding of the booth sweep through the image and point directly to the silvered row of hot trays arrayed before the vendor. Meanwhile, the colorful and crowded banners hanging overhead repeatedly identify his product.
15-AUG-2014
Farmer’s market produce, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The purpose of a farmer’s market is to provide food “fresh from the farm,” and the produce in this image reinforces that idea. This photograph is all about color – it is bulging with red, orange, and blue items. I composed this image around the parallel rows of cartons sweeping from the bottom of my frame to the top, expressing the magnitude of the produce for sale. I want those who may look at this image to imagine how good this food might taste.
15-AUG-2014
Baguettes, Farmer’s market, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I used a close-up vantage point to stress the varying textures on these baguettes, and then cropped the image so that the ends vanish, and the rhythmic diagonal positioning of the loaves draws the eye through the image.
15-AUG-2014
Color clash, Farmer’s market, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I stress the obvious incongruity of clashing green and purple string beans not only by my close-up vantage point, but also by including the metal frame that separates the opposing vegetables. Yet the separation is not complete – it seems that the green beans are in the process of invading the territory of the purple beans here.
15-AUG-2014
Tomatoes, Farmer’s market, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I let the rich primary red color of this familiar vegetable tell the story here. My Fuji sensor thrives on primary colors and I give it free reign here to revel in red. I tilt my camera sideways to cause the black edges of the separating frame to appear as a diagonal, energizing the scene.
25-AUG-2014
Waiting for a bite, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Fishing from this town’s pier is a popular activity for many. I found this fisherman waiting for a bite and photographed him with a 24mm wideangle focal length. The diagonal thrust of the pier’s fence echoes the diagonal sweep of the overhead cloud. Some of the town’s beachfront condos appear in the background, along with a new resort hotel (the yellow building).
25-AUG-2014
The long walk, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This family is enjoying a long walk on the town’s 1500-foot long pier, leading to a restaurant at its very end. The shadow behind them provides a focal point that helps anchor the image. A fisherman leans over the railing at right – he seems to be lost in own thoughts. By using a wideangle lens, I stretch the scene, and make the long walk stretching before them look even longer.
25-AUG-2014
Contrasts, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
My 24mm wideangle focal length is wide enough to embrace a series of contrasts within a single image. The most obvious contrast is in the nature of the two activities that hold center stage here. One fellow is focused only on catching a fish, while an affectionate couple, sitting only a short distance away, is focusing only on each other. The lamppost offers a contrasting vertical thrust to the horizontal sweep of the horizon, the twin benches, and the pier’s railing. There are also contrasting diagonals at work here -- the diagonal clouds are light, feathery, and transient, while the diagonally converging floorboards of the pier are dark, solid, and held firmly in place. There is also a contrast in primary colors. The blue sky fills much of the frame overhead, while the yellow cooler on the bench provides context for the fisherman’s purpose. A final contrast: the pair of pigeons on the pier is hanging around for a possible free lunch. The birds are small in scale, while the humans looming above them are large.
04-AUG-2014
Doubling his chances, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This fisherman lets a pair of poles do the work for him. This setup is incongruous, and invites the viewer to use his or her imagination. I also abstract the fisherman by photographing him from behind, as his arms rested on the pier’s fence and he looked down into the deep blue ocean. He is so intent on studying the sea that he seems to have “lost his head” in the process. Mexico is in the distance at upper left.
25-AUG-2014
Fishing fun, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I made this incongruous image at the far end of the Imperial Beach pier, as a family of four, two of them wearing traditional Muslim costumes, enjoyed a chance to do some fishing. The man and boy at the left are watching a sea lion swimming just below the pier, while the woman in the yellow scarf proudly displays a bloody mackerel she has just caught. I use the reflection of the sun on the water at left to abstract the man and the boy, and allow the two women in the scene to take center stage. A kind fisherman has loaned the fishing rod to the woman in the yellow scarf for only a moment, and she made the most of it almost instantly.
