Needing Refuge at Refugio. 5-14-05
“Excuse me, are you a photographer?” “Um, I think so.” “What do you shoot for?” “Right now I’m trying to get my work published in a variety of magazines such as Bay Nature.” “Cool, I think I’ve seen that. Oh by the way, do you want to shoot pictures of my friend? She’s really pretty.” “Ughhh, sure.” “And she doesn’t have a boyfriend." (I turn my attention back to the sunset) "Well it’s your loss then. Have a good day.” “Ok, you too.”
These are the sort of questions I deal with when people see me shooting in certain parts of the state. In the Bay Area, if there are people around they usually mind their own business but elsewhere it’s a different story. A few times, I’ve even had people say they recognized me from a picture on my photography website www.rwongphoto.com. It sucks to be famous I guess. (sarcasm) Yes, I’m sure having groupies is a fantasy most men have but it’s quite hard to have an ego trip when you’re trying to practice your art in the process.
Typically I shoot places when no one is around but sometimes people are unavoidable. At Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara, there were many people “camping” at the beach with a lot of young kids running around. I first got stopped by three pre-teen girls asking about the sand castles I was photographing. Then a few minutes later as the sun was setting, the underaged girl detailed on top was following me around trying to get me speak to her friend. I wasn’t interested. I’m 25 by the way.
I can’t recommend this place for a nature-loving photographer like myself, but the beach itself is actually pretty scenic. There’s a creek running from under the 101 that runs through the campground down to the ocean. 20 miles off shore are the Channel Islands. I’m not sure exactly which islands you’d see from the Santa Barbara area but they sure look quite far off in the distance. I’d been to this beach before on a previous trip up the coast and was curious what a sunset would look like.
This time of year, the sun sets north of the beach so the real good light comes from over the cliffs north of the beach. Not exactly ideal for beach sunsets this time of year but the twilight on this day was actually quite good.
Advice:
1. If you’re over 18, avoid the jailbait.
2. Have your clichés memorized so you can effectively deflect the attention you’ll draw.
These are the sort of questions I deal with when people see me shooting in certain parts of the state. In the Bay Area, if there are people around they usually mind their own business but elsewhere it’s a different story. A few times, I’ve even had people say they recognized me from a picture on my photography website www.rwongphoto.com. It sucks to be famous I guess. (sarcasm) Yes, I’m sure having groupies is a fantasy most men have but it’s quite hard to have an ego trip when you’re trying to practice your art in the process.
Typically I shoot places when no one is around but sometimes people are unavoidable. At Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara, there were many people “camping” at the beach with a lot of young kids running around. I first got stopped by three pre-teen girls asking about the sand castles I was photographing. Then a few minutes later as the sun was setting, the underaged girl detailed on top was following me around trying to get me speak to her friend. I wasn’t interested. I’m 25 by the way.
I can’t recommend this place for a nature-loving photographer like myself, but the beach itself is actually pretty scenic. There’s a creek running from under the 101 that runs through the campground down to the ocean. 20 miles off shore are the Channel Islands. I’m not sure exactly which islands you’d see from the Santa Barbara area but they sure look quite far off in the distance. I’d been to this beach before on a previous trip up the coast and was curious what a sunset would look like.
This time of year, the sun sets north of the beach so the real good light comes from over the cliffs north of the beach. Not exactly ideal for beach sunsets this time of year but the twilight on this day was actually quite good.
Advice:
1. If you’re over 18, avoid the jailbait.
2. Have your clichés memorized so you can effectively deflect the attention you’ll draw.
Labels: beaches, California, personal, travel
posted by Richard @ 9:58 PM
2 comments
Richard Wong Photography: Image Boutique
2 Comments:
Hmm, sounds like you have girls all around you. Too bad they're jailbait. Maybe you should hang out in some cool scenic college town. ehh??
thanks for reminding me of what missed opportunities I made of my choice of colleges.
Going Canadian on us now eh?
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