In March my family and I traveled to Santa Barbara for our spring break.  Like e-v-e-r-y vacation I go on, I vow I will get up with the sun to capture the beautiful morning light.  Or I’ll save some energy for shooting the golden hour at the end of the day.  The trouble is, I’m not a morning person so I all too easily convince myself that tomorrow (definitely tomorrow) will be The Day.  And the golden hour always conspires to land right smack dab in the middle of cocktail hour.  Sheesh!

I was lamenting this to myself on our trip when I decided to make lemonade out of lemons (add gin that and you have a perfect golden hour cocktail by the way).  I decide to use the midday sun to my advantage and engage in one of my favorite games — shadow play.

On one of our first days I found the perfect tree shadow on the side of a building at around 11:00 am. Insert a cooperative child et voilà!Inside The Wolf Museum for Exploration + Innovation we happened upon an interesting light and shadow display and we kept the theme going.  The next day we walked along the path at Butterfly Beach, and someone brought his favorite stuffy.  I couldn’t resist the chance to capture the two of them together.  This was a quick snap with my iphone but I love it.

Later that day we enjoyed a long bike ride along Cabrillo Beach Boulevard at high noon.  It’s not an ideal time to take a portrait, but it is a fantastic time to capture a crystal clear bike shadow.  I captured this with my iphone too.  

The drama of foliage against a bare wall.  Who could resist?And because I have a thing for an unmade bed, I captured this late morning tumble of sheets on our last day.  I actually think less-than-ideal shooting conditions are important for all of us to work with.  I like rising to the occasion —- pushing myself to find beauty or a new perspective.  The operative word is play, right?  Do you have a favorite way to shoot when the sun is high?  I’d love to hear your ideas too.

xxoo

deb