La Mesa’s Resident Hawk

        I am writing this at 5pm on July 4th, 2010, so I have less than two hours to get downtown to watch the fireworks display in San Diego Bay. I plan on capturing some amazing images. The OTHER thing that happened today was me snapping a couple pics of the very outspoken hawk that has been in my neighborhood for a month or so.

        I readily admit that the pics for this post are weird, but I am in a hurry because I am going down to San Diego Bay to see The Big Boom fireworks show. I am going to attempt a complete guerrilla photo shoot for this. It will all be on public transportation so wish me luck.

Vacation Isle

        There is a short inline skate trail that runs around Vacation Isle, in the middle of Mission Bay. It’s a smooth, concrete path that follows the eastern and southern shoreline of Vacation Isle before swinging back around the model yacht pond, past Paradise Point Resort Spa and over to Ingraham St.

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Vacation Isle In Mission Bay

        As I sat on a bench while lacing up my skates, I thought about just how lucky I am right now. Even though I spend four hours dedicated to looking for work every day, I am still able explore San Diego’s inline skate paths during the middle of the week, so the crowds are at a minimum and in some case, like in the photo above, non-existent.

Model Yacht Pond On Vacation Isle

        The model yacht pond is a rectangle shaped pond that is for model boaters only. A few times a year there are model boat races in the pond and they always draw a crowd.

Sea Cats Of Vacation Isle

        These stray cats live at the southern end of Vacation Isle, where Ingraham St. crosses over. I was really surprised to see cats that lived by the sea, right next to a skate path. I didn’t try to approach them, but they seemed to be doing all right and since there was a plastic food dispenser nearby, I think that some good Samaritan feeds them at least somewhat regularly. I’ll bring some cat food with next time, because feeding some beach-bum stray cats before inline skating around Mission Bay sounds like a wonderful idea to me.

OB’s Dog Beach

        I have decided to delve into the inline skating community of San Diego. Being able to explore (on inline skates) what San Diego has to offer during the middle of the work day is just about the only thing I can do that does not cost money and bring me joy at the same time. Yesterday I decided to skate the Ocean Beach Bike Path, picking it up just north of the Old Town transit center, and it turned out to be the best decision I’ve made in a long time. If you are skating west, the trail ends at the mouth of the San Diego River and it was here that I discovered OB’s Dog Beach.

Running In The Pacific Ocean With Your Dog

Dogs Just Want To Have Fun

        This park is HUGE and carries itself inland, up the mouth of the San Diego river for at least a quarter of a mile. When I reached the end of the path, I removed my skates in favor of flip-flips and walked down to the shore. Dogs having fun at the beach is a great thing to watch and is also a great photo op.

Every Dog Is Your Friend At OB’s Dog Beach

        A dog park is very unique because every square inch of every dog park is fair game for photographers. All you have to do is walk down to the park or in this case, the beach and take pictures of dogs running at full gait up and down the beach and leaping into the air catching toys.

Dogs Jump Through The Air

        I included the above shot because it shows just how weird the world can be when viewed at 1/2500th of a second. Two dogs playing yet neither one is touching the ground.

New Friends At The Dog Beach

        I don’t know why, but the beach brings out the best in a dog. So, plan a trip with your dog to Ocean Beach’s Dog Beach, or just skate the bike path to the park and watch other people having fun with their dogs. You don’t have to take a car or a dog to get to this beach since it is the start/finish of the OB Bike Path. A great set of maps that detail everywhere to bike or skate in the county can be found on the iCommute website.

Dogs Playing In The Ocean

Dogs Playing On The Beach

Triple Exposure Of A Dog Catching A Disc On The Beach

        A safari like this one really helps to illustrate just how fluid life can be. I had planned on taking pictures of the Ocean Beach Bike Path as a reference for other skaters and bikers, but a giant beach set aside for dogs turned out to be subject instead. I thought it would be a good day because I strapped on my skates and had my camera, and it was, but in a completely different way. For those of you interested in places you can skate or bike without having to worry about automobiles, should click on this link. It will take you to a website that shows you every exclusive bike/skate path in San Diego. They are referred to as RED ROUTES. A red route is a bike/skate path where automobile traffic is forbidden. The Ocean Beach Bike Path, which leads to the dog beach is one of them.

Hawk

        The other day, I heard the resident hummingbirds in my neighborhood really chirping up a storm. The hawk in the photo above was the reason why. It was eating lunch in the tree next door to the hummingbird’s nest and they did not like it at all. The hawk flew off right after I took this picture and the hummingbirds went back to doing whatever it is they do.