04-AUG-2014
Ecstatic, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I spent the better part of a half hour with a group of men fishing off the end of the Imperial Beach pier. My goal was to express the essence of the sport itself by capturing the responses of the more fortunate among them. Most of these men faced away from me, looking towards the sea. However this man didn’t. As he skillfully reeled in a fish, he turned towards me, delighted that I was photographing his triumph as it happened. He is ecstatic. I’m not sure if his evident pleasure stems from catching the fish itself, or from the fact that I am standing next to him, photographing his successful effort. In any event, this image expresses the whole point of recreational fishing. These are not commercial fishermen. They may indeed catch enough fish for a meal or two, but essentially they fish for pleasure. And this image expresses just that.
23-AUG-2014
Treading lightly, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This fisherman is fishing from a rock jetty, rather than a stable pier. The waves are churning only inches below him, as he carefully threads his way, step by step, over the slippery rocks beneath his sandals. It is after sunset, and he is still at his task, doing it from a place that tests his balance and skill. My image of him expresses solitude, grit, persistence, and risk – all readily understandable human values.
17-AUG-2014
Eye of the mackerel, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
All of the people fishing off the Imperial Beach pier had coolers to store their catches. One of them removed the top of his cooler to show me his latest prize, a large mackerel, still very much alive and staring at me from the bubbly bloody water that swirled around him. Its eye seems incongruously large, and provides the focal point of this image. In my original color image, the huge eye coming out of the bloody water symbolized suffering. I converted the image to black and white, abstracting the image and changing its meaning from suffering to confinement.
09-AUG-2014
Acrobat, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I found this young man seated on a concrete bunker separating the beach from a park adjacent to the Imperial Beach pier. I began to photograph him from a distance and when he noticed that I was making pictures of him, he spontaneously sprang to his feet, threw his body into the air, and somersaulted into the sand behind the wall. I caught him just as he planted one foot on the wall, and threw the other into the air to begin the somersault. Meanwhile, a pigeon resting on the wall next to him did not move a feather. The late afternoon sun throws most of his body into shadow, abstracting him just as it abstracts the massive bunker below him. The entire image comes together a coherent composition as the pair of railings leading down to the sand rhythmically repeats the flow of his thrusting arms, and his planted leg completes the vertical thrust of the corner of the bunker under his foot.
09-AUG-2014
Sport on the sand, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
While surfing and fishing are largely individual sporting endeavors, beach volleyball is a team sport, and offers head to head competition. By shooting into the sun, I abstract the players, the ball, and the net into stark shapes silhouetted against the late afternoon sky. The sun itself is out of the frame, yet its reflection throws a spotlight on the valiant fellow at the heart of the image. He seems to revel in this spotlight – his fingers stab the air, his back is arched, his head is skyward, and the sand explodes below his feet. The sheer scale of the scene itself propels his effort to epic proportions, and because the moment is frozen in time, we must imagine how it will turn out.
09-AUG-2014
Net play, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I made this image only a few minutes before the previous one. Only this image interprets the sport of beach volleyball in an entirely different way. While the previous image concentrates its attention upon a single player, this one involves a man on man confrontation. The figures here are larger and closer, as an attacker and defender clash at the net. This image relies upon spacing – the tension created within the tiny space between the ball and the net itself crackles with energy. It is this decisive instant that provides the expressive power of this image. I shoot all the players as silhouettes, abstracting them into symbolic figures. I later converted the image into black and white to intensify this abstraction.
15-AUG-2014
Shell-seeker, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I was working on an image featuring two empty armchairs watching the golden evening surf cascading towards them. The chairs, complemented by brilliant red beach toys at their bases, made a lovely evening scene. Suddenly a young woman walked into my frame. I held my shot, waiting for her to get out of my picture. Just as she passed behind the second chair she stopped, and gracefully threw one leg into the air and bent forward on the other to retrieve a tiny shell cast up by the sea. I spontaneously changed my mind, and made this image of her, just as her raised toe seemed to hover above the chair. Actually, she was well beyond the chair, but if her toe had been any lower, it would have merged with it and destroyed the beauty and tension of the moment. This image offers a more humane story than my previous “empty chairs” idea. It relates nature to mankind, and the lovely context intensifies that relationship.
