Frank B. Baiamonte

Calli the Cat

2012-01-29T23:40:00.000-08:00

As we were heading out to the Safari Park this afternoon I spotted Calli sitting by the window. When I pulled out the big 300mm lens she gave me this really suspicious look.

Click here for a gallery of various pictures of Calli and her brother Aldo that I've taken over the last few years.

San Diego Zoo's Safari Park - A Short Afternoon Walk

2012-01-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

Heather and I decided to spend a few hours walking around the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in Escondido this afternoon. It was a pretty warm day, probably in the low 80's, but very nice in the shade.

We started out by wandering up into the garden areas that are on the way to Condo Ridge. I found this bird of paradise on our way up the hill.

One of my favorites at the Safari Park is the burrowing owl that lives up at Condo Ridge. I'm always amazed at how he can swivel his neck.

The prairie dogs are pretty cool too. It looks like they just got some new boxes to play with.

The big male lion stuck his head up for just a few seconds, and then went back to sleep. There were also 2 female lions nearby, they were both out cold. Well, it was mid-afternoon, and it was warm. We also saw the 2 15-month old Sumatran tigers, but they were both laying on their sides sound asleep. There is a photo of them in the gallery linked below.

I think I carried the camera more than I shot it, but here are couple more shots to finish this up. No shots of the lemurs this time, the whole lagoon area was under repair, and all the water was drained.

Click here to see a few more images from our walk around the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park (formerly known as the Wild Animal Park) on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

An Evening View of the San Diego Skyline from Coronado

2012-01-29T23:16:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday night I met up with a couple of friends from San Diego DSLR for a bit of night-time photography along the water at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. You get a pretty nice view of the downtown San Diego skyline from there. The added benefit is a mixed-seafood grill plate at Il Fornaio afterward. By the time I managed to get down there from the office I pretty much missed the "blue hour" light, but it was still a really nice night to hang out with some friends and shoot some pictures. Here are a few images.

This last shot will probably only be appreciated by the photographers looking at it. Here's a picture of Harold's camera, displaying a just-taken picture of my camera and Bob's camera, with the downtown skyline in the background.

Click here to see a few more images from Thursday evening, January 26, at the Ferry Landing in Coronado, California.

A Quick Morning Walk Around the San Diego Zoo

2012-01-28T18:15:00.000-08:00

The new female fishing cat, Dow, was out when I got to the San Diego Zoo this morning. She's a beautiful cat, but was sitting way up in the back behind some brush. These are heavily cropped in order to see her face.

In talking with her keeper, it sounds like Dow is still getting used to her new home.

The Malayan tiger cubs and their mother were all three sleeping in their little cave when I first got there. After a while Mek finally got up, and then a little later one of the cubs did as well. Here's Mek, something has caught her attention.

It seems like I wound up with a bunch of close-ups this time.

Here's Christopher, one of the cubs. It was pretty dark in the cave, and there was also a fair amount of glare on the glass.

Here's his brother Conner.

After a while the cubs headed out into the open to wait for some snacks.

I ran into a friend while I was watching the cubs, she commented that "they're finally growing into their paws". I would say she was right.

On the way out I made a brief stop to see Camo, the new male tapir. I caught a quick glimpse of him before he disappeared.

Click here to see a few more pictures from my few hours at the San Diego Zoo this morning.

San Diego Zoo - January 22, 2012

2012-01-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

It was a little cool and overcast on Sunday morning, nice weather for a walk around the San Diego Zoo.

I spent a fair amount of time at the Malayan Tigers (see below for even more shots of the two cubs together). Here's Christopher, followed by his brother Conner.

The Night Herons are some of my favorite birds. They're actually not part of the Zoo's collection, but rather are local birds that just stop in for the food.

I stopped in to see another of my favorites, the Rock Hyrax. Apparently their closest living relative is the elephant.

The North Chinese Leopard was out.

Later in the day the sun came out for bit, which made for some great light on the plants at times.

