Photography . . . Travel . . .

Friday, September 24, 2010

Harvest Moon Rising Over San Diego - Sep 23, 2010

There must have been close to 30 photographers lined up on the end of Shelter Island on Thursday night, all waiting for the Harvest Moon to come up over downtown San Diego. As we expected, it rose almost directly over the Ford Building (now the Aerospace Museum) in Balboa Park, which is just visible on the bluff above and behind downtown from where we were standing. As it rose it tracked a bit south as it moved over the center of downtown.


As the sun set behind us it lit the glass buildings downtown such that they appeared to be on fire. 




At 6:40PM, just as the moon was rising off to the left of this view, a Navy helicopter came in for a landing at North Island Naval Air Station.




13 minutes later the moon was starting to really show up in the sky.








As the moon moved higher in the sky it left a reflection on the water that eventually widened and centered in front of the downtown skyline.








Click here to see a few more images from Thursday night.
  

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Labor Day Walk Around the San Diego Zoo

Here are a few images from a short late-afternoon walk around the San Diego Zoo on Monday, Sep 6th.








I've spent a lot of time at the Tiger River enclosure, enough to notice that the average Zoo visitor stays no more than a few minutes, even when the tigers are out and visible. If the tigers are not out they'll generally mumble something and wander off. I just back myself into a corner with a good view and wait - it generally is worth it. On Monday, after waiting well over 15-20 minutes this was still all I saw.




After another 8 or so minutes there was finally some movement.




Another 7 minutes or so and she's finally up for a walk, but she did have to stop and smell the flowers.




Finally.




This one was hanging out just over the hippo pool.




It's hard to believe this is a comfortable way to nap.




The meerkats are always fun to hang out with.




Late afternoon seems to be a good time to check out the koalas, they're actually awake.




Click here for more images from a late afternoon walk around the San Diego Zoo.
  

Point Loma Lighthouse / Cabrillo National Monument

Here's another version of the view from the top of the spiral staircase in the tower of the Point Loma Lighthouse, this time with a bunch of people in it.  It was quite crowded out there on Saturday afternoon.


Click here to see more images from the Point Loma Lighthouse and the Cabrillo National Monument.
  

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Gaslamp Quarter - San Diego DSLR September Group Shoot

The San Diego DSLR Photo Group got together for its monthly group shoot this morning, this time in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego. It was foggy until about 11:00AM, so I tried to concentrate on details and other ways of keeping the bright but grey sky out of the shots. Here's an old railing in front of the Horton Grand Hotel.




Whenever you get a group of photographers together they invariably wind up taking pictures of each other taking pictures of  . . . 




The Gaslamp has lots of old and interesting buildings. There are little plaques on many of them telling the history.




No shortage of new architecture either.




A few of us toured the William Heath Davis House, which is the site of the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Society's museum. The house, built in 1850, is the oldest wooden structure in downtown San Diego.








There are many in San Diego who believe that these old buildings are haunted. I'm not so sure, but I think I may have caught some sort of ghost or apparition here in this next shot. It sure does look like there is something, or somebody, there.




Here's an interesting bit of public art, painted on the side of the Horton Plaza parking garage.




Click here to see more images from this morning in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.
  

Friday, September 10, 2010

Experimenting with Night Photography in San Diego

Last Saturday night, while Heather and I were waiting for a play to start at the Old Globe complex in San Diego's Balboa Park, we spent some time sitting in the Alcazar Garden. From the little tile bench we were on there was a fountain directly in front of us, then a large bed of flowers, behind which was an arcade, and then the Museum of Man tower was visible in the background. As I sat there I was thinking that with about a 15mm lens I should be able to get all of that view in, and all I needed to do was to find a way to light up the little fountain that would be down low in the foreground. A small but powerful flashlight came to mind. There were a lot of clouds in the sky the first few nights of this week, so I waited until we had what looked like a blue sky on Thursday night, tossed my tripod in the car and headed down after work.




I wound up with several variations of the amount of light on the fountain - I think this is the one I like the most. 




Here it is from a different angle (sort of).




It was still early, so I wandered around the Park for a bit before heading over to the Fish Market for dinner.










I managed a few shots after dinner, looking over towards the Hyatt and the fishing boats parked next to the Fish Market Restaurant on Harbor Drive.




  
Click here for a few more evening shots in San Diego. The ones from Thursday night start with number 34.
  

About Me

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San Diego, California, United States
About me . . . When I'm not working I like to be out exploring and photographing. I do this blog just for fun, and to be able to share these images with friends. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

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All of the content and images on this site (c) Frank B. Baiamonte. If you would like to use any of these images please contact me via email at frank@frankbaiamonte.com to discuss terms of usage. Note that images from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are not available for commercial usage. You can also see more on my Instagram page @frankbaiamonte.

Header image: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Cibola, Arizona. End image: Downtown San Diego, California skyline from Coronado Island. Profile picture: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, by Heather Baiamonte.