Why We Have Winter Gear in Southern California.

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Los Angeles, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Long Beach, California.

Long Beach, California.

They have done a nice job with the waterfront along downtown Long Beach – it was much nicer then I remember.

We have wanted to photograph Vancouver and the Whistler area for some time.  Traveling to and from Alaska these days has been very expensive, so we packed a lot of our winter gear on this trip in hopes of finding a killer last minute deal to the Vancouver area.  Well guess what, thanks to an Alaska Airlines airfare sale, and some great luck with naming our price on Priceline, we have put together a very inexpensive  trip.  We spend a couple of nights in Vancouver, and then a couple of nights at Whistler.  It is going to be a very busy, whirlwind of a trip, but if possible, I’m going to try to keep up with the blog.  If there isn’t much activity, you will know why.

Downtown San Diego

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, San Diego, Travel 10 Comments

Downtown San Diego, California.

Downtown San Diego, California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Here is another photo from my aerial shoot.  The Aircraft Carrier in the foreground in the U.S.S. Midway.  The U.S.S. Midway is no longer active, it is actually a museum parked near downtown.

Mission Bay, San Diego, California

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, San Diego, Travel 11 Comments

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This is looking down on the roller coaster in Mission Beach, in the mid ground is Mission Bay, and further out is downtown San Diego, California.

Last week I got a phone call from fellow photographer Phil Colla offering to split the cost of a helicopter charter flight over San Diego.  I jumped at the opportunity!  I love flying and photographing from a helicopter; you can pretty much go anywhere you want, and most importantly, you can do so with the doors removed.  This is really important, as you often need to use a polarizer to cut the haze, and polarizers add funky rainbows for some reason when you use them through Plexiglas.  Not to mention, shooting through Plexiglas is a great way to end up with soft photos, so doors removed is the only way to go.

Well thanks to the Santa Ana off-shore winds, we had wonderful clear conditions – I ended up with a lot of images of the area to add to our existing coverage of San Diego photos.

Brett Simpson Wins Katin Pro/Am

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Orange County, Photos, Travel 13 Comments

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The finals of the Katin Pro/Am in Huntington Beach, California were amazing as the surfers continued to throw down huge tricks as they out did each other.  Above is a 9 frame sequence that caputures Brett Simpson’s winning wave as he came from behind to win the title.  I wish I could have had a lower perspective, this was shot from above on the pier, and the high perspective tends to minimize the appearance of just how high he was on the maneuver.  What I thought was cool, but may not be visible in the small version I posted here – in the second to last photo where Brett is completing the landing, he already has a huge smile on his face.

Here are a couple more photos of the Katin Pro/Am.