I tried to get a decent shot of the Zebras, but they weren't cooperating at all, and I wasn't about to leave with nothing.

Ubon, the new male Malayan Tiger, was out later in the afternoon. It was pretty dark there, and he wasn't holding still.

Since this is the start of the Year of the Dragon it only seems right to end up here with a dragon of sorts, a Komodo Dragon.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Sunday, January 22, 2012.

Brothers - Christopher & Conner - Malayan Tiger Cubs at the San Diego Zoo

2012-01-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

I spent a few hours on Sunday morning hanging out with Christopher and Conner, the almost 10-month old Malayan Tiger cubs at the San Diego Zoo. Here's a series of shots of the two of them together, all of them closely cropped. When I first got there on Sunday they were playing in the pond, so their fur is still a little wet. By the way, that's Christopher on the left, and Conner on the right.

I'll put up another post with some of my other shots from Sunday, with a link the full gallery.

Anza Borrego - Fish Creek & Sandstone Canyon - Saturday 21 Jan 2012

2012-01-23T22:01:00.000-08:00

A few of us got together on Saturday for a day of hiking and exploring in the Fish Creek area of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, in eastern San Diego County.

It was raining lightly when we left San Diego, but stopped by the time we got past the mountains and to the edge of the desert. We spotted a great rainbow as we drove through the San Felipe Valley.

There were some nice fluffy clouds in the sky as we started up Fish Creek.

Our first stop was the Wind Caves hiking trail. There are great views of the entire Fish Creek area from up on the trail.

It's been really dry out there this year, but there are signs that some of the plants may be blooming soon. This ocotillo was just starting to get a few leaves.

We worked our way up to one of the higher rocks overlooking the wash, and Heather and I found a spot to take a little break.

After lunch we went for another hike, this time in Sandstone Canyon. I don't have many pictures from that walk, as the wind was mostly howling through the canyon, sandblasting us and our gear.

Here are a few shots from the drive back out of Sandstone Canyon. The canyon is a dead end, you find a wide spot to turn around, and drive back out the way you came in.

All in all it was another great day in the desert, even with the very high winds at times.

Click here to see a few more images from Fish Creek and Sandstone Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, on January 21, 2012.

Year of the Dragon - Happy Lunar New Year!

2012-01-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

While I was out with my camera on Sunday I was specifically looking for something to use for a Lunar New Year post for the Year of the Dragon. I have to say that it was a whole lot easier two years ago, when it was the year of the Tiger. I don't know if it's just a San Diego thing or what, but there just aren't all that many dragons around.

I did come across a Komodo Dragon at the San Diego Zoo on Sunday. He wasn't moving much, and unlike other times I've seen him, really not looking all that dragon-like. Except maybe for his claws.

Happy New Year everyone!

Another View of Hoover Dam

2012-01-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

I went back and re-edited one of my shots from Hoover Dam, taken in late November during our recent road trip. The colors and the framing remind me of the sort of scene you might see in the opening of a 1970's vintage movie. Almost looks like Kodachrome too.

Taken looking straight down from almost the center of the dam.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park - Sunday 15 January 2012

2012-01-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

I got together with a few friends for a day of photos and exploration in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, on the eastern edge of San Diego County. It was a particularly nice day out there, and with a storm (of sorts) brewing to the west we had lots of nice clouds in the sky, but not a lot of wind.

Our little group at one of our stops in San Felipe Wash. Mitch and his family in the yellow Xterra, Mark in his Frontier, Rae and Robert in their Jeep, and my black Xterra in the lead.

After lunch we went for a hike in The Slot. Considering just how narrow this trail gets in places I'm thinking we should do this before lunch next time.

If you like to think too much about earthquakes (and there are a lot of them in Anza Borrego), don't look up when you walk under this thing.

After hiking in the bottom of that very narrow slot canyon we went for something about as opposite as you can get - the Goat Trail. The views from the high point were pretty good.