Joshua Trees In The National Park

        Even though I have not traveled much in the last ten years, I like to look at the laundry list of places I have been with pride and nostalgia. I have traveled to 5 continents, 18 countries and 17 American states. With any luck at all, those numbers will grow as will my understanding of the world. On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend 2010, I traveled with my cousins to Joshua Tree National Park.

        Joshua Tree National Park looks like the set of a motion picture where the story takes place on a planet that is not planet Earth. Earlier I mentioned the number of places I have been on this planet, not to brag, but for some perspective. Joshua Tree National Park is not like traveling on Earth, it’s like going the surface of an unknown moon of an unknown planet. The only familiar things are what you carry with you and the people you travel with.
        Skull Rock and The Hall Of Horrors can not be seen anywhere else. You must go to Joshua Tree National Park to see them, and countless other geologic, animalistic and aquatic features. Check out the Joshua Tree website and plan your trip today. A few major things to know: Bring your own water, firewood and DEFINITELY bring your camera.

Wildlife

        Located about 175 miles from San Diego, 140 miles from Los Angeles and 215 miles from Las Vegas, Joshua Tree National Park is an easy and interesting place to go for anyone in the southwest United States.

Flowers Reside Here Too

        For this journey, I had my trusty Nikon D5000 and two Nikkor lenses. Between these two lenses I covered the photographic spectrum from 18 to 200mm, and I ended up using every single bit of that distance. The one thing that I am lacking with this rig is macro capability; At 200mm, I have to be at least 3 feet away from my subject. Not a big deal, but it is something to consider when shooting flowers and bugs.

Hummingbird In Joshua Tree National Park

        The hummingbird you see above had one of the loudest wing beats I have ever heard. It almost sounded like a helicopter in the distance, or a very large bumblebee very near by. Either way, it landed and stood still long enough for me to take a single photo.

Rocks And Joshua Trees

        Aside from all the things to see in Joshua Tree National Park, there are a lot of rocks to climb. Seriously, this place is a rock climber’s dream. There are rock formations that that can be stared at for hours or climbed upon for days.

An Insect On A Thorny Plant

        For me, one of the best things about going to a National Park, or any outdoor/wilderness setting in general is being able to see the way non-humans live and go about their lives. Since animals do not have to compete with us for life inside a park, we are able (if we quiet our minds and take the time to just look & listen) to physically and personally see just how connected every living thing is. The photo above helps to illustrate how every plant and animal has a reason for being, and that reason is not to be subjugated by people.

Blue-Belly Lizard

        I saw a lot of lizards during my time in the park, but they are very fast and always seemed to be running away from me towards the cover of the nearest shrub or crack in the rocks. The specimen above was sunning on a rock, and stood still while I approached and photographed him.
        That will bring this post to a close, but stay tuned for another post in the next day or so that will feature some amazing things I saw just north of Joshua Tree National Park. I won’t give it away, but historic Route 66, the town and volcanic crater of Amboy, Roy’s Cafe, shoes and immortalizing myself with rocks are all on the menu. Cheers!

Joshua Tree National Park

Calliope Hummingbird (Immature Male)

        The two hummingbirds in this post were captured two very different ways, or in particular, with two very different shutter speeds. The one above, made possible by the VR (Vibration Reduction) on my lens was snapped at 1/20th of a second. When I too took this shot, I was sitting on a flight of stairs, with my elbows resting on top of my knees, in a sort of human tripod stance. I held my breath (as I do before I take EVERY shot) and pressed the shutter release button.

Hummingbird Drinks In Balboa Park

        For the shot above, the technique was a little different. This hummingbird, which I first showed in this post here, just came swooping in towards a fountain and and grabbed droplets of water out of the air. Action would have to be frozen, so the shutter speed was dialed up to 1/1250th and over the following 23 seconds, I snapped 22 photos. The one above is my favorite.

Desert Garden In Balboa Park

        In a post from back in March, I talked about how I was having difficulty getting really good and UNIQUE photos while inside Balboa Park. In particular, the unique part has really been kicking my ass. It seems that all the photos out there are taken in the part of the park that is on the west side of Park Blvd. Well, there is a sliver of Balboa Park that runs the whole length of the park, from the San Diego Zoo to the north to President’s Way to the south on the EAST side of Park Blvd. There is even a small bit of the park to the south of the Naval Medical Center. I decided I would concentrate on this eastern most part of the park on this day, and I’m glad I did because I found a fountain I’d never seen before and saw some wildlife too. I was pleased with the photowalk.
        The photo above shows the Desert Garden, at the end of the footbridge that crosses Park Blvd. Use this map of Balboa Park for reference.

The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden

        For the photo above, we are looking north, the pedestrian bridge and the southern end of the Desert garden are in the background.

