2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (11:00 p.m.)

Here is the last photo of my yearlong photography challenge. I've had an amazing time doing this alongside my photography partners-in-crime Cyrena & Sarah. This has been a fun experience and I look forward to seeing what we decide on doing in 2015. Stay tuned for more on that. In the meantime, read up about what happened last Saturday...

At 11:00 a.m., way back in the beginning of June, I found myself on top of the Santa Monica Ferris wheel. Because I thought ahead to the end of this challenge and thought finishing this riding on top of the Ferris wheel on a Saturday night in December would be a very fun way to cap this off.

Even though my event planning mind had thought this through and verified that, weather permitting, the Ferris wheel would be open until 12:00 a.m., I didn't call to verify the hours (as suggested). I had a few things going on (like hosting the 9th annual Mac off earlier that evening for 45 freaking people!) and just went for it. Unfortunately once we got there, we discovered that they wanted to shut the ride down at 11:00 p.m., which meant they needed the ride cleared of passengers by then.

It was a pretty big bummer and I was disappointed that I had dragged Katie and our friend Mark along for this photo excursion, only to be turned away. But. I realized I could run into the same problem this upcoming week and decided to just take a photo of the same view but from the Pier level as opposed to from the top of the Ferris Wheel. So you'll notice that the photos don't exactly line up (like at all), but it's the same general view. And that just has to be enough for my Type-A personality.

Here's what 11:00 p.m. looked like in Santa Monica last Saturday night:

The pier itself was actually kinda busy still. And it was a cold night, for Santa Monica. (Remember, I've now lived in California for 14 years. My ability to live in and survive a New Hampshire winter is long gone. And I'm okay with that). But that didn't prevent people from playing out on the sand and looking at the waves (out of the frame of this photo). 

Here's the side by side a.m./p.m. comparison (remember to click on the image to make it bigger):

Five things I noticed between the two photos:

1. Because of the different vantage point in the p.m. photo, the one lifeguard tower is way more prominent as opposed to the a.m. photo where they're dotted in a cool line along the coast.
2. I like how the lights along the hill in the p.m. photo makes that geography more prominent. The haze in the a.m. photo makes it so you don't really know that there's a whole neighborhood beyond the tall white buildings. 
3. PCH is more prominently displayed in the p.m. photo due to all the lights lining that famous road. 
4. The ocean plays a nice part in the a.m. photo and you can't even see it in the p.m. photo.
5. More people (and visible trash cans and lifeguard towers) in the a.m. photo. 

Check back for Cyrena's 11:00 p.m. photo

Sarah's photo:

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (10:00 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., I pretty much had a meltdown. At 9:00 p.m., I did a little bit better with a borrowed tripod (thanks sistah!). But at 10:00 p.m., is when I fell in love! Cue the Disney music with "A Whole New World" and let the unicorns dance through the sky. Am I being dramatic? Yes.

Honestly though, my 10:00 p.m. photo is also the moment in time in which I fell in love with my tripod. I knew I had to get one and I'm so, so glad that I did. There's just no way I ever would have been able to take a photo with such sharpness and clarity otherwise. And it actually made me look forward to taking photos last night.

Here's what 10:00 p.m. on the south side of the Santa Monica pier looked like:

With the anticipation of rain coming today, I decided to capture my photo one night earlier. I drove as close to the pier as I could and then got there early enough to fool around with setting up my tripod and getting my photo aligned just so. I was so happy with how the photos were turning out that it made this photo one of my most enjoyable photos to take. This photo challenge has made me a better photographer and this photo is living proof of that!

Now here's the side by side a.m./p.m. comparison (remember to click on the image to make it bigger):

Five things I noticed between the two photos:

1. No one is on the beach at night! Obviously. Although it's not like there were a ton of people on the beach at 10:00 a.m. either. 
2. You can tell it's the holiday season evident by the green and red colors of the Ferris wheel. (What you can't see out of the frame is to the right of the Ferris wheel is a Christmas tree. Check out the outtake below).
3. I love the line of lines at the base of the pier. 
4. The restaurant at the very end of the pier really shines brightly in this photo. And the reflection of it in the water adds so much.
5. The tides are different between the a.m. and p.m. photo with much more of the sand being visible at 10:00 a.m. 