As we headed north towards the pavement the setting sun was to our backs. About 20 minutes before it set behind the mountains the sun dropped out from beneath the clouds and bathed the mountains to the north of us in a deep golden light. It just kept getting better as we travelled north through the sandy washes.

The sun had set by the time we reached the pavement. We stopped to air up our tires and visit for bit before heading for home.

Click here to see a few more images from Sunday 15 January 2012 in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

Leo Carrillo Ranch - Carlsbad, CA - San Diego dSLR Monthly Group Shoot - Jan 2012

2012-01-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

Leo Carrillo Ranch in Carlsbad, CA is a great place to spend a few hours wandering around with a camera. It's even more fun with a whole group of friends. Formerly the home of the actor Leo Carrillo, the ranch is now a City park, and was the site of this month's Group Shoot for the San Diego DSLR Photo Group (sandiegodslr.org). Here are a few pictures from this morning.

In addition to the adobe structures and a huge variety of plant life, there is also a fairly large resident group of peafowl, including an albino. I didn't get a shot of the albino this time, but I did manage to crop this close up from a much larger frame (I wasn't carrying a long lens this time).

There was also a group of watercolor artists there on Saturday.

Click here to see a few more images from Leo Carrillo Ranch on Saturday, January 14, 2012.

San Diego Zoo - Jan 7, 2012

2012-01-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

After a week that seemed like it went on forever even though my office was only open 4 days this past week, a morning at the Zoo seemed like a nice way to put that all behind me. My original plan was to only stay a few hours - I wound up being there most of the day.

The Flamingos are right at the front of the Zoo, and on the way to the path that leads down to the Tigers. They were all in a big agitated bunch in one spot, as there was a keeper in with them when I got there.

The Malayan Tiger cubs and their mother were all napping in separate spots when I first got there. After about 20 minutes one of the cubs went over to visit with his mother. I don't think she woke up in a really good mood. That's not a yawn.

After a while she decided to head up the hill to a spot where people (and her sons) wouldn't bother her.

Conner went down to the lowest part of the habitat, where he likes to sit right at the glass and watch the people. He'll even try to jump up onto little kids' shoulders when they sit with their backs to the glass for a picture with him.

Christopher perked up as soon as the keeper showed up with a tray of beef heart chunks.

I stopped by the Zebras on my way up to see the Polar Bears.

I think that the Polar Bears must be one of the toughest animals at the Zoo to get a decent picture of. The glass around their habitat is either scratched up on the inside, or really dirty from everyone touching it, and always throws off a reflection of something you don't want. Speaking of reflections.

The Komodo Dragon was in a sunny spot, every now and then he would stick his head up and take a look around. He seemed to get particularly interested any time a small child came by.

Check out his claws.

I was all set to leave a little before 3PM when I remembered that Danai, the older female Malayan Tiger, was due to come out at that time. I got back down the hill just as a keeper was placing one of those giant femur bones out for her. A few minutes later Danai showed up. I wound up standing there for over an hour, watching Danai chew on the bone, taking a few photos, and talking photography with some of the other people.

She really is a good looking cat.

Click here to see a few more images from Saturday, January 7, 2012 at the San Diego Zoo, including some of the Fishing Cat, and more of the Komodo Dragon and Malayan Tigers.

Old Town San Diego

2012-01-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

Heather and I spent a few hours wandering around Old Town in San Diego on Monday, January 2nd. We got there around 2PM, and went straight to the Cosmopolitan Hotel for a late lunch. After that we just wandered around checking out the sights, and taking the occasional photo. Heather even had her fortune told by Zoltar, so that she would know just what to expect for the new year. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon walk.

We really like the Cosmopolitan Hotel. They did a great job of restoring the old building, and the food in the restaurant is quite good. I can highly recommend the carnitas.

After lunch we went walking. Zoltar is in a little alleyway off of San Diego Avenue, a block or so outside the State Park boundary. This was probably one of those moments I should learn to use video for. Zoltar told Heather that, among other things, she would live in a tidy environment. Okay, so he doesn't always get it right, but in any event, it is worth the $1.00 to hear what he has to say.

