Beach Pup

Since I take my pup to the beach so much, and since Endless Summer I and II, and Step Into Liquid are among my most watched movies of all time, I've always wanted to do a beach video.  Heck, I even decided the music track I wanted to use for it long ago, Hammerhead by the uber-talented surf-rock group, The Halibuts~

Some months ago, I installed Magic Lantern on my 50d, which enabled video.  Now, I'll be honest, my favorite feature of Magic Lantern is, yes, FAST ZOOMING IN PLAYBACK MODES~  But dang it, video is a nice feature when you need it or want it.  May as well give it a go, right?  DON!!!

So here it is, in all its dog-running, butt-wiggling, water-spalshing, super-unstabilized-shaking glory~  I'm a noob at this video stuff, if you can't tell~

Morning Jog & Corn

Yesterday, the intense Summer heat started fading out and I and trillions of others breathed a sigh of relief.  At last, it was comfortable outside, and inside as well!  The energy to run the air conditioning isn't cheap, after all...  Anyhow, me and my brothers decided this was a good time for a trip to the beach, a jog along the shoreline.  I have some excess weight get rid of, though not for reasons of being fit or for vanity's sake, but rather, for the sake of cosplay, so that I don't have my gut hanging out of these costumes~

Now, I'm not a great jogger by any stretch of the imagination.  Sadly, I still can't run for terribly long, partially due to my lack of physical exercise, and also due to my lack of veggies diet.  But hey, I try!  I ran for a bit, under and through the pier, among crowds of kids learning to boogie board, surf, and train as lifeguards.  Running on the beach is definitely more taxing on the body than running on asphalt or grass.  The soft sand that gives way to each step gives one's legs a much more strenuous workout, and the swiftly moving salt water of the ocean wets one's shorts, adding much more weight, skin-clinging, and uncomfortable dampness.  But it was fun.  Tiring, but fun~

We walked back to the car and strolled a bit through downtown Huntington Beach.  Being a wannabe photographer, I did my best to capture the essence of beach-town life.  I took quite a few photos, but this one is the the only one I really liked.  A chain-linked fence, ripped fabric, and an abandoned building make an interesting subject~

We got back, steamed some corn, (which is delicious, I might add), and watched The Wizard~  "I love the Power Glove.  It's so bad."

One Piece Summer Beach Shoot

Today, me and some friends had a little summer beach photo shoot with a theme of One Piece!  The day started out interesting, to say the least.  Let's just say that its summer, the past week has been very hot, and the location is a California beach of all places.  So, to say it was crowded would be an understatement!  We spent almost half an hour just looking for parking, even the paid parking spots were short on space!  Eventually, we all found parking, made the arduous journey down to the beach, and the day began!

We snacked to fill our bellies, and drank to satiate our parched mouths.

Mmmm, Capri Sun~

The rushing waves constantly attacked our pile of stuff, so we built trenches, and even a wall, nicknamed Basingse.  

Here's Michael and his attempt at perfecting Basingse~

And, obviously, we took a TONNE of photos~  Enjoy!

 I LOOOVE how it looks like he's shooting a beam of light~  A FRIGGIN BEAM!!!

 Our fishman and mermaid~  Kids kept asking if she was a real mermaid, haha!!

 The life of a tall person; gotta make sure you don't accidentally step on the smaller people~

Striking a pose~

So cute!  I love the way this came out~ 

Mero mero mero~ 

Boyband style shot~

Such an awesome bumper sticker~~

Beach Dog; Life Is A Beach

Lately, my pup has been staying with my parents as my free time finds itself preoccupied with freelance work, and trying to find a full time gig.  Though, whenever shes in town, I like to take her to the dog beach.  Sure, the dog park is a paltry five minutes away (probably less, actually), and has free parking on top of that, its just that I can only take her there so times a week. Plus, there are people there that just don't pick up after their dogs, which really pisses me off.  Most of them do, of course, but for those that don't...  Well, lets put it this way; even at the dog park, the last thing you wanna do is step on poop carelessly left there by some irresponsible douche bag of an owner.  So, I go to the beach a lot as a result.

Here is the asphalt walkway to get down to the sand from the parking area~

I love the look of fresh, wind-blown sand, still untouched, almost like mini dunes~

If I had to guess, over the past two and a half years, I've probably gone to the beach over a hundred times.  And each and every time, I will bring my camera along.  Why?  Because the best camera is the one that's always with you~  So, needless to say, I've got hundreds, thousands even, of photos of my dog at the beach~

I've always enjoyed selective focus to add a bit of variety for my photos.  After going to the same place and shooting the same subject day after day, it gets tough trying to make your photos look different from the last several times you went.  And I figured, one of the ways I can do this is to change the focus of the picture, while keeping the subject the same.  I don't know how effective it is since I'm still a noob, but I like what it achieves~   Also, another thing I've grown fond of is marks; marks of life, of existence.  At the beach, one of the simplest forms of these marks is quite plentiful; footprints~

I was going for a lion-in-the-Serengeti-sunset type look here~

Though, not a great photo in the least, I just love the lights and shadows here~

Sunsets are fun as well!  Especially if you catch someone (in this case, my dog) running through the falling light of the sun.  There's an almost raw, visceral nature to it.  The lights and the shadows and the silhouettes romance each other in their dance with the wildness.  Except, its not the wilderness.  Its Huntington Beach.  And the subject, not wilderness as well, is a person, albeit, a non-human person~

I like that there's a surfer in the background  while my pup runs towards me~

Butt shot, HAHAHA!!!  The background is cloaked in bokeh~

My friends, watching from the sand~

What else is there to say?  Go to the beach and have fun, meet some interesting characters, hang out with friends, enjoy some solitude, get some exercise with your dog, take photos like there's no tomorrow~