William Murray Photography

Sunrise in Virginia Beach: Chasing Light

williammurrayphotography — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:12:23 +0000

What a beautiful and cold morning. Today was the first
morning in a while that I have gotton the chance to get out early for a sunrise shoot. I don’t know what it is but something about waking up early and taking pictures gets me going. It must be the feeling of getting to see something before everyone else. What a beautiful sight it was today. Trust me, there are alot busts than awsome mornings. Every once and awhile you get a good one. Joe McNally a very popular portrait and photojournalist describes photography as “chasing light, one minute it’s here the next it’s gone in a flash”. Morning shoots seem to be just that. Get up early, set up your shot in the dark, and wait. Good coffee isn’t bad either. I hope you enjoy.

Ahhh…Spring

williammurrayphotography — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:11:23 +0000

Okay so I’m thinking the worst is over for us in Virginia Beach. Either that or old man winter is playing a very cruel joke for those of us who are looking forward to warm sun, water, and days at the beach. This week was the first week that felt like spring could be right around the corner. I took advantage of the nice weather and did a small photo walk at the Ocean front down to Rudee Inlet at the Marina. It was a great day for photos. I was worried that the mid-day sun would only give harsh, flat light, but much to my suprise it gave some great images.

I had a group of pelicans at the end of a charter fishing boat dock enjoying the sun just as much as I was. I was able to get within about 15 feet of them which gave me some great details with my 70-300VR. Even taking my time I was surprised at close I was able to get. Enjoy the photos.

2469 Old Greenbrier Road

williammurrayphotography — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:12:03 +0000

Just the other day I got to shoot a listing for Diane Ragsdale in Chesapeake on Old Greenbrier Road. I’d like to thank the owners Ryan and Adrianne for inviting me into their home. This is listing is a great first time home with three bedrooms and two full baths.

WRV Skaters

williammurrayphotography — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:43:00 +0000

Had a great day shooting some young skaters at the half pipe at Wave Riding Vehicles at 19th street in Virginia Beach. Brought back a lot of memories and some painful ones too. These guys were really good and if you are at all into skating look out for their faces in the future. Click the image for the slideshow.

Canadian Geese call V.B. Home

williammurrayphotography — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:24:53 +0000

Man what a beautiful day. Today was such a nice break from the cold temps that we have been getting. My day started off with a great shoot of some Canadian Geese that have been trolling around my area for about three or four weeks. These guys wake up early and like to let you know they are awake too. I guess you can call them the roosters of the oceanfront. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I had shooting them. Take care.

A break from the snow

williammurrayphotography — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:40:12 +0000

Man what a winter! I haven’t seen the amount of snow we have had these past two weeks. I have really enjoyed seeing the reaction the my kids have expressed having never seen the white stuff fall this much. My wife and I took the day off to turn 6 again and spend the day making a life-size snowman. I couldn’t raise my arms the next morning. While the snow was fun seeing the vast amount of birds and such during the snow added to the entertainment. You could tell by the third day that even the animals didn’t really know what to think of it. Then finally we got a break in the weather and I had the chance to get some good photos of our local egret. I am always surprised how beautiful this big bird is. Thanks for reading.

Tubes and Tow In’s

williammurrayphotography — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:42:35 +0000

Here are some surfing images from shoots I’ve been at from the past couple weeks. With the start of fall and the dusting off of wetsuits and booties Virginia Beach has been getting a pretty consistent swell starting with the nor’easter of 2009.
To supplement the smaller swell days a small group of locals has started practicing tow in’s. I was lucky enough to be at the beach shooting some images of the old Coast Guard Station while they were out having some fun. Normally seen on the west coast in places like Maverick’s and the Hawaiian Islands for big surf, using the jet ski they were able to get a lot more speed and power than normal, which resulted in some pretty big airs. Looked like lots of fun and definitely fun photographing.

Help-Portrait

williammurrayphotography — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:35:47 +0000

Most of us really have the desire to help others. The problem is finding where and how to give our time to help. Check out this new site called Help-Portrait.com. It is a collaberation of photographers, make-up artists, printers, and anyone else who can contribute there time and skills to a very good cause. One of the most essential needs we have is the desire to have self worth. People who are homeless, unemployed, or maybe just not in the financial position to be able to have a professional portrait shot of themselves or thier family. We are trying to give back, to provide that feeling of being special. Please take a look at the website and watch this video on the start of the project and how it is changing peoples outlook.

Virginia Beach Surf

williammurrayphotography — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:56:32 +0000

Finally got some time the other day to make it to the beach and take some images. Just so happened there was a small 3-4ft swell hitting the beach. I caught it on the backside of the swell and as luck would have it, the sun completely diapearred and the wind picked up as I hit the beach. Oh well, a cloudy day at the beach photoging is better than a sunny day actually working. There were a couple guys in the water and some decent waves coming through the line up.

This first image is a inspiration from Professional photog Chase Jarvis from Seattle who recently got back from a advertising campaign in New Zeland for SanDisk. Chase was kind enough to fill us in a some of the behind the scenes shooting and setup. Check out the link and watch the video on how Chase and his crew pulled this off. I was able to pull this on off with a little continuous shooting mode and photoshop magic.

Google Maps adds Real Estate Search

williammurrayphotography — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:14:49 +0000

Today Google Maps added a new search feature into their web maps service that allows users to view Real Estate Listings in the area that they are searching in. The Real Estate Function is not automatically included in a generic search and must be chosen from a drop down menu

Click on the Show Search Options link next to Search Maps opens a drop down menu that gives you some options

After selecting the location you want to search just like you normally would, you can further refine your Real Estate Search from a new left hand panel. There you can refine your search by bedrooms, bath, and price.

This is a great way for agents to check their listings to make sure they are syndicated with the most amount of exposure. A big one for offices and brokers is www.listhub.net which as of today is taking advantage of Google’s new service.