Life or Death at The Wedge

Knowing that a bodyboarder died the day before, I’m sure that had to weigh on the mind of some of these people. It was certainly on the minds of the lifeguards. When I first got there early on Saturday morning there were no lifeguards on duty. At one point there were two surfers caught inbetween [...]

The Wedge Bodyboarding

The Wedge is a crazy place. I have tried to go there on multiple occasions the past several years but have been unsuccessful in finding parking on Balboa Peninsula. So I got to Newport Beach pretty quick on Friday but it took me twice as long to find parking once I got to Balboa Peninsula, [...]

The Wedge Newport Beach Video

The Wedge Newport Beach Video
Video from yesterday morning at The Wedge before dawn. A body surfer died here on Friday afternoon.
It is so convenient to be able to shoot HD video and shoot stills at the same time with a killer camera such as the 5D Mark II.

Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll

This past Sunday was pretty crazy at the Venice Beach drum circle. Almost as soon as I got there, I was offered a pipe with some weed in there presumably. After declining, an amazing photo composition happened right there in front of me with the people lighting up. It would have been portfolio-worthy I kid [...]

Memorial Day

Yesterday morning.

Minor League Baseball Game Photo

It’s not often that I go back and post older photos on my blog but I haven’t been able to get this photo off my mind. The funny thing is that when I lived in Kentucky, this photo really didn’t strike me as being one of my better photos from my time there. However I [...]

Mixing Flash with Ambient Light

I’ve been asked several times in the past about how to use flash in a natural-looking manner so I figured this would be a good opportunity to finally post this entry that I started writing last year.
Young People Dancing the Night Away, Venice Beach, California
Aside from the fact that the above image was photographed [...]

The Lost City of Bombay Beach

There are parts of Bombay Beach that are completed buried under a few feet of mud. That bench for example is buried all the way up to the seat! There are some street signs in the middle of the mud field also.
If this were a school field trip I would probably get extra credit for [...]

The Rose Parade

Female Dancer and City of West Covina Rose Float at the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, California
I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Years on the East Coast and then the West Coast three hours from now! (Such a weird world we live in.)
I won’t be photographing the Rose Parade this [...]

The South Hills Hikers, Glendora Christmas Parade

The South Hills Hikers, Glendora Christmas Parade, California
If you recall a couple blog posts ago, I wrote about South Hills development issues. Well I met up with the local environmental activists this morning at the Glendora Christmas Parade. The lady on the right is Kristin Parisi, who is running for one of two vacant [...]

The Aftermath

Brea Canyon Fire, Diamond Bar, Southern California
The destruction left in the wake of the firestorm last week is very clear as you drive along the 57 freeway through the Brea Pass and on the hills of the Carbon Canyon area of Brea, which is still closed to residents only. The stench of the fire [...]

Brea Canyon Fires, Diamond Bar

Photos from this morning along the 57 Freeway in Brea Canyon. I got in there before the roads were closed to in-coming traffic. The TV crews, police and fire trucks were here too but I got out before the water was dropped in the canyon.
Photo: Brea Canyon Wildfire, Southern California
Picture:Brea Canyon / Diamond [...]

The International Kelp

Mexican Boys Carrying Giant Kelp Back to Tijuana, Border Field State Park, California
This is the strand of kelp featured in the previous blog post. After the kids finished looking at Brian Auer’s camera, they ran over to the kelp and took it back home for a souvenir from America I suppose. I got a [...]

Showing Off the Digital Camera, Border Field State Park

Photographer, Brian Auer Showing Mexican Kids Pictures on Digital Camera, Border Field State Park, California, USA
I was shooting some seascape photos of this big strand of giant kelp when Brian screamed, “Hey man turn around!” Then a split second later these Mexican kids showed up to look at his camera. I didn’t see the [...]

U.S. Border Fence

U.S. / Mexico Border, Border Field State Park, California
Border Field State Park is actually part of the Tijuana River Estuary Reserve. There are kelp strewn along the beach and a part of the beach roped off for snowy plovers. If it weren’t for the complicated political situation, it would just be like any other [...]

So Close Yet So Far, Border Field State Park

Welcome to Mexico Cell Phone Text Message
Last Saturday, La Jolla-based photographer Brian Auer and I went to photograph the U.S. border. Neither of us knew what to expect and turned out to be quite a surreal experience even while driving in.
Frustrated Mexican Man Grabbing Tijuana Mexico International Boundary Fence, Border Field State Park, [...]

Jesus Loves Laura?

Jesus Loves Laura, San Gabriel Valley, California
I have been hiking regularly for over a month now, both with and without my camera. Two days ago I encountered this in the hills near my house. The only words I could make out was the + Laura. I figured it was a guy doing something romantic [...]

UC Berkeley Tree-Sitters Part II

Photo: Female Tree-Sitter “Dumpster Muffin”, UC Berkeley, California
In a recent blog post I discussed the UC Berkeley Tree-Sitters. Well last night, UC Berkeley moved in to remove the tree-sitters at the Memorial Oak Grove.
Here is the story from the San Francisco Chronicle: UC removes tree-sitters’ gear before ruling
Here is a YouTube video of [...]

UC Berkeley Tree-Sitters

I was looking on the internet the other day to learn about the tree-sitters in Northern California when I saw one story about UC Berkeley. The university was planning to chop down the Memorial Grove of old oak trees in favor of a weight lifting facility for football players so a group of protesters climbed [...]

May Day Illegal Immigration March, Downtown Los Angeles

Disclaimer: I generally stay away from taking political stances on my website except for environmental issues. With that said, I take pictures and I talk about photography experiences. That’s it.
Picture: May Day Illegal Immigration March, Los Angeles, California

Yesterday morning I took the Metro Gold Line from Old Town Pasadena to Union Station because most [...]

keep looking »

Subscribe to In The Field.

In the Field: Photo Blog by Richard Wong