Happy Birthday Amanda!

It's Amanda's birthday today. Happy Birthday Amanda! I'm stuck out in California and don't get to spend this special day with her. Instead, I'm at a conference and typing this in a Hilton hotel. I'd much rather be celebrating with Amanda. I was lucky enough to get a few days to see some of the beautiful beaches just North of LA, around Malibu. Mae and Mike were wonderful hosts and showed me all the special spots, such as El Matador State Beach, with fantastic rock formations and lovely sand. I almost drowned my camera ducking in and out of caves and generally had a great time. The shot above is a long exposure shot on that beach. Quite an easy effect to achieve, you just need to wait for the light to be low enough to get longer exposures or add some neutral density filters. Then the camera goes on the tripod, the focus is on the rock and you start the exposure as the waves come in and hope you don't get too wet! Fun. I'll have more time to post images from this trip next week, but for now this one is here to help me wish Amanda a great and happy birthday. I love you, babe.