Pier Crowd – Santa Monica, California

Seeing packed crowds like this might feel strange, especially because of our relative isolation over the last year or so. However, I made this photograph back in December 2019. There is some optical distortion that makes it appear more crowded than reality. At an 82.5mm equivalent, I’m getting some compression which makes people look more packed together.

I would have loved to spend an hour or more taking pictures here. There is an amusement park on the pier, and with the coming blur hour, the warm lights would’ve looked magnificent. I was with family, and we were short on time. When I’m on a family vacation, I try to take as many pictures as possible without substantially deviating from our plan. This quick telephoto snap will have to do.

There is an upside to fast shooting. I try to identify the most worthwhile scenes possible and quickly capture them — I basically work with what I got. They are not award-winning pictures, but I still get to enjoy photography, tell stories, and balance family vacation happiness.

I have a free monthly newsletter that’s perfect for busy people. Signup for the Newsletter to get the best of my posts, old and new, plus additional content not available anywhere else.