05-AUG-2014
Celebration, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I combine two elements to express a celebratory mood in this sunset photograph. The cloud layer lifts at day’s end, permitting the setting sun to break through it with a showering of golden rays upon the sea. The diagonal rays echo the upraised arms of a young boy as he hails the end of a day’s play with his friend at the water’s edge. The scale contrast between the vast ocean, the dazzling sunset, and the tiny silhouettes in the surf takes the measure of man and compares it to the overwhelming presence of nature itself.
17-AUG-2014
A dance at sunset, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I rarely will make a stand-alone photograph of the setting sun. Instead, I will usually try to use a sunset as a backdrop for an image that tells a story. In this case, I focused on two young girls dancing together upon a gilded reflection at the edge of the beach. I made a series of images of these children at play as the sun slowly set in the background. This image is my favorite of the series – the sun touches the horizon just as the children turned their backs on each other, and moved in opposing directions. Each child had one foot off the ground at this instant – one high, the other inches away from the golden wet sand. The vertical frame echoes the dancing vertical figures, playing them against a series of ten horizontal bands that flow behind them. The golden sunset offers atmosphere and mood, while the dancing children evoke spontaneous expressions of joy and pleasure.
25-AUG-2014
Dusk run, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I make the majority of my evening photographs after the sun has already set, but before nightfall removes the colors from the sky. This period, called dusk, usually produces the most striking colors and offers an ideal tool for abstraction. By rendering this runner as a silhouetted figure, I abstract it to remove its gender, identity, and all detail. The figure becomes symbolic rather than descriptive. I saw the runner coming long before it entered my frame. As I waited, I carefully composed the entire background, placing the horizon above the center, keeping a thin strip of beach at the bottom and reducing the amount of golden sky at the top. Most of the frame is filled with horizontal bands of flowing surf, tinged in pink. The distant clouds floating on the horizon create a crowning layer. When the figure finally entered the frame at right, I left more space to the left – space symbolizing the distance this runner has yet to travel.
07-AUG-2014
Quartet, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Four small children await one of the evening’s final waves, long after sunset. There is still a slight pink glow among the scattered clouds that float above the cloudbank massing in the distance. Two of the children appear to be in motion, while two others remain in place. The nearly equidistant spacing between the children unites them into a single quartet. Darkness is nearly upon them, and they are the only remaining group of people still at play in the surf. The image takes four individuals, and bonds them into a group, using light, time, and space to do so.
24-AUG-2014
Seascape, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
On this night, clouds masked the sunset itself. A threating cloudbank on the horizon acts as a reflector, deftly painting the colors of the invisible sun upon both sea and sky. This seascape image is anchored by the tiny figure wading through a reflected pool of light at the bottom of the frame. The pool of light flows towards the horizon, where a distant fiery red band of reflected sunlight burns through the base of the cloudbank. Meanwhile, the sky itself becomes an artist’s palette as yellow and orange colors are reflected upon the scattered overhead clouds. While a lovely seascape is the result, the small figure standing in that pool of light creates the story here. It is so small, yet seems to face the vast sea and the threat of storm without a qualm.
10-AUG-2014
Concrete hammock, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This is the first of four successive photos in this gallery that I made of people with phone in hand. This beachgoer checks her phone as she incongruously attempts to relax on a concrete hammock – actually a massive retaining wall at one of the entrances to the beach. I photograph her from behind, and contrast her horizontal positioning with the woman at left who, drink in hand, plods through the sand as she leaves the beach.
26-AUG-2014
Sunset shadows, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This image is also a photo of someone looking at a smartphone. Such pictures will usually not prove expressive unless something else is happening in the image to provide a story-telling context. While this man may provide a focal point for my image, it is the mass of shadows incongruously cast on the wall next to him that brings expressive value to this image. The shadows belong to some of the many visitors who have assembled near the beach to photograph the sunset itself. Those people have no idea that their shadows have become the subjects of my own sunset image. The man looking at his phone does not see either the shadows or me – his sees only what is on the screen before him.
