Cayucos 4th of July Parade [Day 2376]

It’s hard to believe just how packed the little beach-side town of Cayucos gets for its 4th of July parade every year, but that really adds to the fun!

Cayucos 4th of July Parade [Day 2376]
Photo-a-Day: Year 7, Day 185 – Total Days: 2,376
Canon 6D | ISO 500 | 280mm | f/5.6 | 1/3200 sec

Circus! [Day 2375]

Circus Vargas is in town this weekend, so I went to see it today. Great show!

Circus! [Day 2375]
Photo-a-Day: Year 7, Day 184 – Total Days: 2,375
iPhone 5s | ISO 250 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/25 sec

circus entrance
iPhone 5s | ISO 32 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/1900 sec

circus performers
iPhone 5s | ISO 64 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/30 sec

Marianne Talley Fun Run

This morning I was up bright and early to run the Marianne Talley Fun Run 10K at Talley Vineyards. It’s my first event since the SLO Marathon near the end of April, and the longest distance run since then. I’ve only had a couple of 2 or 3 mile runs as I’ve been recovering from the marathon, and it was nice to get back into something a bit longer.

It was a very pretty run through the vineyards, although the route was rather winding. Also, it was hot, which made it a bit of a slog. But still, very beautiful as you can see.

vineyard [Day 2349]
Photo-a-Day: Year 7, Day 158 – Total Days: 2,349
iPhone 5s | ISO 32 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/580 sec

Time was 1:07:25, which I consider perfectly respectable given the light activity I’ve had over the past month. But now, I officially declare my recovery over and am back to doing more training again!

Racers Getting Ready @ the Marianne Talley Fun Run
iPhone 5s | ISO 32 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/640 sec

And as I was leaving, I spotted this pretty sweet ride. Just had to stop and grab a photo.

hot rod
iPhone 5s | ISO 32 | 4.15mm | f/2.2 | 1/3200 sec

Benat Serat @ Arroyo Grande Strawberry Festival 2015

Went out to the Arroyo Grande Strawberry Festival with the Benat Serat bellydance troupe today, where they unveiled a new dance involving these silk covered fans. The silk would trail out, catching on the air and breeze, creating a gorgeous stream of color.

new dance [Day 2334]
Photo-a-Day: Year 7, Day 143 – Total Days: 2,334
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 96mm | f/4.0 | 1/500 sec

While photo of the day is above, there’s really too much good stuff to not share, so plenty of bonus shots below:

bellydancers @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 105mm | f/4.0 | 1/500 sec

bellydancers @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 105mm | f/4.0 | 1/800 sec

bellydancers @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 24mm | f/4.0 | 1/800 sec

sword dance @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 73mm | f/4.0 | 1/4000 sec

sword dance @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 35mm | f/4.0 | 1/1250 sec

bellydancers @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 105mm | f/5.0 | 1/640 sec

bellydancers @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 75mm | f/4.0 | 1/800 sec

The uni-cyclist juggler was also pretty fun to watch.

juggler @ Strawberry Festival 2015
Canon 6D | ISO 250 | 105mm | f/4.0 | 1/500 sec

Student Robotics Expo [Day 2098]

Photo-a-Day: Year 6, Day 272 – Total Days: 2,098

Canon 6D | ISO 1000 | 73 mm | f/4.0 | 1/250 sec

Tonight was the 6th Annual Student Robotics Expo here in San Luis Obispo. It was great! There were all sorts of robots. My favorites were probably the ones shown above that could pick up large balls and launch them.

There were also Lego Robots, underwater robots, a robot battle arena, and even a police bomb disposal robot. I definitely love the fact that so many schools now have robotics clubs and took the chance to share their fun creations with the community.

Bonus photos below!

I love getting photos of people taking photos ;-)

Even the news was there!

Robot battle arena!

The police bomb disposal robot wasn’t messing around. That thing is seriously awesome! I wonder if it gets hazard pay…

Westley is a huge fan of robots, and was totally thrilled to see them in action :-)

Avjean/Parzanese Wedding

Last fall I photographed a wedding for my friends Lauren and Joe. It was quite exhausting, but a tremendous amount of fun too! It’s hard not to have a complete blast when at a wedding, especially for such great, stylish, fun people as Lauren and Joe :-)

While I made sure to get the photos delivered to them not too long after the wedding, I figured that it might be good to select a few of my favorites to share here as well. It was a wonderful event and I hope you enjoy these highlights!

SLO Ren Faire 2014

This past Saturday, I went to the San Luis Obispo Renaissance Festival, which was celebrating its 30th Anniversary. It’s a great time full of ale, knights, costumes, ale, accents, jousts, swordfighting, ale, turkey legs, archery, falcons, ale, giant jenga, music, camaraderie, and oh, did I mention ale? ;-)

Naptime at the Ren Faire [Day 2026]

Photo-a-Day: Year 6, Day 200 – Total Days: 2,026

A day at the Renaissance Faire can be quite exhausting – as demonstrated by Rick and his daughter, Mary.

(It was amusing just how many people in the Hound’s Haven guild came up to me and pointed out this scene in order to make sure I got the shot. So Rick, if you’re pissed that there’s photographic evidence of you sleeping on the job, it’s all the guild’s fault! But of course, if you like the photo, I’ll take all the credit ;-)

Diego’s Umbrella [Day 2025]

Photo-a-Day: Year 6, Day 199 – Total Days: 2,025

Went to the Concerts in the Plaza today where Diego’s Umbrella was playing, and it was packed! Clearly a very popular band. Made it much harder to get up close to grab a few shots, but I gave it a solid effort. One downside to my new 6D though is that it doesn’t work with my 250mm zoom. It’s the one lens I have that’s a smaller EF-S mount and the 6D is so fancy it only works with EF mount lenses. This means I can’t zoom in as much as I might like. Oh well… It’s good to practice shooting with a different style, but I’ll still definitely need to get a long zoom for this new camera.

As for the band, I was a little miffed that they had no umbrellas. Kinda doubt that anyone is even named Diego… Good music though! Gypsy rock they call it, and yes, that’s an apt description. Plenty of fun — I see why so many of my friends are big fans.

Bonus photos below:

From the Archives: SLO Ren Faire 2013

Above: Victor of the Hound’s Haven Guild, looking quite contemplative (and not to mention, suave.)

I’ll be going to the San Luis Obispo Renaissance Faire tomorrow, so it seemed like today would be a good time for a little blast from the past, by showcasing some photos I took at last year’s.