Monthly Archives: June 2011

Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter

Orange County, Pets, Photography, , , , ,

I’ve started volunteering with the Newport Beach Police Department’s Animal Control Unit to take pictures of their dogs and cats so they can add pictures to their Petfinder website. Last week was my first session with them, and I had a great time photographing about 20 animals in one afternoon.

First up were the dogs. Many of them were super-exited to be let out for a photography session, and thus just a smidgen hyper.  But this white husky was downright calm:

A white female siberian husky (Marc C. Perkins)
A white female siberian husky shakes the hand of an Orange County Humane Society worker.

And lots of the dogs had perfect “adopt me” expressions

A male brown bicolor terrier / American Pit Bull. N053 (Marc C. Perkins)
A male brown bicolor American pit bull terrier.
Beauty, a black female terrier / pit bull. (Marc C. Perkins)
Beauty, a black female pit bull terrier.

There was also a regal chihuahua, and a Pug who was just adorable:

Continue reading Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter →

Sunset at Newport Back Bay

Beach, Bicycling, California, Orange County, Photography, ,

Newport Back Bay is a relatively unknown1 jewel of coastal Orange County. At only a few miles long and half a mile wide at most, this estuary is relatively small. It’s also packed in between Newport Beach mansions houses, some of which overlook the wetlands from bluffs that line it. However, there is no major development inside the majority of the back bay, which is home to plants, birds, kayakers, and lots of other wildlife.


Looking towards the eastern bluffs from a roadside stop on Back Bay Drive in Newport Back Bay.

 

I’ve loved going to Newport Back Bay for years. It’s a great place to bike or jog, as there’s a paved trail looping around it2, and it’s a good place to go for bird watching (though I think Bolsa Chica is generally preferred by bird photographers).  What’s neat about this area is that one moment you’re driving through fully developed Newport Beach and Irvine (Fashion Island Shopping Center and UC Irvine are only minutes away), and then the next you’re walking, biking, or driving along a one-lane road that meanders along the side of a beautiful coastal wetlands.

A few nights ago I went there to watch the sunset and experiment with some post-sunset techniques. The sunset was gorgeous:

Continue reading Sunset at Newport Back Bay →

Making takoyaki: a morning spent watching a Japanese chef

Food, Photography

Takoyaki are a delicious treat: they’re a ball of savory fried dough with a custardy interior filled with bits of onions, peppers, and a chunk of meaty octopus.  They’re often served covered in a slightly sweet sauce and topped with shaved bonito (dried fish).


Takoyaki on display in a box

 

I was introduced to Takoyaki by watching them being made on Dotch, a Japanese cooking show. I’ve since gotten to eat them at a couple of local Japanese restaurants (most notably Kohryu, my favorite ramen place), but had never seen them made in person.

Then, a few weeks ago, I went to a Japanese food festival at Mitsuwa Marketplace to be greeted by this happy sight just inside the entrance:

Continue reading Making takoyaki: a morning spent watching a Japanese chef →

Unimpressed cat is unimpressed

Pets, Photography

I took this picture a few days ago, and just love Lucca’s LOLcat-ish “meh” expression:


Lucca looking decidedly unimpressed.

 

This was taken late one afternoon while Lucca sat on our homemade 6′ tall cat tree. Sunlight was streaming in a window directly behind Lucca and bouncing off a wall to the left of the image, creating wonderfully soft, even lighting with a hint of backlighting.

To see more of my cat pictures, take a look at my cats gallery.

A morning on the beach: Crystal Cove State Park and Little Corona Beach

Beach, California, Orange County, Photography

When I think of beach pictures on the west coast of the United States, I think sunsets.  The glorious red sun falling beneath the ocean.  The soft light on the sky.  The ability to wake up at noon and still photograph it.

But recently I noticed that low tides were coinciding with early mornings, so I decided to head out for a morning trip to the beach on Friday.  My primary goal was to scout out locations for future sunrise and intertidal photography, so I headed to both Crystal Cove State Park’s beach and Little Corona (both beaches are in Orange County; Little Corona is in Corona Del Mar, and Crystal Cove is just north of Laguna Beach).  But I quickly got distracted from location hunting thanks to the beauty of the morning.


Morning Treasure: Sunrise at Crystal Cove

 

Both beaches have bluffs overlooking the ocean, meaning that the beach was shaded long after the sun rose in the region. This allowed for shots like the above, and also let me get pictures of a waterfall cascading down the bluffs long after sunrise:

Continue reading A morning on the beach: Crystal Cove State Park and Little Corona Beach →