christopherdale's photostream

I was surprised that three friends were all willing to wake up at 5, leave at 5:30, and make the hour-long trek to Santa Cruz. After studying the radar and satellite, I figured it'd be dreary or brilliant--and it was the former. Still, a good morning with friends, and stops at *two* nearby bakeries (The Buttery and Gayle's). Hard to complain about that.

First shots with my brand new 5D Mark II and 16-35 mm f/2.8. I think this is gonna be a good year.

Excited to return when there's better light.

Seven-shot HDR taken at the blue hour, just before sunrise.

Obligatory shot taken in harsh late afternoon sun. The polarizer helps.

I walked, and walked, and walked in my brief 48-hour stay in London, and by the end of the second day, was ready to head home and sleep. I'd been to Parliament/Big Ben earlier, but the sun had yet to fully descend (since London's at such a high latitude and it's June). So, I made a second trip on the Tube back to the Westminster stop just in case the light was fantastic. And it was. No tripod, so I balanced my D200 on a rail on the north side of the Thames, and used my Yankees hat to steady it. Went home happy.