Here's my outtake from last night's photo: 

It's crazy to think we only have one more hour left to document in this series. I'm really hoping the Ferris wheel is open at 11:00 p.m. like it's advertised as. Otherwise I'll have to go somewhere else!

Here is Cyrena photo:

and Sarah's:

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (4:00 p.m.)

Okay. Remember how sometimes throughout this challenge I've feared for my life (like from 2:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.)? Well. 4:00 p.m. presented a whole new life-threatening challenge in order for my photo to be lined up almost exactly like the one I took at 4:00 a.m.- cars and buses!

At 4:00 a.m., I didn't have to worry about competing with anyone in the street because, well, no one was out and about. I should have thought about my 4:00 p.m. self when taking this photo, because my biggest challenge was running out in traffic (literally) to take my photo as best I could.

For my p.m. excursions I need to study my a.m. photos to try and match them up perfectly (hello Type A!). I now know this requires me to get to my photo location a little early so I can try to set the stage. Luckily I think this will be as dangerous as it gets. I don't think any more photos require me to play in traffic.

I did the very best I could to snap this p.m. photo as closely to the a.m. photo, but at a certain point I realized I valued my life more than the accuracy of the two photos. Even still, you'll see from the side by side photo that I did a pretty good job.

As usual, it's busy and filled with lots of interesting characters in Venice at this time of the day and year.

And here is the 4:00 a.m. and p.m. side by side (click to enlarge):

5 things I noticed between the two photos:

• While not as many cars driving at 4:00 a.m., there are nearly as many cars parked at 4:00 p.m. as there were at 4:00 p.m.
• The VENICE sign looks better all lit up at night! 
• There seemed to be more beach activity going on at 4:00 a.m. than at 4:00 p.m.. I can't remember what exactly was set up at 4:00 a.m., but it looks more fun compared to 4:00 p.m.
• There are lots of flags flying around this part of Venice that you never saw at 4:00 a.m.
• And finally, the addition of people, in this photo at least, brings the photo to life more than what I experienced at 4:00 a.m.

Cyrena's photo

Sarah's photo

And a few outtakes from my bike ride back to Santa Monica from Venice. It was a beautiful day!

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (2:00 p.m.)

After being spoiled by having Sarah & Cyrena along for the 1:00 p.m. photo excursion nearly two weeks ago, this one almost felt a little lonely. I say almost because I headed to the top of the Santa Monica Pier to see how it compared to 2:00 a.m. and since it's full-on summer in Santa Monica, there are people here, there and everywhere. Taking in the sites, capturing photos on their iPad (major pet peeve) and just generally having a good time enjoying their summer afternoons, you can't possibly feel lonely surrounded by so many strangers! 

I smartened up and studied my 2:00 a.m. photo a little better this time around and knew where I needed to stand and what I needed to look for to ensure the photo was better aligned.

Here's what 2:00 p.m. looking down the Santa Monica Pier looks like on a beautiful and hot summer afternoon:

And now here are the two photos side by side (click on the actual photo to make it bigger):

5 things I noticed between the two photos:

• If you weren't from here (and had no sense of direction) you could go on believing there wasn't an ocean at the end of the Pier
• I love how much more prominent the Ferris wheel is during daytime hours
• Whatever construction they were doing in January (notice the crane) isn't happening anymore- good planning!
• The lighting makes it look like there's pavement in January and wood in July- but it's just an illusion between night vs. day
• The people and umbrellas add so much energy and color to the photo.

Sarah's photo (and sweet photo)

And Cyrena's

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (11:00 a.m.)

I learned something very interesting while capturing today's photo from the top of the Santa Monica Pacific Wheel (Ferris wheel): You cannot ride by yourself. I learned this the hard way, after showing up by myself and ending up being coupled with a complete stranger/Pacific Wheel employee (thanks Ameila!) for the duration of the Ferris wheel ride. (Jessica- this made me laugh thinking of you laughing at this scenario I got myself into).