20-AUG-2014
A quiet place, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
When people make a phone call in public places, they will often seek a spot that is in shadow, in order to see more detail on their phone’s screen, or in a quiet corner, so they can hear the conversation more easily. I photograph this caller, one of the many surfers that gather on this beach, as he squeezes into a shadowed corner on the perimeter of a luxury hotel. I composed the image so that a line of delicate plantings fills much of the frame and flows towards the subject, ending abruptly at the electric utility boxes just in front of him. A decorative white wall behind these plantings seems to move through the sunlight, carrying the eye to the subject.
04-AUG-2014
Anonymity, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I was photographing this car standing in front of a white picket fence, concentrating on its incongruous protective cover. It hides the car’s detail to make it seem mysterious. As I worked on this image, a woman entered my frame, wearing a blue beach robe and pressing a phone to her head. I caught her just as she neared the shrouded car. Her hair obscures her identity, abstracting her just as the shroud stretched over the car hides its details from us. The slats of the white picket fence in the background rhythmically combine to link both subjects. Together, the dual abstractions create an image expressing the nature of anonymity in our society.
21-AUG-2014
Shrouded beetle, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I photographed this shrouded Volkswagen beetle from a distance against a dark wall, allowing light and shadow to reveal its distinctive identity even though the car is completely covered. Although we know exactly what is beneath this shroud, which protects the car from the salty seaside mist, this abstracted image still is incongruous. I increase the abstracted mood by converting the color image to black and white.
13-AUG-2014
Shroudless, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Unlike the vehicles in the two previous examples, this truck does not live under a shroud. It displays an accumulation of rust most likely inflicted by years of salty mist that often lingers along many of California’s beaches, particularly in the early morning hours. The house behind it is surrounded by potted flowering plants, providing an incongruous contrast to the rusted vehicle parked before them.
16-AUG-2014
Weekend bathers, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
On summer weekends, the town’s beaches are crowded with bathers, most of them coming from the San Diego area. I made this image from the pier so that I could shoot down on them. This high vantage point allows the viewer to enjoy these bathers as individual details. It also allows me to stress the pattern of the incoming waves that flow through most of the frame. The wave pattern provides a context that links all of these bathers, in spite of their numbers and their varying size and activity, into a coherent scene.
16-AUG-2014
Weekend sands, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The sands of Imperial Beach are filled with visitors during summer weekends. I tell that story by moving in on them with a long telephoto zoom lens. I use this long lens to stress my point by compressing the bathers, bringing them even closer together than they actually are. Although the scene is very crowded, I make the image coherent by leaving the only real empty space at the bottom of the frame, creating a spatial anchor for the young man running towards us with the belly-board under his arm. Our eyes go right to him, and then take in the vast supporting cast, many of them shaded by a mass of multicolored umbrellas that dominate the balance of the frame.
13-AUG-2014
Midweek afternoon, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A lone visitor, backpack still in place, takes a break from his travels to spend a few minutes relaxing at one of the many overlooks that run the length of Imperial Beach. I anchor the image with the massive z-shaped wall that he leans upon. I made this image during a midweek afternoon. The crowds that filled this same beach a few days before have now vanished. In their place are just a few umbrellas, and a small child who contrasts with the nearly empty sands that fill the frame. A red flag pulls the eye into the image – it is one of many that warn swimmers of the strong currents.
12-AUG-2014
Needs shower, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This little boy, his feet, legs, and hands covered in wet sand, has just been told to take a shower. He is expressing his feelings to us about that idea. I made a number of photos of him as he tried to delay his dousing, but this one tells the story through gesture and expression. He simply was having too much fun in the sand, and does not want it to end. We can almost hear his plea.
10-AUG-2014
Beach butterfly, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This couple was packing its gear and getting ready to head home after a long day at the beach. I watched and waited as the woman unfolded a large translucent beach towel and began to wrap it around herself. The light passing through the towel, as well as its color and shape, resemble the wings of a butterfly. The diagonal flow of the towel repeats the diagonal struts of the Imperial Beach pier in the background. The rows of horizontal waves echo her outstretched arms as well, while a smattering of bathers link the couple to pier in the background.