Roses In Balboa Park

        The Rose Garden is two circular areas, with the center of one being a fountain, while the other (pictured above) has a vine and flower covered gazebo for a centerpiece.

Veterans Museum And Memorial Center

        When you see this statue you are very close to the southeastern tip of Balboa Park. Just keep wandering past the Veterans Memorial and you will see a secret fountain… I never knew it was here until now. It seems that the official title for this area of the park is Administrative Courtyard.

Fountain Inside Administrative Courtyard

        This area with the fountain is wide open to the west, so the setting sun makes for some great lighting, should you happen to be here during golden hour.

Abandoned Bus Stop

        I can only guess that once upon a time, the number 7 SDMTS bus ran up through here. The number 7 still runs through Balboa Park, but it stays on Park Blvd, which is 250 yards away from this old, abandoned bus stop.

Rabbit, Behind The Bus Stop

        There was wildlife around this fountain, including a rabbit with flea covered ears. It felt like I was at a watering hole in Africa, except this journey was right in my own backyard, and I never knew it until today.

Blackbird In Balboa Park

        There were a couple of these birds calling to each other or to the world in general. There were a lot of birds.

Sunlight And Shade As Golden Hour Approaches

        This area is going to be my new launch off point my trips into Balboa Park for the time being. I usually start at the pedestrian bridge, but this new location is much more zen.

The Statue Surrounded By His Fountain

        There are spiderwebs on the statue in the center of the fountain. That is amazing to me how a spider was able to somehow make his or her way to the primo spot at the primo watering hole in the area.

Hummingbird Drinks In Balboa Park

        The shot above presented itself just as I was about to leave. It is my favorite one for the session, and since I am very happy with the other photos as well, it was a good day. It felt good to get some shots from Balboa Park that I like, and that are unique.

Flamingos

        Last month I ran a trilogy of blog posts that featured photos I took at San Diego’s Wild Animal Park. I had some great pics of the butterfly jungle, birds, and the Animals of Africa exhibit. This post will feature a random assortment of photos that, for one reason or another I didn’t like. Mostly the problem was composition or the quality of the subject matter. At any rate, this post will contain those very photos that didn’t make it into the first round, yet I still wanted to give a chance to see the light of day. Yes, I know that on game day you don’t want to have to sit through the JV squad getting their mandatory play time, but even sporting policy will have to answer to me sooner or later.

Egret With Mating Plumage

Uh… No.

Feeding The Lorikeets

Somethimes Feathers Get Ruffled

Gorilla

Bring On The Giraffes

The King Of The Jungle, Or So She Thinks

A Roadrunner Actually Running Down The Road

        At high noon yesterday, I went hunting my neighborhood roadrunner again. I lucked out because I found a two roadrunners in the area, and they seemed to be friends because they were singing like canaries. I will admit that the above photo is not as colorful or tack-sharp as I usually require to make it into my blog, but come on… This is a photo of a roadrunner, roadrunning! How often do you get to see that?

American Roadrunner Stay Away From Me

        Depending on the angle of the sun, the roadrunner’s head and the price of tea in China, roadrunners have a cool, patriotic eyeshadow color scheme. While I was hunting the roadrunner, I was reminded of days past when I would watch Roadrunner cartoons on Saturday mornings, and in particular, the theme song.

        If you’re on a highway and roadrunner goes beep beep,
Just step aside or you might end up in a heap.
Roadrunner roadrunner runs on the road all day.
Even the coyote can’t make him change his ways.
Roadrunner, the coyote’s after you.
Roadrunner, if he catches you your through.
That coyote is really a crazy clown.
When can he learn that he’s never gonna mow him down?
Poor little roadrunner never bothers anyone.
Just running down the road is his idea of having fun.

        The funny thing is that even after listening to that theme song, and even humming along for all those years, I found out today that I didn’t know most of the words. So, I found the song on the web and took a journey back to a Saturday morning in 1982. That’s right, I like to break a mental sweat as well.

Over The Fence And Out Of Sight

        Even though I was physically at least 30 or 40 feet away from the roadrunner at any given time, I think they ultimately just got tired of me following them around. I can’t say I blame them because it was probably their lunch hour too. In the photo above, this roadrunner jumped/flew to the top of a fence, posed for one last photo, then jumped down on the other side and ran away.

Roadrunner

        I’ve seen roadrunners run around the road in Otay Mesa for two years, but never got a photo of one until today. There are at least three that look like this one, and another one that is bigger and is mostly blue. I haven’t seen the blue roadrunner for quite awhile.

A Roadrunner Stares Back

        Birds can really look weird when you happen to see them facing dead at you. Without their beaks to give a sense of depth, they almost have a dog snout. Well, this roadrunner snapshot made me laugh, so into the blog it goes.