Showstopper ///M
This car is mean. This car is performance. This car is beautiful.
I came across this piece of art earlier today and had to show it to you. Not only did BMW fine tune this ultimate driving machine, but the owner took it a step further and made some very tasteful and jaw dropping enhancements. As you can see, this car is a showstopper on and off the track. Enjoy.
Happy weekend!
I am Mandy Made!
Hi everyone! I really good buddy of mine, Mandy, has been selling these amazingly fun, handcrafted cards for a while now. She makes each set one card at a time, putting all her attention and energy into each and every card, wow! I recently took a few photos for her website and wanted to share them with you. The detail and overall vibe from her cards are so much more engaging than the store-bought cards. I encourage you to check out her site and hit her up if you have any needs. She does scrapbooks, weddings, special occasions, business events, or just if you need one or two cards. Mandy even did all the invites, announcements, and table cards for my wedding! I can’t recommend her highly enough.
Cars and Coffee #2
I headed over to Cars and Coffee for my second round last weekend, pretty hard not to like this event with such a diverse showing of autos. This time around it seemed to have more classic cars, although I did get close and personal with a flaming orange Lamborghini Ventador! I love cars, so here is my tribute for this particular week’s showing. I think this may be a recurring theme throughout the blog as I go forward!
Big Bird!
I recently took a trip to Cambria, CA for the weekend, just to get away. While there, amidst relaxing and just taking in the relaxing surroundings, there were these large birds playing in the coastal winds (sorry, I don’t know what kind they were – maybe you can tell me!). They are incredible animals and it was awesome to watch them play in their natural habitat!
Mostly a black and white set, but I liked this color version below and wanted to share that one too.
Cars, Cars and more Cars….& Coffee
For being such a performance auto enthusiast, I feel ashamed that today is my first time ever making it over to the weekly local car gathering, Cars and Coffee. Local car lovers and owners gather to gawk, stare, drool, chat, tout and photograph all kinds of different autos of various makes and model years. From old school beauties to the cutting edge rockets with tires, this is a fantastic place to spend a Saturday morning. Southern California has no shortage of people with nice cars and this is a way to see them, and hear them, all in one place.
You can check out the official site for this gathering here: http://irvine.carsandcoffee.info/. As always, click on an image for a larger version.
Want to save some money and look at something pretty?
Sounds like a pretty good proposition, right?! To kick off 2013 with a bang, I am offering 10% off any item or print from my portfolio, www.andybucknerphotography.com! Just use coupon code: ABP2013. It is good for all of January.
Prints, showcase prints, apparel, specialty items (key chains, coasters, cards, etc.) are some of the available options. All prints are from a high quality, professional printer so you will not be disappointed! Just navigate to the picture you like and you will see options on the right-hand side of the page. Expand it to see all of your options. Worldwide shipping is available, too.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this blog, it means a lot! Whatever you decide to do, always feel free to drop me a line here, on Facebook or Google+!
A few samples of some of my popular images:
The Old Man and the Sea
I must point out that I originally wanted to call this “The Man and the Sea” but that did not quite have the flare or familiarity as throwing “old” into there too….Sorry dad 
!
The Sea
I like this image because it is soothing to me. The warm tones and natural setting mixed with the water’s edge bring a nice calm. Hope you enjoy!
Desert Winter Wonderland
I recently took a trip out to the desert and had a few brief moments to capture a few photos (click for full/bigger photos). The desert is deceptively beautiful especially during the winter and the pictures below speaks that to me.
I want to go explore every inch of the landscape here, it just looks so different and interesting! However, among the beauty is water-less surroundings for miles, dangerous wildlife, landscape dangers (127 Hours anyone?), etc.
I was just passing through, though, and the 4×4 truck I was in wasn’t forcing me to rough it too bad…unless you count losing cell phone reception for 10 minutes a particularly dangerous thing. The area we were in (Glamis, CA) is very popular for off-road vehicles of all types – especially during Thanksgiving weekend.
You can see a couple of ‘dune buggies’ at the top of that peak taking in the scenery. You can also see all the tracks of the thousands of different vehicles that have passed through the same area recently.
I saw a couple of off-road vehicles chillin’ out and caught a few of them.
The desert can be just as beautiful during the winter as a snows-cape mountain – it is just…different. You get the chance to really take in the beauty, sights, smells & sounds, that you might miss during the blazing summer.
Superman’s View
I imagine that when Superman does his thing and ‘up, up and away-s’ that he cruises around to views like this. I was able to grab this image tonight that really made me feel like I was up in the clouds too and wanted to share
Have a great week ahead!
Go towards the light!
