Life From this Lens Blog Circle - Long focal length

So I am a little late posting this time around, but I will just chalk that up to having a fantastic summer that we didn't want to have end. Long focal length means that I am shooting with a 70mm or longer lens -- likely my 24-70mm or 70-200mm, both beautiful zoom lenses. Or my 85 prime lens, which I need to use more often. Here are a few images from our summer shot at this length.

One of my favorite things is following a good Blog Circle to see what different photographers do with the same theme or idea. Ours is called Life From This Lens and the theme for August is "Long Focal Length" so you will see images that feel like close ups that were actually shot from quite a distance, or you will see images that cover a lot of distance -- and everything in between! I hope you will follow to the next person in our circle Jessica to see some more interpretations of this fun theme. Enjoy the work of the other artists in our blog circle.

We finally went north to check out San Simeon campground near Paso Robles this summer. We are spoiled by our usual being El Capitan in Gaviota, but for my little ones any beach is a wonder and a joy, so we explored and played at the foggy shore there.I really enjoyed shooting at this beach because of all the colorful rocks and seaweed giving the images texture, plus the fog makes everything pop.

This image was shot at 70mm as wide open as the lens would allow (f/2.8); I was trying to get just a small sliver of sand in focus for this more moody black and white.

I was much closer to my kids when I shot the following image, but still at 70mm; it brings them into play as the main subjects instead of the environment.They do love one other but boy do they go after each other sometimes! ;-)

Since the Thomas Fire, we have been staying at a rental down by the beach -- believe it or not, this was my view of the Ventura County Fair each night they did fireworks. I shot this at 200mm, and it is roughly a mile away.

And since we are living near the beach, we have had a lot of fun with friends, especially on summer evenings, with LOTS of pics snapped; this one stood out (70mm).

I also wanted to share some of my documentary style work for clients. Often, that style works best with the shorter focal lengths, but sometimes you want 70mm or longer to really capture the scene. These were all shot at 70mm or higher.

Here's a fun series shot with my 70-200. I love that I can basically just sit in my lawn chair under an umbrella and catch all this action as if I were standing right next to them. This boy of mine... he is such a character. After the kayaking he told my husband he wanted to surf, but he needed to stretch first! So funny!