I did take my “big” camera, but I also took a ton of pictures with my iPhone.  It’s an amazing little camera and I love that I can take a picture, edit it, and share it with friends in less than a minute.  Meanwhile, all of the images I took with my “big” camera are still sitting on the memory card, yet to be downloaded to my computer.  +1 for the iPhone!

If you’re on instagram, come find me!  http://instagram.com/amyshertzer  You can search my user name @amyshertzer.  If you’re not on instagram, well, what are you waiting for?!

I’ll also put in a plug for this amazing class I’m a part of during the month of July.  It’s the Phone Photography Project, put on by Big Picture Classes and I’m one of 31 instructors who will be sharing throughout the month.  Today is the last day to register.  Go HERE to do it!  There are daily phone photography challenges (a new topic everyday!), awesome reviews of just about every photo-related app out there (for iPhone and Android), giveaways, a great message board and some amazing, inspiring images and people.  The fun started on July 1st and runs through the 31st.  All of the class material is archived so if you do sign up today (THE LAST DAY TO DO IT!),  you can access all of the info and go back to make up the challenges from the beginning of the month.  But, you don’t have to. . . that’s the beauty of this summer school!  It’s all for fun and enrichment, go at your own pace, put as much in as you want.

Okay, now on with my 10 for July 10th, all via my iPhone!

Our boat launched from Newport Landing, on the bay side of Balboa Peninsula.  We had fabulous views of Newport Beach across the water as we headed out of the harbor.

As we headed out to sea, I was amazed I still got a cell signal.  Even more amazed to see that the navigation worked and showed our actual position out at sea (we’re the blue dot, we launched from the red dot).

The first sea life we saw was a megapod of dolphins. . . at least 300 swimming together, frolicking in the water alongside our boat.

Shortly after we left the pod of dolphins, my poor 4-year-old had a wicked bout of sea sickness.  While Daddy helped him in the ship bathroom, my 6-year-old and I had the only whale-sighting of the trip, a Minke whale.  My sweet boy didn’t seem too distraught that he had missed the whale, he was just exhausted.  And as soon as he came out of the bathroom, he fell asleep in my arms.  Poor kiddo (but I didn’t mind cuddling him and gazing at his lovely lashes and adorable little summer freckles).

I got the only family picture of the day (another +1 for the iPhone — nearly impossible to do a family self-portrait with the “big” camera!).  My 6-year-old was having a good time, despite his scowl.

Since my arms were preoccupied with my baby, my husband took charge of the “big” camera.  We didn’t end up seeing any more whales, but he was ready if we had!

While we didn’t see any more whales, we did have one more sea life sighting — Sea Lions!

Once we were back on land, we took another cruise, this time on our bicycles along the Newport sand.

Our smaller passengers insisted on a stop at this beach playground. . .

We finished our ride and hit the Balboa Fun Zone for some carnival games and pizza-by-the-slice.

Wrapping up our day and heading home as the sun set!

As always, 10 on 10 is a collaborative project.  Be sure to check out Spokane WA Photographer, Creatively Yours for her take on 10 this month

Our first stop — after a few pitstops along Palos Verdes Drive to soak in the scenery — was the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, with views of the Point Vicente Lighthouse.  You can spy Catalina Island off in the distance.

And while coming back for a sunset view from this scene is now on my bucket list, the harsh midday sun does brighten the crashing seas below to a beautiful shade of turquoise.

The Point Vicente Interpretive Center is a whale-watching hub.  There’s a beautiful (and free-of-charge) museum to explore and volunteers are set up on the balcony outside to watch for migrating whales, which travel the channel between here and Catalina.  My youngest son was on the lookout and we actually spotted a couple of whales while on watch!

Although, we had a better view of the life-size models inside the museum!

Some wildlife above the waves put on a nice show, too.

Heading south around the peninsula, our next stop was Abalone Cove Shoreline Park where we enjoyed more fantastic views and a picnic lunch.

Our last stop was Wayfarers Chapel, a small, beautiful church made of glass and stone with beautiful gardens and beautiful views.

Certainly a place of peace and reflection, it was also a fun place for a 5-year-old and 2-year-old to run and be silly.  We had pushed our outing right up to naptime and were in danger of going past the point-of-no-return.  Before complete melt down mode, I managed to get a few pictures of my 5-year-old, and this is one of my favorites:

There you have it, 10 images of one of my favorite places.  If you ever find yourself in Los Angeles with a few free hours, you have to go explore Palos Verdes!

Be sure to visit the other photographer’s taking part in the “10 on 10″ challenge for this year.  Hop on over to North Shore and Lake County, IL Photographer, Britt Anderson’s blog to see 10 fabulous macro images, a perfect welcome for spring!