A surfer heading out during a summer sunset on a Southern California beach.

I recently lost another friend to cancer. I attempted to put up a tribute post two weeks ago, but decided to keep it private. Photographically speaking, I am hitting a motivational wall. My camera is sitting in a corner collecting dusts. I don’t even want to turn on my computer when I get home from work. This image is from my 2009 photo archive. This picture reminds me to get out there more often as I always find my escape and my balance on this beach.

Thanks for visiting, and have a wonderful summer should I don’t post again until the fall.

A 100 seconds twilight exposure of a Southern California beach shot with a BW ND110 filter.

I haven’t been out on the local beaches as often as I did in the past years. I really missed shooting these shoreline twilight scenes.

Last Friday, I left work early and went straight to the beach. During my rush, I left my remote cable release and Lee filter holder at home. I ended up hand-holding a Lee GND filter with one hand and pressing down on the shutter release button for 100 seconds with the other hand. I wanted to make a longer exposure, but had to cut my exposure time short because I knew that I couldn’t make a sharp enough exposure without my remote cable release. I underexposed this shot by about 1 stop. Thanks to RAW and post processing works, I am able to salvage this shot.

Last Sunday, I decided to take my camera out to experiment with my new B+W ND110 filter (1000x). This image is a 90 seconds exposure shot during day light as the sun was setting. For those who have not used an ND110 filter, it’s a 10 stops loss of light neutral density filter. One can’t see anything through the view finder with this filter on.

It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been too busy. Last Thanksgiving, I attended yet another funeral. In the last twelve months, we’ve lost three family members due to cancer.

Needing a break from editing funeral photos, I took my camera out to a local beach. I spent two hours on the sand and did nothing but watched the perpetual tides and thought about my own mortality. At sunset, I put on this pitch-black ND110 filter on my lens as if I wanted to see with my eyes closed. At the end of the day, I came home with a few beautiful exposures. I realized that it doesn’t matter what type of equipment I use or what the circumstances are, I tend to photograph what my heart tells me: I like to stay in the light. Light does penetrate the darkest places if given enough time. For those who are in the dark, remember that you always have a choice. We might be living on borrowed time, but we do have choices.

PS: I probably will not be able to post again until next year. To all my viewers and followers, I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season.

This is a candid shot of a girl walking her dog on a Southern California beach during a beautiful summer sunset. This photo was taken on the same day as Broken Kelp. This image is a square crop from a single exposure.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. — Ernest Hemingway

As I mentioned in my previous post about a twilight surfer, I lined up my tripod to make a vertorama, and this image was what I had in mind. I rushed the last shot out because I did not have time to finish processing this image.

I’ve been waiting for beautiful skies to return to our local beach. Tonight, I was lucky enough to capture this classic Southern California summer lifestyle. At the end of the day, there is nothing better than breathing the fresh salty air, feeling the cool water, and watching those magical clouds getting lit up by the setting sun. Life is pretty darn beautiful if one chooses to experience it … as the locals say, it’s chillaxing.

This image was not what I had in mind when I started shooting. I lined up my camera to shoot a few long exposures to create a vertorama, but when I saw this surfer in my frame, I flipped all my settings to shoot a single frame with a faster exposure time, hoping to catch him before he disappeared into the waves. I wished I had time to frame the surfer a little further into the scene, but for a candid shot, I’m quite contented with how it turned out.

Sometimes, my camera allows me to see what my naked eyes cannot see …

This image was shot a few minutes before these two: Ocean in Motion: Ebbs and Flows and Stillness Amid Ebbs and Flows. Obviously, the light intensity in this image was not as strong as the other two. To leave a softer feel for the image, I also didn’t apply my usual level and curve adjustments.

Today’s sunset. Spent about an hour on the beach. Shot a few decent frames. Decided to include more foreground elements.

I have way too many things on my mind lately, but first thing first … I found out that one of my friends has been battling brain cancer for six years. All of these years that I know her, I never knew. I knew that she was going through some physical pains, but I never asked out of respect for her privacy. Last week, she decided to reveal her story via a rare self-portrait. I sat there for a while staring at her photo and remembering her comments on some of my photos …

We all take photographs and share them for different reasons. Some choose to communicate through their photographs when words are inadequate. Some instantly feel a connection with a photograph that resonates with their life experiences. I remember deleting one of her comments on one of my photos because the comment was so spot on, and I was not comfortable sharing that level of personal info out in the public view. I later renamed the photo and deleted a bunch of other very supportive comments out of respect for another person’s privacy. When I photograph a scene, I always attempt to inject my emotion into the shot. Some of my viewers immediately get what I am saying through my photographs just because we share common life experiences that influence how we perceive the world around us. Although some of my good friends don’t leave comment, I know that they know that I know we know what we are saying to each other without saying anything. David Tyson Gentry’s quote that I use for the title of this shot says it best, “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable”.

Back to the topic of terminal illness, I personally see many around me going through the struggles. Many choose to fight alone because they don’t want to burden their love ones. All I can do is to stand back in the distance and say, “I’m here; I see you and I feel your struggles.” Sometimes, that means more than anything else to them. So to my friend, Laurie (or some of you in the Flickrverse might know her as fouramjava) and to others who are fighting for your survival, this photo is for you. I’m here, and your friends are here for you. You stay strong.

….
My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each days a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned
Leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
If tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past …

– If Today Was Your Last Day lyrics by Nickelback