I knew I wanted to go to the Ferris wheel for today's photo because you get a panoramic view of the coastline from Santa Monica to Venice. Fun note: this is the world's only solar-powered Ferris wheel. I've been on the Pacific Wheel many times, and wanted to show my beautiful city from more than 130 feet above the Santa Monica Pier.

I hope you like the photo more than Steve-o, who when helping me select which photo to go with (there were three to choose from) said "I'm sorry, they're just not doing anything for me."

What I happen to like about the photo I did end up selecting is you can see what we refer to as "June Gloom" starting to burn off. (According to Wikipedia: June Gloom is a southern California term for a weather pattern that results in cloudy, overcast skies with cool temperatures during the late spring and early summer, most commonly in the month of June). It's still a gorgeous day, and of course I managed to get a sunburn, but here's what I saw at 11:00 a.m. from the Pacific Wheel:

Sarah's photo

Cyrena's photo

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (10:00 a.m.)

Alright. For my 10:00 a.m. photo, I wanted to get on the other side of the Santa Monica Pier and take a photo from that perspective. If you recall, my 8:00 a.m. photo is of the Santa Monica Pier, but it's taken from the north looking south. This is taken from the south looking north(ish).

Although initially annoyed, the man running by adds a nice touch to the photo and I love the small wave in the background too. There was hardly any activity on this part of the pier at 10:00 a.m., just a couple of people and some golf carts driving by (out of view of this photo). And luckily, I got out there before the beach was crawling with people on this beautiful May day.

Sarah's photo

Cyrena's photo

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (8:00 a.m.)

The hardest part about this installment was choosing where to go to take my photo. There are so many beautiful places in Santa Monica. I have loved the previous moment in time captures, but I definitely feel like there are so many more options with the daytime hours. It's been a great change from when we had to drag ourselves out of bed in search of an interesting photo/view.

It wasn't an easy decision, and I certainly have inspiration for the remaining hours in the day, but what I love about where I ended up is that at 8:00 a.m. it offers an entirely different perspective of what the Santa Monica Pier usually looks like. And the line of vehicles and delivery trucks make this stand out even more as it's usually closed to pedestrian traffic at that part of the pier.

Even though we're experiencing a freaking heatwave in Santa Monica right now, the cooperation of the weather really added to the photo below. The water is so still it looks fake!

Here's what my 8:00 a.m. looked like:

Sarah's Photo

Cyrena's Photo

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2014 Photography Challenge- A Moment in Time (2:00 a.m.)

2:00 am wasn't as bad as 1:00 am for some reason. I did still need the help of my alarm to get me up and out of bed. But like a kid on their first day of school, I had all my clothes laid out and my camera by the door. Lacking the creativity of my partners in crime, I only had sights set on going outside of my apartment to capture this photo.

I have to say. Being out at 2:00 am is an eye-opening experience. The only people out in Santa Monica are either drunk or up to no good. Which makes for an interesting experience when I venture out. 

I went straight to the Santa Monica Pier, wanting to know what it'd look like so early in the morning.  A Cirque show is happening in the parking lot of the Pier so I got some added light from that. Because otherwise it was basically shut down and deserted with little light. Mostly I was bummed that the Ferris wheel lights were off. But take a look below:

Cyrena at 2:00 am

Sarah at 2:00 am

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Cool Capture: Beach Days

One of the apps I have on my iPhone is for PopSugar, which is not just a celebrity gossip site, but the mobile version acts as a main portal into a bunch of their other sister sites, like GeekSugar. Sometimes when I can't sleep and I have my iPhone in bed, I'll look through some of these different sites.

Months and months ago I learned about Cool Capture, which is described on their site as "Show off your photography skills with our community. Tell us a little bit about your subject, the kind of camera you used, and any fun details or editing techniques you tried. Your photos could even be seen on the front page of GeekSugar!

Since then, I've been tagging my Instagram photos with the #coolcapture hashtag and last night while willing myself to fall asleep, I saw a photo that looked familiar. It took a minute before I realized that it was my photo taken of the Santa Monica Pier a few weeks ago. The photos is below and the link to the highlight can be found here. 

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