OK, that title might be just a bit of a stretch, but today we did see a rather rare sight. I took the family whale watching on Dana Wharf Sportfishing’s OCean Adventures Catamaran this afternoon. Though we didn’t see any whales, we were treated to quite a sight: one or two dolphins leaping clear out of the water to the tune of 5-6 feet! I spoke to the captain who confirmed that this is not an everyday occurrence. The whole trip was a delightful experience, even more so because this is the first time BabyGirl had been on a boat outside the harbor. During the course of the two-hour cruise we located two pods of Common Dolphins less than a mile offshore. The first was off the coast of San Clemente, around Hermosa. The second was off the coast of Dana Point, just north of the Ritz. Here are some pictures from my SmugMug gallery of the day’s events:
BabyGirl celebrated her birthday at the beach. It was too breezy to light the candles, but we went through with the singing and “blowing out the candles” anyway. Thanks to all the friends and family who made it a fantastic party!
There are a lot of great posts out there that discuss the tips and tricks of shooting fireworks shows, especially around July 4. Most discuss aperture, shutter and ISO settings (I prefer F/11, 4 seconds, ISO 250). These are all great, but one point can be easily overlooked, as I discovered to my dismay this past Independence Day: wind direction.
In an effort to enjoy the day personally (in contrast to obsessing over the perfect shot all day), I chose my shooting location based on convenience: both to its proximity to the party I attended earlier in the evening, and to my desire to not fight traffic and the throngs of people who would be gathered near the launch site itself. I “compensated” for this convenience by making sure that my camera settings were dialed in before arriving, and bringing lenses of various size and focal lengths. There was just one problem…
BabyGirl wasn’t feeling very well today, so she curled up in Daddy’s chair in her pj’s and bathrobe and spent the day flipping channels between Nickelodean, The Disney Channel, and the Dirty Jobs marathon on Discovery. There’s nothing worse than to watch your sweet baby not feeling well.
My wife and I took a photo walk through downtown L.A. this weekend. OK, we took a stroll and I took pictures. But there were photos and walking involved. We walked from our hotel to the Central Public Library, up through Bunker Hill, stopped by the Disney Concert Hall, had lunch at the MOCA, rode the Angels Flight funicular to Grand Central Market, and back again.
I was contracted to shoot some publicity photos for the choir at St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea United Methodist Church in San Clemente, CA. The photo was published in March 25-31 edition of the San Clemente Times on page 8:
John W. Killinger is a certified Tech Support Specialist, Photographer, and owner of JK Digital Services.