Life Is a Beach: Hot Sand, Blue Sky

From the Life Is a Beach series, photographed August 2010, Spring Lake, New Jersey by Shannon Finney

The sun, sand, sky and sea often combine to make the most interesting

pictures. I know that shooting in the bright, midday sun is usually viewed as

an exercise in frustration. The best books on photography characterize a

photographer's relationship with direct sunlight as adversarial, so I decided to

embrace the sunlight in this photograph. It's a lot of fun to break the rules,

and it seems that there's no better time than while on vacation:)

Life Is a Beach: Beach, Bucket, Baby

Photograph by Shannon Finney, Summer 2008, Spring Lake, New Jersey

While most of the United States is in the grip of one of the

worst heatwaves in history, it's nice to be reminded of cooler

times and ocean breezes. This is one of my favorite

reminders of the joys of summer:)

The Boys of Summer 2011

Photographs by Shannon Finney, Shot on location, July 5, 2011, Washington, DC

Summer in the city is usually a series of mad dashes along the crowded, fire-hot sidewalks into the crisp air-conditioned cold of an office building or the sticky

steaminess of a subway car. But for the city's smallest citizens, summer time is

the time for endless days, swimming pools, and the intense delight of a sudden

downpour. Children see summer through ice cream cones and frozen pops, and the

feeling of fresh, wet grass under their bare feet. On a trip to the National Zoo

the other day with my nephews, I forgot the boiling hot sun and simply enjoyed a

day filled with shaved ice, amazing animals, and memories of my own carefree

summer days.