Year: 2024

21 Aug 2024 Beach & Summer Theme: Jim

I have been struggling to be motivated to take photos lately. The monthly meetings are actually motivation for me to make an effort to take my camera out. Without my usual travels lately, I’ve felt less interested in photographing locally. That’s a mistake. Fortunately a lack of theme-related images in my archives for this month’s “summer/beach” motivated me to bring my camera during a beach walk. People-watching at the beach can be fascinating with such a diverse crowd. Trying to catch moments with your camera is fun and challenging. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

21 Aug 2024 Theme: Beach & Summer

Appropriate themes for an August Photography Interest Group meeting, Beach and Summer photos were shared. Living in Southern California, it’s not difficult to find subjects that fit the theme. BUT with everyone’s busy summer schedules, it can be hard to schedule time to take photos. An “EDC” (every day carry) camera is often suggested by avid photographers so I try to bring a small camera everywhere I go. Everyone has a cell phone camera so the need for an EDC camera is lessened. But I still prefer a small zoom lens camera that I can take ‘grab shots’ when something catches my attention. Cathy and I did a beach ‘walk-about’ and looked for interesting moments. Barbara always carries her Olympus camera when she walks. The beach can be a really fascinating place to people watch. Here are the photos shared, most fit the theme or are close enough.

Barbara – shared an awesome surfer photo and pelicans at La Jolla Cove from early in the year.

Cathy – shared photos from a beach walk-about and summer fireworks from Sea World

Gary – shared some photos of his boat in Mission Bay and photos converted to watercolor-style paintings using the Waterlogue iPhone app. He also talked about astrophotography using the Seestar astrophotography camera. Images from that camera are copyrighted so I did not post them here.

Jerry – shared some great shots from Sunset Cliffs during a recent beautiful summer sunset.

Jim – shared photos taken during a recent beach visit with his grandson. Always a great place to catch photos that capture the summer theme and people watch.

21 Aug 2024 Beach & Summer Theme: Gary

Gary spend a lot of time outdoors and on the water. Much of his photography is focused on his trips and travels, even locally. He has a 17ft skiff he’s renovated and uses regularly around San Diego Bay. He shared photos of his beloved boat on the shoreline of San Diego Bay. Additionally, he’s been experimenting with an iPhone app, Waterlogue, that converts photos into watercolor images. He’s been really happy with the result and how easy the app is to use. Here are the photos he shared:

17 July 2024 Theme Food/Color: Heather

Our newest member has some great feedback to offer the group during photo share. Plus she’s presented some wonderful images. One thing I’ve discovered with attending these meetings each month. Everyone has a unique vision on what catches their eye or how they compose. Heather’s photos are a great example of that. After seeing her photos a few times, I can start to see her photographic style.

17 July 2024 Theme Food/Color: Barbara

Like other participants in this month’s meeting, Barbara shared both recently shot photos and ones from her photo archives. She always seems to find great images when visiting local spots. She is a great example of why having your camera with you, when going out for the day, can have great results.
Finding a large group of great food shots, unless you are visiting the San Diego Fair, is difficult. So like others, she pulled some delicious looking images worthy of a desserts magazine, from her collection.

17 July 2024 Theme Food/Color: Cathy

Like all of us, Cathy had a wide variety of photos to share this month. Some photos were from a recent trip to Colorado, the San Diego Fair and some were from her photo archive. As we become more proficient at post-processing and as the software improves. Re-processing or recovering older images is becoming a common practice. Cathy shared some older travel images that had promise but may have had technical issues. Using post-processing techniques she’s learned and some of the newest tools. She shared these images, explaining the processing used.