New Year's Day at the San Diego Zoo

2012-01-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

It was sunny and warm in San Diego on New Year's Day, perfect for a short walk around the San Diego Zoo. I spent about an hour and a half at the Malayan Tigers, then moved on to the Pandas for a bit, then up to the Jaguar and Polar Bears. Never did see the Polar Bears, but the others were out for a few pictures.

One of the first stops for most visitors to the Zoo is the Flamingo Pool. Here's a really tight crop from one shot. The sun never gets very high in the sky this time of year, so the light is fairly good all day.

The Malayan Tiger cubs Christopher and Conner were napping when I first got there, but after a half hour or so they got up and started wandering around.

Being cats, they weren't up for long. Watch these two for any length of time and you realize that they're really not all that different from a pair of house cats . . . except maybe that these two would probably be quicker to kill and eat you.

After a while Rochelle the keeper showed up with a tray of beef heart chunks, and that got their attention. She also had a couple of special Sunday treats for them . . . whole rats. The adult tigers get whole rabbits on Sundays, but that would be too many calories for these little guys, so for now it's rats. Ordinarily I would have a shot of a special tray of food like that, and it was actually quite artistically arranged with the rats curved around the bowl of beef heart chunks, but it was just too crowded for me to change lenses. The 300mm lens I was shooting with has a 10' minimum focus distance, and I was standing right next to the keeper. Oh well, maybe it's better that way.

I never noticed before, but it seems that Bai Yun, the female Panda, and I share the same birthday. She's a lot younger than I am though.

The Jaguar was up in the tree when I first got there.

I found some great light on a small cactus at one point.

All in all it was a pretty nice day for a walk around the Zoo, even if I didn't get to see any Polar Bears. That was not for lack of trying, mind you, I did walk up there, but they were no place to be seen.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on Sunday, January 1, 2012.

Wandering In The Desert On The Last Day Of The Year - Anza Borrego - Dec 31, 2011

2012-01-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

I got together with a few friends from San Diego DSLR and we took a drive out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park on Saturday for some exploring and photography. We started out in the northern part of the Park, and checked out 17 Palms Oasis and 5 Palms Oasis. 5 Palms is down to 4 these days, but 17 Palms seems to have a few than it's name would suggest. It was sunny and clear out there, but with a lot of dust in the air from all the activity over at the Ocotillo Wells OHV Area. Here are a couple from 17 Palms.

5 Palms is just a single clump of trees, from a distance you can't really tell just how many trees there are.

The ground all around 5 Palms, like much of the Borrego Badlands, has the look of elephant hide. It's a very soft layer of dirt several inches thick. When it falls away it looks almost like it was a skin.

From the oases we traveled east over to an area called the Pumpkin Patch, inside the OHV area. Unlike the State Park, which was pretty quiet, the OHV was bustling with activity. There were dirt bikes and ATVs everywhere. It was loud, dusty, and quite festive. Some of the quads looked like they would be a lot of fun to try.

After a brief stop we turned back towards Anza Borrego State Park, and wound up passing through one of the most barren parts of the Badlands that I've seen yet.

After a bit even the fairly sparse vegetation seemed to disappear, and for a while it seemed like maybe we were driving on the Moon.

After a while we came out of the Badlands and turned south towards San Felipe Wash. From there we drove up very sandy Blow Sand Canyon and onto a little ridge route called the Goat Trail. It was getting late in the day, and the sun was low in the sky, which made for some very nice views. All the sand and dust in the air pretty much blocked out the details in the distance, but the weather was perfect, so we weren't all that bothered.

This next shot really is straight out of the camera, no manipulation. The sun was very low in the sky and illuminating this one bush, but all of the ground behind it was in shade because of the low angle.

Here's my Xterra on the Goat Trail.

We had a brief bit of color in the sky after the sun went down.

