Attack of the Location Photographers

After a day of computers being uncharacteristically not-smart, I headed to Orange Beach after work with the smaller camera, which stays with me most days.    

My route was Bravo Tacos (awesome place, plus they show off some of my prints), Wolf Bay Park off of Canal,  Alabama Point, Gulf State Pier then Billy's Seafood in Bon Secour (which I hope to return to [with permission] for some shots of the shrimp boats soon).

It really wasn't the most productive outing for me.  My mojo was off.   Might have been the little camera, I might have been in a mood or something but I was feeling oddly "tired of" the same old locations, which I normally don't feel.  It might have been the crappy news that Ben, one of the partners of Bravo Tacos died unexpectedly last January.    A young guy - decent dude and talented chef, passing away from a needless injury bums me out a bit.

At any rate, this outing the photographers were out in full-force.   At the Alabama point Florida side, the usual spots were tied up with photographers shooting families in white polos.   The rocks at the pass, mostly.   I counted at least 4 distinct groups of people + photographer (amateur or professional / who knows - doesn't really matter).

One that was fun/ unique was at the parking lot of the pass, opposite side of the street from Cobalt Restaurant was this old VW Bus.   It caught my eye b/c there was this awesome puddle in the parking lot that formed a really cool reflection shot potential of the bus.  My shots didn't work out, though.  I didn't have an angle on the bus that wouldn't potentially intefere and these folks were working afterall.

For interested locals, the allknowing Google leads me to believe the photographer with the cool VW Bus angle is Beach Chic Photography: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beach-Chic-Photography/134747069898188?v=app_2373072738

I headed to the Gulf State Pier where I really struggled to find any decent captures.   The photographers were all around here as well.    A few hundred yards to the east, some people were "all-up-in" the sea oats and dunes in a way that I'm pretty sure isn't cool with the environmentalist types.  Around the pilings, the pier, the walkways, I think I counted another 5 groups of people running around doing the beach portrait bit.

Here's my pro tip for anyone looking for beach portraits.   Wait until November.   It won't be so hot and the opportunities for great compositions are endless because the beaches are almost completely deserted. 

Here in this shot, if you'll look to the right, you'll see the unmistakable pose of someone getting their beach / sea oat family portrait on.