Photo Meet Up - Manhattan Beach Sunset

new year and new photo meet up. this time, we met at the manhattan beach pier to shoot the sunset. there is always a new set of members and what i enjoy the most is everyone's willingness to share skills. as a female photographer, i have always been hesitant to wonder into certain areas on my own with my gear. therefore, i have never been able to shoot a sunset at the beach. but this time, not only was i surrounded by a great group of people, one guy stayed back with some of us and talked us through shooting the most magnificent sunset i have ever captured. we then went to have dinner and talked a bit more about our stories because that is how new friendships are formed. i'm loving my new life in LA. 

Photo Meet Up - Sunset at Santa Monica

so having just moved to LA, i wanted to meet new people and explore the city with my camera...thank baby jesus for meet ups! the LA Photo Gang welcomed me in and yesterday was my first meet up in LA shooting the sunset by the santa monica pier. what a sight! truly majestic! when the sun began melting into the ocean, i couldn't shoot...i wanted to see it disappear with my own eyes and experience it live. here are some of my favorite shots from yesterday... the last 5 images where shot with a sony a6000 / the first set of images were shot with my canon 7D

it's only 3 hours away...

A couple of friends and I took a little 3 hour trip to Key West. Sometimes you have to be a tourist in your own state and rediscover that which keeps them coming, no? Our first task was to find a spot to eat fresh conch fritters! We found B.O.'s fish wagon and what an experience! We had to shoo the chickens and roosters away with a spray bottle. Fun times! We then proceeded to look for The Green Parrot bar famous for its live music and history and of course, it delivered.

(http://www.greenparrot.com/)

And is there a better way to end this trip than by sharing the magical sunset on Mallory Square with a bunch of happy people? I hope you just realized that you need to take a ride south...it's only 3 hours away!