Here's one of the last photos of the day, on the last trail of the day, on the last day of the year. It's time to start planning for 2012 trips.

Weather wise it was a pretty spectacular day out there, except maybe for all the dust and haze in the air. Still, with no wind, and temps in the mid-70's, it was very nice.

Click here to see more images from Anza Borrego Desert State Park on Saturday, December 31, 2011.

And, Happy New Year everyone!

Christopher and Conner (Malayan Tiger Cubs)

2011-12-26T23:25:00.000-08:00

I stopped by the San Diego Zoo this morning. I was only there for about an hour, but I managed to get a few shots of Christopher and Conner, the 9-month old Malayan tiger cubs.

They really are pretty good looking cats.

Merry Christmas - Holiday Lights at the Hotel del Coronado

2011-12-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

Heather and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year.

We like to visit the Hotel del Coronado this time of year to see all the decorations and lights. As we did last year, we joined a small group from our local photo club (sandiegodslr.org) for an evening of photos and dinner. Here are a few more images from that evening. The view of the setting sun from the hotel is always nice.

The hotel itself is lit with hundreds (probably more like thousands) of lights this time of year.

Long after the sun had set you could still see an orange glow in the distance over by the end of Point Loma. That tiny speck of light at the end of the point is the Point Loma Lighthouse.

The Grinch statue is one of several Dr. Seuss character sculptures on display at the hotel.

Click here to see a few more images from our trip to the Hotel del Coronado on Saturday, December 17, 2011.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 8) - Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona

2011-12-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

We like variety on our road trips. On this trip we stayed in quite a variety of lodgings, from the modern Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to the early 1900's cabin at Bright Angel Lodge. The Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale was built in 1956, in the Modernism style. It was completely renovated a few years back, but keeping the now very popular Modernism, or Mid-Century Modern, style very much intact.

The blue mood lighting over the bath was pretty cool.

There were a few things we specifically wanted to do while in the Phoenix area. One of those, the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, has one of the best collections of Native American art anywhere.

The other thing we were looking forward to was a walk around the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale. It had snowed in Scottsdale a couple of days earlier, but by Wednesday it was quite nice, and a beautiful day for a late afternoon walk around the Garden.

There was a series of slightly-larger-than-life insect sculptures placed around the garden. Okay, maybe way-larger-than-life. Anyone remember the 1954 sci-fi classic "Them"?

The late afternoon sun made for some great light for photos.

Heather took this next one, and I think it's one of my favorites from the garden.

Since it was close to Christmas they did have some decorations going, including a Santa hat on the Preying Mantis.

On our way back to the hotel on Wednesday we took a little walk around the downtown Scottsdale Art District, checking out the art and taking a few pictures through the windows.

On Thursday morning it was time to head home to San Diego. We had a big breakfast at the hotel before heading out across the desert. For some reason I didn't take as many pictures of our meals on this trip as I usually do, but Heather's stuffed french toast looked too good to pass up.

Well that gets us to the end of our little 10-day road trip. We had a great time, met a lot of interesting people, and saw a lot of interesting things along the way.

Click here to see more images from around Scottsdale, Arizona.

Click here to see more images from the Heard Museum and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 7) - Cliff Dwellings at Walnut Canyon and Montezuma's Castle National Monuments

2011-12-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

Heather and I hiked the Island Trail at Walnut Canyon National Monument in 1994, and we were looking forward to seeing it again. There was enough ice on the trail that the Park Service had closed about half of the trail for safety reasons (the part on the north side that didn't get any sun), but we were still able to get out to the most impressive parts. The trail starts out at the top of the canyon and drops steeply down a series of steps to the "island".

This is a part of the Island Trail that wasn't too icy - I wonder what the other side was like. Probably a good idea to close what they did though, that trail is a narrow shelf in spots, with a fairly deep drop off.

After a while you get to a series of cliff dwellings that have a most impressive view.

On the way back up you can see other dwellings across the canyon.

