We'd planned to go to the beach, take shots in the sun, amongst the various skeeball games, the rollercoaster, the bumper cars, all the other activities at the small amusement park at the end of the pier.

And so of course, there's no sun, completely grey outside, and the amusement park is closed for a private release party for the new animated film, Surf's Up. Yay.

I take a few shots which turn out awful, the grey light hates Polaroids. I shake my fist at the sky, which proves less than successful, decide to take us down to the beach. After a bathroom break and Kimmy's aborted attempt to steal various things the Surf's Up crew have left strewn on the pier, we decide to go...wait for it...Under the Pier. In addition to signs saying the water is toxic, we discover a small homeless camp, run into two kids smoking weed and what appears to be a construction worker, but could also be a serial killer who just likes those orange vests.

Kimmy gets downright giddy playing in the surf and climbing on the big orange boats whose origin we can only guess at. Zombie escape boats? Lifeguard escape boats? They're clamped to the ginormous pylons that support the pier, which, having seen from underneath, I now realize is even more complex and intricate that I'd imagined, wires running on the underside, struts and concrete and wood.

And so, a great time, excellent shots, and only twice did we really feel we were about to be killed and raped(in that order, me raped, her killed) by the creepy construction worker and/or the two young potheads.

Only twice. I must be getting old.

Related tags:

portrait, natural light, under the pier

Copyright info: