My Final List For 2009

        As the final day of 2009 has less than 7 hours left, I made sure to write a list of personal things I want to remember. A small portion of this list is above.

Water Evidence On An Alien Planet – As Seen From An Orbiting Satellite

        Back in the 1970′s, NASA launched a series of deep space probes. Mostly forgotten today, some of them have finally managed to reach planets outside our own solar system. The image above was taken from 150 miles above the surface of a planet named “NIROBI”. The visible geographic features could be giant, wind-swept sand dunes or even a series of canyons made by liquid water.

South Bay Power Plant On A Colorful Night

South Bay Power Plant

        The southeast area of San Diego Bay is the home of South Bay Power Plant. It is not a desalination plant. Somehow, back in October I got it in my head that this facility removed salt from seawater. I took a night picture of it and wrote a blog post about it, titled, Night & Day With Salt & Dinosaurs, but it turns out it was factually incorrect. Oh well. This new and better information called for a new and better photo. The shot on the left is the image from the post I just mentioned.

        I like the colors and the composition of the newer shot are much better than the first. I was still over a mile away, from the power plant , so you have to give it up for the super-zoom! This was a 10 second exposure, with my camera sitting on a thick fencepost made of brick.

        Some slow shutter speed photography tips are: Turn off any anti-shake features on your camera, use a tripod and use the 2 second shutter release delay. If you don’t have your tripod, then set the camera on a firm surface. Multi-second exposures can not be hand held!

This Guy Drove His Mustang Into Southbay

        It was an action packed half hour in Southbay San Diego on Sunday! About a half mile south of the South Bay County Biological Study Area, just north of the point where Palm Ave. meets up with Silver Strand Boulevard, some poor soul drove his mustang into the Southwestern tip of San Diego Bay. A San Diego Police helicopter circled overhead, a tow truck arrived, and most users of the Bayshore Silver Strand Bikeway stopped to see this intruder into the bay. This guy was driving way too fast, lost control, and spun out into the bay. Technically, I think he ended up on the nature preserve at the extreme south end of San Diego Bay.

Waiter, There’s A Car In My Bay!

        All things being equal, how often do you see a mustang, police, sheriffs AND a white heron all in the same photo? What a bummer though, right? I would also make the assumption that the driver is in the military because some MP’s showed up a little later as well. A tow truck pulled the car out without incident, and a San Diego Police helicopter supervised from overhead for a few minutes. After that, things returned to normal, and a cloudless sunset followed.

Excitement At Southbay County Biological Study Area

        Watching this helicopter swoop, dive and circle overhead reminded me that I have always wanted to learn how to fly a helicopter. Of course, I could be wrong, but to me they seem like the motorcycles of the sky. Motorcycles of course, being way cooler than cars.

About 3 Miles North & 3 Hours After The Accident

        As the final sunset of the weekend approached, I hustled north on the Bayshore Silver Strand Bikeway, towards downtown San Diego. I was on the East side of Silver Strand Boulevard, so the fence that denotes the Eastern edge of Silver Strand State Park was in my way, but the sunset was still very easy on the eyes.

Just A Scene With A Lot Of Color

        My first post on this blog was a short record of my trip to Palm Springs in May, 2009. Due to all the hustle and bustle of a new website, the photos that did not make the original grade had been more or less forgotten. Three lucky pics are now given a chance to see the world for the very first time.

Desert Riders Motorcycle Club Members

        Although the grain of photoshop film degrades the detail a bit, I like this shot because texting on cell phones, drinking powerade and applying sun screen occupies the minds of these suburban bike riders. The one in the middle looked right at me, then continued texting.

I Call This A Color Sandwich

        Nothing more to add. I just wanted to post these four pictures. Feel free to look at my very first blog post by clicking here.

One Does Want A Hint Of Color

        The windmill in the middle is my favorite one. It is frozen into a perfect viewing position. Anyways, hover over the tag cloud below to rotate it, and then click on any tag that strikes your fancy.

$26 Million Bridge To Nowhere & San Diego Sunset

        I really have no idea why this bridge is being built. What you see in the foreground is the mast that the pedestrian bridge will be suspended from. It will span the trolley tracks, over Harbor drive in downtown San Diego. $26 million dollars so that residents of Paris Hilton’s hotel can get to Petco Park without having the pesky inconvenience of walking all the way to 5th Ave. to cross the street. It will shave about 800 feet of distance for these glorious people. Considering the price tag and taking simple math into account, we the OTHER people are paying $32,500 for every step the Hilton folk are taking. So, Harbor Drive In San Diego has a very impressive bridge to nowhere that is, kind of expensive.

