A Rubber Duck’s Journey in Huntington Beach

By , on May 18th, 2013

Huntington Beach Pier

Thousands of rubber ducks wait the big dump at the 2013 Huntington Beach Duck-a-Thon

Earlier today my wife and I spent the day at the 21st Annual Duck-a-Thon event in Huntington Beach. It’s a fundraiser where people can purchase a rubber duck, name it then added to thousands of others on a tractor and tossed over the side of the pier. The current pushes them towards the shore and the first hundred or so ducks that reach the beach win a prize. Cool huh?

I’ve shared photos of this event in the past, but it’s just so much fun that I had to share it again this year. You can see the photo of the big toss over the pier below.

As for our little duckie, no it didn’t come in first, nor did we win any prizes, but we were able to take it home after it survived some rough waters and a few rouge beach goers who tried to walk away with them! But in the end, it’s all in good fun and we loved it.
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Chinook Helicopter flies low at the Huntington Beach Pier

By , on May 14th, 2013

Pier tower

A Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter flies low around the Huntington Beach Pier

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter flew by the Huntington Beach Pier and I was able to capture it as it flew wide behind the main lifeguard tower. It did a turnaround somewhere in Seal Beach or Long Beach and headed back down.

I’m a day late, as this photo was taken yesterday, but I’m sure you don’t mind. Normally we only see birds, surfers and a few dolphins out here, so this was a nice change.

Notice the blades? For those camera/photography buffs, I stopped the blades with a shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second. I also cropped the image as I was very far from the action. I shot it hand held at 200mm and an f/4, so the helicopter looks like it was near the tower, but it was actually pretty far from it.

I captured a series of shots, many on it’s own. However, when deciding how to photograph it as it neared, I ran to this location to make sure and catch it next to the tower. You can see an older photo I took from this same location here.

At first I wasn’t sure if the photo was “interesting” enough, but in the end I decided to share it, what do you think?

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Red Bull X-Fighters motocross demonstration in Venice Beach

By , on May 8th, 2013

Red Bull X-Fighters demonstration

Red Bull X-Fighters freestyle motocross demonstration in Venice Beach

The Red Bull X-Fighters held a motocross demonstration at the Venice Beach boardwalk in anticipation of the main event at Glen Helen Raceway on May 11.  During my lunch break I headed out with my camera and captured this shot of the action.

The Venice Boardwalk is a little crazy on a normal day, but this day it was buzzing with excitement. While the rest of the world worked, everyone here was just having fun. These guys were good and as you can see they didn’t need any wings to fly, they were doing it old school…with a bike and a ramp.

The three riders were Wes Agee , Keith Sayers and Rich Kearns.

Overall it was a pretty cool to see these guys perform the jumps in this area of Venice. Plus it gave me a chance to test out my longer camera lens and take some action shots.

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Long Beach Hyatt Regency Lagoon Reflection

By , on April 27th, 2013

Reflection on water

The Hyatt Regency in Long Beach on Pine Ave – The Lagoon Reflection

I’m a little late in posting this, but this was taken a few days ago during the Long Beach Grand Prix. It was early in the morning, Nacho and I were walking around looking for the Tecate private hospitality tent, when we noticed the reflection of the Hyatt Regency on the water.

It was perfect timing, because later in the day the wind created too many ripples giving it a completely different look. This photo was taken at 7:38 am, it’s true what they say, early mornings and late evenings are the best time to take photos.

I am happy to say that we found the hospitality tent and had a great time at the Grand Prix. Lots of food and drinks, plus we were able to take a variety of photos, including the kind you see here.

For those interested in the camera settings, it was: f/4 at 1/2500 (handheld), ISO 160 at 18mm, camera set to Aperture Priority. Taken with a Nikon D7000.

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Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale – Costumes

By , on April 8th, 2013

Irwindale 2013

The Queen addresses the crowd at the 2013 Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale

The popular Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale started this past weekend. With camera in hand, I was ready to capture some cool pictures.

Perhaps next time I’ll look into buying one of these Renaissance period costumes to make my visit a little more enjoyable! Many of the visitors did dress up, as did all of the event cast members.

You run into all types of scenes as you walk the grounds. For example, the lady above (the Queen), would go around and address her peasants. Yup we were peasants and it was pretty fun!

If you’ve never attended the Renaissance Faire, I highly recommended it. It’s a family event and I’m sure the kids will love it. This year it takes place:

Saturdays & Sundays
10am – 7pm
April 6 thru May 19, 2013
Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area
Irwindale, CA

Below, the good knight kneels to the crowd after defeating the bad guy.

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