William Bay Photographic Arts » fine art portraiture

A Very Special Award of Merit

William — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:41:23 +0000

What a special night! I received an Award of Merit at last night’s Professional Photographer’s of San Diego County. To top it off the subject was my little sister!

This is from a session I did with her when she was visiting over Christmas time. I couldn’t be prouder of my lil sis, or the result I got last night.

William Bay is a A Very Special Award of Merit.

My Lil’ Sister Bonnie

William — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:56:57 +0000

Since I left San Diego for Thailand back at the beginning of 2005, I’ve only seen my little sister Bonnie once. But me and my Mom got a special treat this Christmas. Bonnie made her way all the way down from her place in Olympia to hang out for a few days. It was so awesome to see her and goof around, watch movies, crack jokes, and get her a highly coveted carne asada burrito (something Washington State apparently is lacking in).

She had to drive back today, but before she left, I woke her butt up to go take some pictures. I wasn’t really sure where we were gonna go, but we found ourselves at Sunset Cliffs and we explored an area that I had never been, which was quite excellent spot for photos. The storm was clearing off, so I knew we would have exceptional clouds for her portraits.

The first two portraits were done with my neutral density filter/composite technique.

What do you think? She’s good looking huh?

Love you Bonnie. Drive safe.

William Bay is a My Lil’ Sister Bonnie.

Self-Portrait, Windansea

William — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 03:10:18 +0000

I love winter time in San Diego. The sun gets low enough in the sky for the full day, and I can photograph almost all day long if I want to. The above photo was taken at about three o’clock in the afternoon at Windansea Beach. The rich surfing history has always made it one of my favorite beaches in San Diego. The palm-frond shack behind me has been there since the 40′s and has always fascinated me for the brotherhood that surfers share. Some surfer built a shelter for his brothers to gather and story-tell about travels and life, waves ridden and poundings received.

This is more Neutral Density compositing I’m working with. The first photograph was 15 seconds long which allowed the waves to blur out into a hazy soup, and the clouds moved slightly as well. The second photograph was 1/15th of a second, and I didn’t have a beautiful model to stick in the photo today, so I stepped in.

I need to check my lens and see if I broke it.

William Bay is a Self-Portrait, Windansea.

Jessa – Austin Shoot

William — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:22:04 +0000

I had been wanting to work with Jessa for awhile. She is a model in Austin and has worked with some very talented photographers. She’s really great with fine art modeling, and has incredible eyes, which is why I wanted to work with her in the first place.

My original concept for Jessa was the first shot you see here. A “Trash The Dress” idea, (one in a series of Bridal Portraits I will be sending to Grace Ormonde’s Wedding Style), with tuule being representative of the dress. The Congress Street Bridge in the background making this iconically Austin, and I wanted to stretch my own ideas and concepts to something grander than I had before.
Unfortunately for Jessa, I was not around Austin this summer when the water would have been twenty degrees warmer in Town Lake. She was a popsickle in about 10 minutes… not to mention she CAN’T SWIM!

She was a trooper though and after she thawed out, she stuck around for some more photos which you’ll see below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them!

William Bay is a Jessa – Austin Shoot.