23 Comments
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Juliette's avatar

It makes me happy to see photography about Carmel! It's a heavenly place and I almost got married there. We ended up in New Jersey instead (don't ask!) My favorites are the color shots. Re: blurry shots, I started my own folder of them :). Nice Alicia!

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Carmel and New Jersey are quite different! There are beautiful places in NJ too, though. That's where I lived my whole life before moving to California. There seems to be some sort of worm hole connecting California to New Jersey.

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Juliette's avatar

Wormhole!! That left me in stitches!! Thank you for the laughs!!

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Haha! You’re welcome!

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Todd Haughton's avatar

Looks like a wonderful trip, Alicia. I especially love your B&W image of the Pacific Grove Lighthouse with the trees in the foreground - really great! Carmel-by-the-Sea is one of my favorite places to visit, and we always bring our dog too (although we’ve generally ignored the leash-on-the-beach law). We’ll be going back in September, so your post has made me even more excited for the trip.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

It’s such a dog friendly place. I really love it there. - I’m glad you liked my lighthouse photo. I really like that one too. I think I might get a large print of that one and frame it.

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

I love this, Alicia. Looks like the perfect anniversary getaway. And your pup looks pretty happy there, too. The title „kids and their phones“ made me smile! Thank you!

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Thank you Susanne! I’m glad you liked my attempt at wit! 😁 - It really was a great getaway!

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KewtieBird’s Photo Journey's avatar

Love all the windswept beach trees and lighthouses….and your cutie furry family member! Happy anniversary!!!

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Those trees are amazing, like sculptures.

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Mark Foard's avatar

I love this post, Alicia. A few years ago we stayed in Pacific Grove and explored the area, including Carmel. The whole Monterey Peninsula is beautiful but we especially loved Carmel.

Your photos and writing have brought back some wonderful memories. Thank you.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

I’m so glad you were able to revisit the area through my post!

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Manuela Thames's avatar

So lovely, Alicia. The tones in the color images are so beautiful.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Thank you so much!

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Lin Gregory's avatar

These are great Alicia - what a lovely place to celebrate your anniversary...congratulations too! I have to say my favourite is the first image of the scene through the driftwood...beautiful.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Thank you, Lin! It really is a lovely area. Every time we visit we talk about moving there.

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Ralph Turner's avatar

An enjoyable set, even with the dodgy focus (I hope this doesn't involve too costly a repair bill😬). Fave b+w - lighthouse among the trees, fave colour - pooch on the beach (a lovely portrait). Thanks for sharing.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Thank you for reading and choosing your favorites!

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perfectlight's avatar

1. your dog is lovely!

2. i don't know if this is going to help but i will share my experience. i have rangefinder cameras so old that the split circle cannot be seen anymore (please don't ask about my eyesight 😁) so my approach is: i estimate the distance to the subject, dial that onto the lens barrel and hope for the best. the smaller the aperture is, the better the results. in time this has become a sort of second nature, my estimates are getting better and better.

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Alicia Paley's avatar

1. I’ll let my dog know you said that!

2. Sounds like a great workaround. You must have gotten really good at judging distance.

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perfectlight's avatar

at the beginning i photograph only static objects so i physically measured step by step the distance to the subject, dial it in and take the photo. in time, that helped

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Paul Jenkin's avatar

It's hard to pick a favourite from those photos, Alicia, but the Driftwood photo and the one of your dog on the beach just sneak it - and I'm usually a B&W fan! I'm sorry to hear about your camera woes. As Perfectlight suggests, "Hyperfocal Distance" focusing is a good workaround but getting the focusing fixed on the camera is always best.

I like the Sir Don McCullin quote. I was privileged to meet him, briefly, at one of his talks (early 1980s - long before digital became a thing, and I don't tink he'd been knighted at that point). He's a lovely chap but I wouldn't like to get on his wrong side. If you haven't read his autobiography "Unreasonable Behaviour", I can definitely recommend it. There's a film based on the book "in pre-production". Tom Hardy is supposed to be playing Sir Don and rumour has it that Angelina Jolie is to be the director. Assuming it happens, I definitely want to see it. Here's a link:

https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/unreasonable-behaviour

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Alicia Paley's avatar

Thanks, Paul, I’m glad you liked my post. It’s hard to not choose the one of my dog as a favorite. Her personality just jumps out of the photo. She’s always such a happy girl!

Thank you also for recommending the autobiography. I haven’t read it but I’ll add it to my list. The film looks to be good, especially if it’s staring Tom Hardy. He’s an excellent actor.

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