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.

This first image was taken from this really great engagement session here in San Diego.
The other image was from a wedding in Ramona a few years back.

Another photographer who I really admire gave me some encouraging words after the competition and reminded me that my clients paid me for my creativity, they loved the photographs, and I get to do what I love and grow and stretch my creativity.

I guess that was the best lesson in photography I learned that night.

William Bay is a Photographic Humble Pie.

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.

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.

I’ve had an idea I’ve been toying with in my head for awhile, and I wanted to try it in real world application. Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in San Diego, perfect for a day of fun experimentations. I grabbed my big tripod and headed out to Sunset Cliffs to play in the afternoon light.

My experiment was with Neutral Density Filters. ND Filters (for short) are simply filters that block a certain amount of light while taking a photograph. That allows the photographer to make very long exposures during the day which could be used to indicate a passage of time.

As you can see in these shots I used the ocean to show that passage of time. Both pictures are 20 seconds long. With such long exposures the ocean takes on a blurry, hazy, ghost like appearance which can be very cool. A friend of mine, Cole Thompson, is a master at this technique and has an impressive collection of coastal photographs that put these two pictures to shame.

One of the reasons I started playing around with this is because I’ve wanted to begin incorporating this technique into portrait work.
You might ask: “How can I take pictures of people with 20-30 second exposures?”
Easy! I take two pictures. One with the ND Filters on, and one without, and combine them later using masking techniques in Photoshop.
As you can see in the photo below; I took a picture of this Fisherman named John without the ND Filters at 1/45th of a second. And when he stepped away to bait his hook out of view, I took another exposure at 20 seconds.
With a little Photoshop work, we now have a fun photograph that would not necessarily be possible otherwise.

I’m really looking forward to using this technique on everything from family portraits to my own style of fine art environmental portrait work for individuals, and who knows… Maybe even weddings that take place on the beach, or formals after the wedding. The sky is certainly the limit.

William Bay is a Fun With Photography.

Jenn, her husband Gary and their new addition Kai were looking for a new family photo for the upcoming holidays. Here are a few of my favorites from the session. What a cute family, and Kai is adorable!

Miss you guys, eat some BBQ for me.

William Bay is a Stewart Family | Destination Family Photography | Austin, TX.

On another note I recently did a portrait photoshoot for a local family here in Austin. I had teamed up with Keep Austin Beautiful and donated a portrait session for one of their charity events. I just shot a couple of weeks ago with the winning family and here are a few of the best photos of the Myers family.

William Bay is a Some fresh new things coming.