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Photography: Anniversary Trip

This past November, my husband and I went to Dillon Beach to celebrate our anniversary. It’s taken me a long time, but I’ve finally edited the photos. I’ve done some experimenting to try and make these more dramatic and engaging. Do you think I’ve gone too far? Do you have a favorite? One that just doesn’t work for you? Let me know. I’m planning to take a ton of photos this year, and I really want to get better at both shooting and editing.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. Have a great rest of your week!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

#26

#27

#28
  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D1 and edited with Lightroom Classic

24 thoughts on “Photography: Anniversary Trip”

  1. #22 where you feature the survivor tree along with the sunset. Or the magical fawn in #13. Or the climbing hill in #1. What were you trying with #3 🙂 Funny how the seascapes don’t grab me so much, maybe because I have the sea all around me. Oh, and Happy Anniversary!

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    • #22 might be my favorite too, Roy. I’m worried the colors might have been edited a bit too harshly, but that’s what experimenting is all about.

      #3 was supposed to be a blur shot out the window of the grapevines headed to the beach. Not a fantastic shot, but I liked it because it’s a bit different than I normally do.

      That is funny about how you’re basically spoiled by the beautiful sea all around you! It’s still a treat for me, even though I do get there a few times a year. I suppose, maybe, if I saw it daily I could get used to it.

      That reminds me of when I went to Hawaii years ago and I asked my travel guide “do you just walk around going ‘wow’ all the time?” and he said “nah, you get used to it.” Strange how that works.

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  6. Happy Anniversary! I love #8 because I have such good memories of that tree lined road. We were coming back from a trip to Santa Rosa and somehow got lost. When we rolled up onto that old road my heart almost leaped out of my chest, like I was seeing an old friend from my childhood. I am glad the trees are still standing: in so many places they’ve removed older damaged trees because they’re considered potential fire hazards. Thank you for posting these pictures! They’re a bright moment on such a dark day, weather and news wise.

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  8. I love Every. Single. One. (Although I’d crop #12 differently and the cow doesn’t thrill me.) I feel you’re leaning in to making a photo emotive. Leave it to the photojournalists to reproduce accurately. There is more truth in fiction.

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    • Thank you! How would you crop #12 differently? I struggled with keeping the horizon line (as you can’t see the horizon), but still giving the sense of movement. I’d love your thoughts.

      I miss my journalism days and do think that’s more the style of photography I’m leaning toward. I’d like to cover one of the protests soon, to try and flex those muscles.

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      • Re: #12, I would crop on the right, halving the distance between the surfer and the edge of the photo. I would crop on the left to leave a similar margin on the left between the leading edge of the parasail and the left edge of the photo…or maybe just a smidgen more. This way you’re putting the two subject elements in diametrically opposite corners. I don’t know if it’s ‘better’ or just the way I like to do it. The “smidgen” comment is that I often like to leave just a bit more room for the suggested movement of the subject. Because the surfer is moving right to left, it gives him something to surf into, if you get my weird description.

        I don’t know how big your original shot was, but if you were much further away, I’d put the surfer *and* the parasail in the lower right (using rule of thirds). It would emphasize the power of the sea relative to one human’s puny achievement.

        I never did very well with some types of photojournalism. A protest would be a tough test for me. I did great with head shots: got a quarterly supplement cover once. I did well with sports because I could anticipate the things the athletes were going to do.

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      • That makes total sense, thank you for explaining that to me. I might mess around with the photo and see what I can come up with. I definitely have more ocean in the shot I can play with. I like the idea of it being in the lower right. Great idea!

        I think I’m much better at capturing events than headshots. Did two of them for friends and they were just okay. Certainly need more experience. I think sports events would be super fun! Whenever I’m at a concert I’m always a bit envious of the photographers who are so close.

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