11-AUG-2014
One foot a time, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I have no idea why this fellow left his beach chair to walk towards the water wearing only one shoe. However, he offered me an opportunity to make an incongruous photograph. I was able to emphasize this incongruity by waiting until he reached the wettest part of the sand, creating a reflection that repeats his bare foot for a second time. I left the empty chair in the frame as well – his other shoe rests just behind it.
19-AUG-2014
Squall at sunset, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The sun has dropped below the horizon, yet it still illuminates a rain squall miles off shore. A somewhat chilled bather, his shoulders wrapped in a crimson towel, stops in the foreground to savor the scene. We share this view of those distant showers together with him. A lone horizontal wave echoes the horizontal beach, ocean, and rain squall.
28-AUG-2014
Beach mates, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A very large dog sits with his master upon a concrete bunker, sharing a moment of sunset companionship. I abstract the scene by silhouetting them and shooting them from behind. When the dog turned its head slightly towards the man and opened its mouth to create a profile, I made this image. I place the sunset itself off to the edge of the frame, and made sure that it appears in soft-focus. The more I look at this image, the more it seems that the dog is telling the man how happy it is to be here with him.
23-AUG-2014
Life imitates art, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I interpret the town’s “Sea and Sky” sculpture for the third time in this gallery, using life to imitate art. This time I show only the stylized soaring metal sea bird in flight, and waited until a live seagull flew into my frame. I made this image of the gull, it’s wings edged in light, echoing the shape of the metal bird, yet flying in the opposite direction.
28-AUG-2014
Rough water, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
During our final few days in this beach town, the ocean waves became higher and rougher due to a hurricane down in Mexico. I used a very fast shutter speed (one two thousandth of a second) to freeze one of them as it hit the beach, revealing various degrees coloration within the exploding wave. To bring the image to life, I include a sole seagull in the foreground, watching the spectacle from a high and dry vantage point.
19-AUG-2014
Gull riot, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
An inconsiderate visitor left a bag of junk food behind on the beach, causing dozens of seagulls to fight for its remaining contents. I made this image from a considerable distance, using a 350mm telephoto focal length, and shooting from the high vantage point of the Imperial Beach pier. The photograph expresses the heart of an ecological issue – the trashing of our natural resources. The thoughtless person who tossed this bag of junk food onto the beach and left it there represents just one of many who, in their ignorance or laziness, may well cause disease and death to come to these creatures. While this image leaves an impression of chaos, it also speaks of the imperfect relationship that exists between man and nature.
20-AUG-2014
Pelican on the hunt, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Using a fast shutter speed of one two thousandth of a second and a long telephoto 350mm focal length, I caught this pelican just as one of its wings dipped gracefully into one of several indentations within the clouds floating in the background. The tension between the feathers at the end of that wing and the waiting cloud shows us how precisely the pelican controls its flight path as it soars above the feeding grounds of its prey.
20-AUG-2014
Plunging pelican, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Although I made this photograph from the Imperial Beach pier, I seemingly caught this pelican plunging through the sky over the downtown San Diego skyline, some 14 miles away. The pelican is diving for fish, and within a matter of a second or two, it will strike the ocean’s surface and hope to scoop a fish into its pouch. The pelican is actually only a few hundred feet from my vantage point, yet my 350mm telephoto lens is long enough to compress the distance between the pelican, the San Diego skyline, and myself, making it seem as if both the bird and the city are close at hand.
18-AUG-2014
Tijuana River National Estuary, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Encompassing 2,500 acres, this bird reserve is at the endpoint of the 1,700 square mile Tijuana River watershed. One quarter of this watershed lies in the US, and three quarters in Mexico. The US portion begins at Imperial Beach, and continues to the Mexican border eight miles to the south. More than 370 species of birds have been documented in this reserve. I found a lone tree at estuary’s beginning, surrounded by flowers. The marshy estuary appears as a carpet of green, extending to the hills of Mexico in the background. I waited for a cyclist to enter my frame, bringing a sense of scale to this 24mm wideangle image.