Just a casual shot of the tourist crowds catching a sunset. They all look like they are being drawn in to the bright light – of course I don’t blame them, I was too!
Top of the World
There is a local spot referred to as “Top of the World” in Laguna Beach, CA. This spot has fantastic views of the Laguna Beach coastline and skyline, as well as the valley behind Laguna Beach. After a rain here recently, I knew there would be some great cloud action going on so I jumped in “Em” and jetted down to, er, up to TOTW.
Beautiful LB sky and sunset. Very cool trail that gives great views of the surrounding area.
Another view of the amazing colors in the sky.
A little earlier, just as beautiful. You can see someone off in the distance enjoying the view.
A couple enjoying the outdoors and fantastic surroundings with tons of wild flowers paving the way.
Reflection Quickie
I was walking out of the gym last night and liked how the reflection of this fountain looked on the granite tables…so I took 2 secs to snap this and I thought it was pretty. Now I am running out the door and taking 2 secs to post because….I can! Have a good weekend!
“Don’t” bring your camera on your wife’s birthday!
Took a trip down to La Jolla, CA last Saturday for my wife’s B-Day and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day! Since I wanted to give all my attention to her, I didn’t dare bring my camera…. because once I whip that thing out, it’s “bye-bye Andy” and we can’t have that on her B-Day, right? Right. Well, what I wasn’t counting on, nor was she, was that my new phone has a pretty awesome camera on it… This was my first time really digging into it and I was really surprised at how good some of the shots were!
Well, after this discovery and wading knee-deep into the oncoming rising tide taking photos, I caught myself and waded back out of the water before I got cold from the water and the cold shoulder from the wife 
. I only kid about that part though, she has no problem with these little mini excursions – she was taking pictures of me out in the water trying to get the shot below.
Happy 4th of July!
Taken with HTC One X phone
Me as my sanctuary rock is quickly getting swallowed up…
Nature…. and Thor
I forced my brother to take some pics down at the beach yesterday because he has become quite the Thor as of late. He did it reluctantly and didn’t know I would be posting a pic either I just wanted him to have some cool shots of ”Back when I was in the best shape of my life” when he gets older. I am only posting the one for now so he doesn’t kill me! Besides that, it was a beautiful day at the beach and so I snapped a few other shots of the surroundings on our walk to the water. Good times!
The Relic
On a recent trip back home where the primary business of the area is agriculture, I came across this old piece of “machinery”. This thing has not moved in decades. It is a reminder of how things used to be, where we come from and how far we have come. I am not totally sure what it was used for on the farm, but whatever it was, it has been obsolete for a long time. The owners must have thought it was either cheaper or less of a headache to just let it retire where it stood to become a relic as opposed to trashing it.
When I shot this, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was that I liked about it. But tonight, months later, I think I understand.
When I look at this, it is a reminder that life has not always been, and does not have to be, so fast – I feel grounded. You see, I am very into technology and gadgets: smart phones, cameras, cars, computers, social media, computer programs, etc. This is something that can really bite me if I am not careful. Technology never slows down and only speeds up. Before I know it, I can be spinning my wheels pretty fast to keep up with everything I am “in” to. It is times like these above that I remember to take a break, take a breath and remember to just be still and be. Life changes, that is one certainty, I don’t want to forget to enjoy the journey along the way.
I edited this photo to have an older, film look.
F/1.8, 35mm, 1/160 sec, ISO 100
The Power of M
I had the chance to take a few auto shots of my friend’s BMW M5 recently. This was my first attempt to shoot a car in an interesting manner, so there are a few different perspectives below. I didn’t quite get what I had imagined in my head, but it is a start!
The first two shots were taken using a new wide angle lens I recently got (Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8). I haven’t taken a lot of shots yet, but I am definitely liking it so far. The last two shots were taken using the Nikon 35mm F/1.8.
I had a blast shooting this car because that meant plenty of excuses to do speed runs! 0-60 in about 4.5 seconds….mmmmm5.
Laguna Beach Valentines Day
This last weekend, me and my wife officially “celebrated” Valentines day. We put the dogs in day care and went out and spent the weekend in Laguna Beach. It was a great weekend and we had a ton of fun. On Saturday we went for a little stroll down the coastline. I had to bring my camera for those ‘just in case’ moments. It was relatively uneventful, photographically speaking, but I did manage to get the two photos below that I appreciated.
Mounted Marbles
While walking the dogs the other day I cam across a playground in a local park. There was this piece of the play structure that just had a bunch glass bulbs (like big marbles). During the right time of the day, the sunlight shines through these balls and I thought it was pretty cool. Here is a close up shot; it was dusk and the natural light was on the other side.
