Buck
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San Simeon Pier
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The Central Coast and photography just seem to go hand and hand. This area is so beautiful, it just beckons to be photographed. We moved here just over 11 years ago and I am so grateful to be living where nature predominates. Nature has always been part of my soul and I am much more comfortable in a world that has more dirt than cement. Living here is a dream come true.
I have always enjoyed photographing nature and here it is plentiful. Even if you go to the same location again and again, it always shows you a different view, especially by the coast. The ever-changing weather and light provide many photographic experiences.
I first learned how to use a SLR camera and develop photographs with a couple of beginning photography classes in high school and college. I remember being mesmerized in the dark room watching a photo come to life on a piece of paper in the developer. Today, I get a lot of enjoyment being outdoors in a beautiful area and getting submerged in nature photographing its beauty. I find I can get totally lost in the moment when photographing no matter what it is I am shooting, forgetting about life's trials and tribulations while composing, checking exposure, and getting the shot.
My equipment is very limited, but one can still have fun and do a decent job with the basics . . . not that I wouldn't love more and better equipment!! What photographer wouldn't! But with the digital era, one can still have a lot of enjoyment without too much extra expense. What fun it is, after being out shooting, to go to the computer and download my images and see what I captured. Another fun part of photography today is the whole world of post-processing. Always so much to learn there!!
California Poppy
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I love the fact that I can capture and hold onto the beauty I was seeing and, in a sense, take it with me to have and enjoy for years to come. I find it very appealing that photography can capture an exact moment in time that will never be the same again. Whether it is photographing people or nature, those moments are held in time to enjoy as memories forever.
I also get a lot of enjoyment looking at the photographs that others have created — viewing life through someone else's eyes and perspective. With all the mediums that exist today for sharing photos via on-line social networks, this is easy to do. I learned about Flickr and started my own account when I attended the First Annual Morro Photo Expo. I then joined the Photo Morro Bay site on Flickr. When I attended the 2nd annual Morro Photo Expo I felt I knew some of the people there just because I had been viewing and commenting on their photographic posts. I also was invited to go to one of the SLO Camera Club meetings. That was fun and, as my life permits, I hope to be able to go more often.
I have not been doing as much photography these last couple of years. My husband suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bicycling accident and his recovery has been the main focus of my life. Photography proved to be an important part of his recovery though. With his memory gravely affected, photographs of people he knew and things he had done are what helped bring some things back for him. Ah yes, like I said, it is the miracle of photos preserving memories forever!
Peacock
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Sailboat Race
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Monarch Butterfly Image on Banner by Mike Baird