07-AUG-2014
Snowy Egret, Tijuana River National Estuary, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A distant Snowy Egret feeds in the vast marshes of this bird reserve. The bullfighting ring in Tijuana, Mexico, can be seen in the background. My long telephoto lens, set at 350mm, makes the bullfighting ring seem fairly close, yet Tijuana is five miles south of Imperial Beach. This image incongruously contrasts two diametrically opposed subjects – on one hand, man’s protection of wildlife, and on the other hand, the ritualized spectacle of bullfighting, which usually ends with the killing of a bull.
26-AUG-2014
Green Heron, Tijuana River National Estuary, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I found what appears to be Green Heron (which sometimes has a messy hair-day such as this one) standing next to a meandering creek in the marshes of this vast bird reserve. It never moved from this position while I was there, as it intently waited for any motion in the creek that might reveal the presence of a meal. I place the bird in the lower right hand corner of the image, and allowed the creek to form an s-curve that carries both the creek and the eye through the lush and swampy marsh from corner to corner. The heron’s long, sharp beak points to the initial flow of water through this image.
28-AUG-2014
Patrolling pigeon, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Along with flocks of seagulls, pigeons are the most plentiful flying creatures in Imperial Beach. They regularly patrol the beaches, looking for edible morsels left by visitors. This portion of the beach was relatively deserted when I made this photo. Its only occupant is this pigeon, incongruously standing within a tire track left by a lifeguard vehicle. The day is still young, and those tire tracks lead the eye across an empty beach to a pair of empty lifeguard stations in the misty background.
21-AUG-2014
Good tidings, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
By walking out on the town’s pier, and shooting straight down on this feeding shore bird, I was able to find a vantage point that stressed an overhead view of the incoming tide as it reached the limit of its run to the beach. This bird, probably a Marbled Godwit, had just grabbed a tiny piece of food in the end of its beak. I place that beak against the foamy white tide, and the morsel becomes instantly visible. The resulting shadows (one black, the other blue) on both sand and foam add a sense of dimensionality to the image. I made this photo just as the bird took a step forward – its raised foot echoes the thrust of its lunging beak.
28-AUG-2014
Marbled Godwits, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I caught these godwits as they moved towards me, a churning sea at their backs. This environmental group shot arrests both the movement of the birds as well as the high surf that thunders towards us in the background. It is a portrait of a nature itself, pitting the fragile nature of the birds against the massive force of the sea. I used a long 350mm telephoto focal length to make the birds as large as I could and bring the sea as close to them as possible.
27-AUG-2014
Stormy waters, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Three Black Skimmers sweep above a massive wave at dusk, on the hunt for evening prey. They fly low over the water with their bills open, and their lower mandibles slicing the surface. When the lower part of the bill touches a fish, the upper part instantly snaps down to catch it. I made this image with a long telephoto lens (350mm) from the town pier at a very fast shutter speed of one two-thousandth of a second. This fast shutter speed allowed me to freeze the plume of spray at the top of the big wave, as well as stop the skimmers in flight. I advanced the light sensitivity of my sensor to ISO 6400, which allowed me to use the very fast shutter speed as well stressing the granular texture on the surface of the wave. These waves would be the largest and angriest I saw during my month in Imperial Beach. They were caused by a hurricane over Mexican waters.
28-AUG-2014
Cormorant, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This lone Cormorant, perched at the end of a rocky breakwater just off the beach, looks out on turbulent waters, yet a setting sun casts an ethereal golden glow on the rocks just behind it. The foreground rocks fall into deep shadow and soft focus, while the ocean behind the bird is also in soft focus. Cormorants will dive for fish, catching them in their bills under water. They are often perch on rocky places such as this to dry their wings. The setting is warm in color and tone, yet there is also considerable scale incongruity in this image – the bird seems quite small in comparison to the vast sea behind it.
