This was my first time to be invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Lunch & Awards Ceremony for the City of Pacific Grove because I just became a commissioner on the Traffic Safety Committee earlier this year. So the invitation came as a very nice surprise! It was an honor to be included in an event recognizing people who give their time and energy to the city. As always, I brought my camera even though I was just attending as a guest. Deputy City Manager, Joyce Halabi, is someone I often see at various city events getting photos too, so I asked her if it was ok to get some shots of the awards ceremony. She said yes, and helped coordinate the photo ops as well. Thank you to the whole team at City Hall that helped put this together for the volunteers. Being there as both a volunteer and a photographer felt especially meaningful, and I was glad to help document a small part of what makes Pacific Grove such a special community.
Candid Event Photography telling the story of the PG Rotary Club 2025 Holiday Party at the Lodge in Pebble Beach
As still a new member of the Pacific Grove Rotary Club, I am finding ways to contribute to the club that suit my skill set, one of which is of course photography! The holiday party for the Rotary Club this year was in a beautiful ocean view room at The Lodge in Pebble Beach. The sun was flooding in, plenty of space to move around, all of which made for a great environment for capturing some of my favorite kinds of photos, event candids! The Rotary Club had a massive white elephant present game going on with the “stealing” bidding for presents money all going to help one local family. The Rotary Club really is great at directly helping the local community. Thanks to everyone for making it a really fun end to my first months as a Rotarian!
Ferrari Owners line up Ocean Ave in Carmel for Monterey Car Week 2025
Another car show event for Monterey Car Week 2025 today. This time I went to Carmel for Prancing Ponies on Ocean Ave. The main street down the heart of Carmel is Ocean Ave, and indeed ends right at the ocean. The beach was not the center of attention today though, it was a lineup of Ferrari cars from across the generations to the latest 12 cylinder GT car, to classic racing cars from the 50s. I even got to see my personal favorite, the 458 Speciale Aperta. None of the Ferrari Big 5 (now 6) nor the Daytona SP3 which was disappointing though. Still, the sun was out and it was a beautiful afternoon for viewing fast and beautiful Italian sports cars!
