Sunset at Mordor Beach

It's really Crystal Cove State Park

OK, so I didn't really travel to Mordor for this shot. Not only is it a dangerous place, but it's also quite fictional. Once of the first images that really WOW'd me when I first picked up my interest in photography was a beach scene with a large, prominent rock in the foreground, misty waves and fiery sunset sky. Maybe I had just watched Lord of the Rings for the hundredth time on TBS, but the instant I saw it I thought, "That looks like Mordor Beach!" Forget for just a minute that you never actually see a beach in Mordor in any of the movies. Suspend your disbelief!! If there had been a beach in Mordor, it probably would look a lot like that image all day long. When I first saw this capture on the LCD on the back of my camera, I instantly thought, "Mordor Beach! I have found you!" And while I'm not going to discuss whether I like my image better than the one I remember seeing so long ago, if Mordor had a beach, I imagine it would look very much like this!

This image was actually taken at Crystal Cove State Park near Laguna Beach. I had heard and seen good things about the Laguna Beach area, but had never had the chance to visit until last week when my friend Jay was in town to do some photography. We arrived early and did our best to scout out some locations prior to sunset even though there was heavy cloud cover and little chance of seeing a sunset through it all. The beach has a literal treasure trove of photographic opportunities. Everywhere you look, enormous rocks jut upwards from the sand just begging to be included as a dramatic, striking foreground.

This image can be found in my California Coastline gallery.

Fort Knox |Design Work|

Fort Knox Proposal Cover

My writings have been pretty photo-centric lately, so it's probably a good time to share some recent design work.

A couple times a month, the Acquisitions and Retention Department (client relations) requests cover design samples from the Production Department for inclusion in proposals for either renewing contracts or obtaining new ones. Essentially it's our time to shine and show what we can do to impress potential clients.

When these request come into production, they're assigned based on who has the most time to work on them. Generally, that's not me, but when the Fort Knox request came in I had just completed a project and was awaiting my next assignment. Unfortunately, the project I had just complete was our last contracted guide for, you guessed it, Fort Knox. That means I had just designed the book and four covers already. Since no new images are provided along with the request for the Proposal Covers, I really had to dig deep for some ideas.

On this version, I was able to combine my photography and graphic design skills. I had recently been out photographing in downtown San Diego and took some photos of concrete walls with the idea of using those textures in some of my designs. The concrete texture goes well with the strength conveyed by the military and was particularly appropriate for the Army as they use a distressed look with the majority of their branding.

The requests that come from A&R are for three covers, of which two will be included in the Proposal to the base. This design was easily my favorite from the group but was ultimately the one left out of the Proposal. It's a little disheartening when you're favorite isn't picked, but luckily I have my nice little corner of the web here to share it so it's not lost forever.

Of An Abstract Nature

Abstract Trees and Grass

This image is the first of a new series, titled Of An Abstract Nature. The series is an avenue for exploring different photographic techniques and at the moment I've been experimenting with longer shutter speeds and deliberate camera movement.

Most photographers (especially landscape photographers) strive for super sharp, crisp images where any blur from camera shake ruins the image. Even the smallest amount of shake will be noticeable in a print and detract from the overall scene. This image, and the series thus far, explores what happens if the whole scene is a blur. With vaguely recognizable forms and purposeful movement, the image becomes more of an impressionistic, painterly view of the natural world. The colors of the scene are emphasized over the details of the scene.


Part of the fun of this type of shot is the mystery. When taking a standard landscape image with the camera set atop a sturdy tripod, what you see through the viewfinder is what you get (hopefully). With these shots, I could only imagine at how it might end up. I found it best to take multiple shots of similar scenes with varied shutter speeds and camera movements.

Torrey Pines State Beach - Low Tide

Coastal Rock formation at Torrey Pines State Beach

Torrey Pines State Beach and its neighboring State Reserve are quickly becoming a couple of my favorite spots for photography. Just a quick 10 minute drive from home, these parks offer some gorgeous landscapes just begging to be photographed. Every time I visit, something new catches my eye.

On this particular visit, back in early January of this year, I planned my arrival with an extremely low tide associated with that night's full moon. Most days, even at low tide, these rocks are hidden beneath the waves and the beach is an idyllic, gently sloping sandy beach. Only on very low tides do these rocks emerge from the depths.

Fortunately, the tide stayed out long enough to capture these rocks with glowing sunset in the background. In actuality, this shot is from several minutes after sunset. Generally the best sunset colors can be found once the sun is already below the horizon, and this day was no exception.

This shot, along with being a current favorite of mine, was the inspiration behind a new series entitled Elegant Erosion. The series is intended to look at the benefits and beauty of erosion as opposed to its current negative connotations.