Southern California

We just spent 8 days in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas. Our main destination was San Diego, but we decided to throw in a couple of days that included Disneyland and Hollywood.

San Diego is a downright beautiful area. The coastline alternates between cliffs and beaches for miles on end. Small towns like La Jolla are tourist-magnets. In this town after you find a parking spot, which is quite difficult, you can stroll the cliffs, watch the seals, snorkle, kayak, surf, picnic, play in the sand, shop, etc., etc. There's just so much to do. I'm already planning our next trip there, maybe in a few years.

Below is one of my favorite images from the trip. It was taken along Sunset Cliffs, aptly named.

Golden

Although development has encroached on many areas of Bucks County, there are still many, many farms operating in the area. In the summer that means lots of corn. But also I've been drawn to the golden color of wheat fields. I originally thought these plants might simply be grass, which is typically used as hay for various farm needs. But to my surprise these are wheat fields, a crop I did not know were grown in this area.

I've tried to capture these plants in some interesting ways. Although the individual stalks have interesting shapes I was originally drawn to the repetitive nature of the plants and size of the fields as I would drive or bike by them. In the image below I tried to capture that feeling of a large field, yet limit focus to the patterns in the foreground. The smaller size of this image does not do justice (I think) to what it will look printed.

Not a Fan of HDR

Every time I look at an HDR image, I am reminded (at this stage in my photographic life anyway) that I don't like them. Most of them seem unrealistic to me. I'm all for artistic expression, but they're just not for me. So don't expect to see them form me for a while.

By the way, HDR = High Dynamic Range. It is a technique where you take multiple exposures of the same image, feed them into a software program, adjust various settings, and the output is an image that limited/controlled contrast. The very dark areas are not black, and the very bright areas are not pure white (i.e. blown out). This is a useful technique in some circumstances, but the result is often lacking in the contrast that often makes an image interesting.

I'm not posting an image (you can do a google search instead) because I don't want it to look like I'm putting down a specific person's work.

'Nuf said, for now.