Adam Ward & Amy Ortiz 
Save the Date, Engagement Photos
Aaron Meyers Photography
http://www.aaronmphotography.com
Adam Ward & Amy Ortiz 
Save the Date, Engagement Photos
Aaron Meyers Photography
http://www.aaronmphotography.com
Adam Ward & Amy Ortiz 
Save the Date, Engagement Photos
Aaron Meyers Photography
http://www.aaronmphotography.com
Fit for a Queen
Queen's Bath
Princeville, Kauai, HI

During my first visit to Kauai I never found my way to Queen's Bath. Boy did I miss out! On my second trip to Kauai I wanted to make sure I visited all the things I missed the first time. Queen's Bath was high on my list. We arrived at Queen's Bath one afternoon and found the place pretty easily. The place has become so popular that the island has built a parking lot and a trail down to the lava rocks. Once you get down to the ocean you just turn left and head west until you hit Queen's Bath. Here, the a pool of water collects around lava rock to create a natural swimming pool. The lava rock is high enough in the front that it protects swimmers from the harsh waves of the Pacific Ocean. The back of the pool is open, which allows water and fish to swim in and keep Queen's Bath full. I had an amazing time swimming, snorkeling, checking out the fish, watching crabs crawl around on the bottom, and just enjoying Queen's Bath. After going back to the condo, showering, and getting a little snack, I returned for sunset, hopeful that I could find a decent composition and for a nice colorful sky. 

As I walked down to Queen's Bath I stopped at a number of waterfalls and took some photos. My friends kept going and were waiting for me at the bottom. They had spread themselves out so they could each get a "personal view" of the incoming sunset. I darted around to a number of different spots, trying to find something that provided an interesting foreground. Each time I would setup the tripod, take a couple photos and then decide this wasn't the spot and move on. I started rushing as I noticed the sky began to get some color. Finally, just as the clouds in the sky started turning pink I settled on this final composition. I noticed that the waves were crashing over some of the rocks on the right and then creating a little waterfall, and combined with the circular inlet shape of the cove, I knew I had my composition! A family enjoyed the sunset from the rocks above me. I thought that they made a nice extra touch to the photo. Early in the day a pair of sea turtles hung out in this little cove and offered some visual entertainment for us.

Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
24mm, f/20, 2.5 sec, ISO 100
Lee Filter Holder + HiTech 0.9 Soft ND Grad
Natural Explosion
Natural Bridges State Beach
Santa Cruz, California

Lately my early morning routine has been wake up, check the weather, shower, eat, and then leave for work … either with or without the camera based on the weather report. On this particular morning I woke up, saw "Clear" skies (0% clouds) and sadly realized today wasn't going to be the day to find a sunset. I was kickin' myself because the sunset the night before was absolutely spectacular and I had my arse glued to my chair editing some portrait photos instead of out somewhere shooting. About to leave for work, I instinctively grabbed my gear, put it on my back, and was about to walk out the door when I remembered today was clear skies and I should just leave my stuff at home.

After a full day of working I walked outside and looked up to see some beautiful clouds in the sky. Thinking I better not make the mistake two days in a row I immediately sent Willie a text message. Only … he beat me to it and I already had one waiting for me: "the clouds look awesome." I replied "should we go somewhere?" as I walked into the gym. I was scheduled to meet with a personal trainer to go over a new workout but as I waited for the guy, Willie wrote back "I'm leaving for Natural Bridges in a sec. You in?!" I typed "I'll be there in 10" but before I hit send I realized … I LEFT MY GEAR AT HOME!!! ARGH ::hair pulling::

I decided I'd skip the personal trainer, race home to grab my stuff and meet Willie at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz. I managed to avoid a bunch of traffic and arrive at Natural Bridges with plenty of time to scout. Looking at the sky it was either going to be glorious or it was going to be awful.

Willie and I scouted for a while, trying to find a different composition than the normal "Natural Bridge" that everyone shoots. The sun was setting in the wrong direction to shoot the bridge but if the sky lit up like it had the previous night (see Rich's photo) we might get some color. As the sun dropped I quickly realized I had to point in a different direction and decided I'd use a piece of driftwood as my foreground element. After a couple minutes I wandered away and then I looked back and Willie had picked up on my queue and was back at the driftwood. That's when the sky started lighting up right in my original composition! I raced back to the driftwood and setup, waiting for some big waves to give us some water motion. As we waited the sky went from a dull gold, to absolutely beautiful oranges, and then as the orange faded, the back left of the sky filled with pinks and purples. An explosion of color at Natural Bridges! Both Willie and I went home very happy campers!

Color cast removed using D-Breezy's instructions.

Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
24mm, f/16, ⅓ sec, ISO 100
HiTech 0.9 Reverse ND Grad
Boatworks
Golden Gate Bridge, 75th Birthday Fireworks Celebration
Slacker Hill, Marin Headlands, CA

The GGB is a special structure for many of the local San Francisco photographers and although I don't get up here as much as I'd like, I always admire the beauty of not only the bridge, but the landscape in which it was built into. Knowing that parking would be limited and photographers would be out for this special celebration I arrived early (9 hours early or so) with Zack and Wilson and hiked to the top of Slacker Hill. Shortly after Jave, Alan, Jared, Carl, and Toby showed up and a number of photographers followed. 

During the time we waited we hung out, got to know each other, grilled some sausages, and eventually started debating if there was a better spot for the fireworks. Alan disappeared and when he came back he swore that there was a better spot. So off Jared, Alan, and I go, down a steep hill and over to a bunker that was lower, further west, and hopefully had a better view. While "better" may be relative, we all decided to stay and shoot from this location instead of the normal Slacker Hill composition.

We had some time to kill before the fireworks and as the sun set and blue hour began I could hear photographers all around me firing away. The color in the sky was behind us but blue hour is always pretty when you're looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. BY the time blue hour began I noticed a lot of boats had gotten into position waiting for the fireworks to start. I thought they might pose an interesting subject for a photo so I dialed the ISO down, set the aperture to f/13 for some decent light-stars, and clicked away. It took 90 seconds to get the exposure right and in that time the boats moved all around, creating an interesting abstract effect of color, movement, and an almost semi-firework in the water. I have another photo with much sharper boats (at a higher ISO and faster shutter) but I thought this was much more interesting. 

Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S:
24mm, f/13, 90 sec, ISO 250, Tripod
No filters used because I was too lazy. I under-exposed slightly to keep the sky from blowing out and then pulled the rest of the photo up.
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers
http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers
http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers
http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers
http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
Model: Jacob Baugher
Photographer: Aaron Meyers http://www.aaronmphotography.com/
See photo in original gallery.