After Midnight At 12th & Imperial Trolley Station, Neon Is Your Friend

        I swear to the the creator that it really was a dark and foggy night! Shut up! It was so foggy that you could not see more than 50 feet in front of you, and it was so late that ALL the San Diego Trolley police had gone home for the night. The sodium halogen lights above and the neon lights in the photo above were the only earthly things separating the world of light from the debauchery of the world of night. Due to to abundance of shady characters and the lack of trolley security guards, I was only able to snap a few shots. For those of you that do not understande what I am saying, trying to snap some pics, on the sly, after midnight at the 12th & Imperial Transit Station. I would have felt more at ease if I was trying to take a dump on the White House Lawn.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock – Late At Night The Trolley Can’t Come Soon Enough

The Biggest Moon Of The Year Just Didn’t Cooperate

        This post will be a little bit different because it will offer a view of the man behind the curtain. October 4th was the actual harvest moon for 2009, but nothing was falling into place, photographically. I had no tripod and the moon was already well above the horizon by the time I set out, so I felt like I had failed. The once a year harvest moon was not properly photographed by me because I was late out of the blocks. What can I say? It wasn’t until I was entering my pad that I saw the spider above, huge and fluttering on it’s web in a very stiff evening breeze. I tried to capture, in camera, the spider, against the moon, but the wind was so strong and my hand so unsteady that I could not quite get the metering I hoped for.

My Mad Photoshop CS4 Skills Had Failed Me

        I attempted to use my digital darkroom to recreate what my eyes had seen, but it was to no avail. The image size had to be reduced so that I would not look like an imbecile, posting photos that were nothing more than hacks or garbage. Hopefully, you can still get an idea of what I was trying to do, even though I failed to do it.

It’s Important Not To Hide When You Fail

        Yet fail is what I did, yet again with this web. The spider, on his web was moving aroung in the breeze so much that use=ing my on camera flash was the only way I could could any detail. The problem was that using the flash blew out the spider, so it was a pure white mess. My solution was to crop as much of the web as I could and that mirror image it so it would look like I had done a grander job than I actually had. Don’t tell!

What Would My Role For This Moon Have Been 1000 Years Ago?

        I actually like this shot, even though it is just a glorified snapshot, and won’t make me any money. The moon has a sense of scale with the trees and the clouds. It lights up the sky and clouds but not the trees. It is huge and it was captured by me. Yes!

Trolley Police Have No Right To Prohibit Photography

        The proof is in the pudding. The video above was broadcast on Friday, September 18th, 2009 on San Diego’s local NBC News affiliate 7/39 at 11pm. What more can I say other than this is a very distinct victory for photographers’ rights. We are allowed to shoot video or take pictures at trolley stations, and San Diego Trolley police have NO RIGHT to ask or make a photographer stop.

        The entire statement, made by Ken Moller of Heritage Security Services is as follows:

“We have no right to tell people they can’t shoot (video) down there. My officers were wrong in telling him that. And I put the word out as soon as I saw the video. It’s a public place and people can certainly shoot video down there if they want to.”

        So there you have it. Here is what I have learned from this experience. If an authority figure challenges you while taking photos or shooting video, be polite. Ask them if you are violating any law, and KEEP ROLLING during the transaction. As a photographer, I hate to say it, but this would not have made the evening news if I wasn’t shooting video, so make sure to switch to video mode as soon as you see an authority figure approaching you.

        Now we know why video mode is important to us photographers… Not to add a bullet to your wedding photography resume, but rather to protect yourself and to show in HD quality just how your rights are being violated.

        Below you will find the video that started it all, and above will you find the video that decided it all.

San Diego Bay As Seen From Harbor Island

        Not every fracas is a victory, chief. Watching a boatload of tourists fire invisible cannonballs at each other is not as exciting as it may sound. It was one of those 3 hours of boredom followed by 10 seconds of nothing situations, and I uh… I got nothing.

Don’t Blink Or You Will Miss The Action

        I just don’t know what to say, which is ironic considering this is a blog post which would imply that I have something to say.

No Collisions & No One Fell Overboard

        I suppose it’s the movies that have spoiled me but God damn, there was just NO excitement at all. At least in the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride at Disneyland the water splashes where the cannonballs hit and there is a soundtrack to add a sense of drama. This was just boats and puffs of smoke… Sorry, I just nodded off while typing about it.

Damn The Fake Cannonballs, Full Speed Ahead!

        My dilemma now is this: Do I pay $65 next weekend to be on one of these boats, and see if that particular vantage offers up better photo opportunities or do I just sleep in instead?