24-AUG-2014
Wings, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
This wideangle sunset photo features far more than the glow of the setting sun itself. I had been tracking the movement of the winged-like cloud for about ten minutes or so. The cloud eventually merged with the sun, just as a seagull soared into my frame. I was able to make the gull’s outspread wings echo the shape of the winged cloud -- two completely different natural forms in complete synch with each other.
27-AUG-2014
Golden fury, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Although these waves come at us in a massive display of flying surf, the sunset creates a backlighting effect that allows me to make an image illuminating both the spray and the shape of the surging sea within a translucent golden glow. This photograph incongruously and simultaneously pairs nature’s fury with nature’s beauty in a setting worth remembering. I later learned that these waves were caused by a distant hurricane churning through the ocean off the Mexican coast.
07-AUG-2014
Gathering at sunset, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
Using my spot-metering mode to expose this image for the sunset, I abstract the rest of it, turning the six people into silhouettes. In doing so, I bring them together in what appears to be a symbolic “family gathering” at water’s edge as the day ends. It is an expressive image that shows less and says more. Actually, the three tallest people in this shot are young men walking towards us, while the two figures at right are walking behind a child in the background. If I had metered on the people, instead on of the sunset, the sky would have been washed out, and the “family” would fragment into two unrelated threesomes that happened to accidentally merge into a single group. This image underscores both the importance of selective exposure and the power of abstraction to express ideas.
27-AUG-2014
San Diego Bay at dusk, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
The downtown skyline of San Diego, which is 14 miles south of Imperial Beach, seems to echo the strip of reflective water that outlines the outgoing tide. The reflective water, running diagonally across the frame, reflects pink light. The distant buildings, preceded by a strand of glowing lights, are silhouetted against a pink sky. The entire image is cloaked in dusky colors as night falls. The spacing between the people in the foreground draws the eye into the frame. The couple on the right walk away from us – they look towards the skyline in the distance. Three other figures also carry the action forward – a body surfer at play in the water, a man walking in the wet sand, and another carrying a belly-board, all link the foreground to the background here. Four additional tiny figures fill in the near background, taking the eye to a pair of breakwaters. The horizontal thrusts of these jetties echo the flow of the horizontal skyline.
21-AUG-2014
Last light, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
A huge gold and pink cloud floats diagonally over the hotels and condos of Imperial Beach at dusk. Shooting from the town pier, I use a 24mm wideangle focal length to not only include the sky and cloud, but also embrace the diagonal flow of surf that moves through the shadows in the lower half of the frame. These diagonals converge on the horizontal shoreline, completing the composition. I made this image after sunset, and used my spot-metering mode to expose for the brightest spot in the picture – the highlights in the cloud. The rest of the image falls into dusky shadow, emphasizing the pink reflection of the cloud on the water.
24-AUG-2014
Fire and water, Imperial Beach, California, 2014
I conclude this gallery with this image of nature cloaked in its most supernatural and surreal colors. The sun has set, but the conditions for this image existed much earlier, as a partial cloud cover moved into position over the ocean, and a cloudbank formed in the distance. Once the sun had set, this cloudbank would help push the lingering pink, red, and orange reflections skyward. The ocean itself turned a purplish pink. All I needed was a human figure to give the image a touch of scale incongruity, and a distant surfer obliged by moving into the lower right hand corner of my frame.
Some might wonder if I created these striking color effects in the computer after making this picture. I did not. The colors here are exactly as I saw them in life – it was a dream-like display of color and light, nature’s own fireworks challenging our imagination and stunning our eyes. I have rarely, if ever, seen such a sight before, and I was able to make it work as a photograph by shooting dozens of images of this scene, metering on different parts of the picture, placing the horizon in different positions, and waiting for various people to move in and out of my frame. In this particular image, I placed the horizon lower in the frame to give more space to the spectacular mass of clouds that blaze like fire through the upper half of the frame. I also spot-metered on the brightest cloud in the upper center of the frame, and the rest of the image fell into place just the way I wanted it to.