If you're anywhere near Flagstaff, Arizona this small National Monument is well worth a visit.

Continuing south towards the Phoenix area, we made another stop,this time at Montezuma's Castle National Monument. This cliff dwelling was open to the public until the early 1950's, today you have to see it from the trail below. It's a little hard to tell in these pictures, but it has 5 stories of living space.

This too is worth a stop if you're driving south on I-17 between Flagstaff and Phoenix.

After a full day of sightseeing, starting from Grand Canyon in the morning, stopping to see the Flintstones at Bedrock City, and then two different cliff dwelling sites, we pulled into the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Arizona a little after dark, where we would stay for the last two nights of our trip.

Click here to see more images from Walnut Canyon National Monument and from Montezuma's Castle National Monument.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 6) - Bedrock City (Arizona)

2011-12-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

The southwestern US has all sorts of roadside attractions (otherwise known to some as "tourist traps"). Some of them are better than others. Bedrock City, located about halfway between I-40 at Williams and Grand Canyon, has to be one of the most entertaining. I've heard it was built in 1972, and I'm not sure they've done much to it since. Heather and I drove up to it in 1994, but we didn't go inside then. We did this time. The Flintstones was always one of my favorites, and still is even today.

I tried to call in to the office to check my voice mails, but for some reason it didn't work.

We were the only ones there, and it didn't take us long to come to the conclusion that the light covering of snow on the ground probably helped the appearance of the place greatly. Still, it was worth the $4 each to get in just for the high entertainment factor.

After we checked out all the buildings, and went across the street to fuel up the Xterra, it was time to move on. Our next stops would be at Walnut Canyon and Montezuma's Castle National Monuments, to check out the cliff dwellings. Our final stop for the day was Scottsdale.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more images from Bedrock City in Arizona.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 5) - Grand Canyon

2011-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

After a day of driving between Zion National Park and Grand Canyon National Park, we arrived at Bright Angel Lodge a little after dark. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant and settled into our little cabin for the night. Outside, Grand Canyon was experiencing record low temperatures, but the cabin was warm and dry. In the morning, we woke up to this.

I've only been to Grand Canyon once before, in about late May of 1994. I don't remember much except for crowds. Now that I've been there off-season, I'm sure that this is the time to go there. The views there are always impressive, but the snow really makes it. Temps were in the mid-20's during the day, and single digits at night, but there was plenty of sun on Monday to make it a great day for a long walk along the rim of the Canyon. We kept hearing that the low temps were record setting, so maybe it's not normally quite that cold in early December. We are thinking that either Grand Canyon or Zion might be a fun place to go for Christmas one of these years.

In between our walks along the rim trail we stopped to check out the various historic buildings, including the El Tovar Hotel, the Bright Angel Lodge, the Hopi House and the old Santa Fe Train Station. Here's a shot of the Hopi House. Designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Coulter, it was built by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1905, and managed by their concessionaire, the Fred Harvey Company. The building was intended to be a marketplace for Native American crafts, and it's still used for that today. Colter also designed the Bright Angel Lodge in 1935, and several other historic buildings in the area.

The El Tovar Hotel, also built by the railroad, opened in 1905. It was, and still is, marketed as a destination hotel. The dining room is reservations-only for dinner, all year round. We had dinner there on Monday night.

Tourists have been arriving at the El Tovar by train from Willams, Arizona since the early 1900's. Today the line, and the lodges, are run by Xanterra Resorts, which does a very nice job of providing accommodations and food service. Every meal we had in Zion (they run that one as well) and Grand Canyon was excellent, and good value for the money as well. Same for the lodging.

There is a 3/4 mile long section of the rim trail that is now a geology tour of sorts. All along the paved path there are plaques, signs and rock samples that take you through the geological history of the Canyon, describing the various layers of rock going from oldest to newest. The National Park Service did a great job with this.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Grand Canyon. Was it better than Zion? Hard to say, they are both special, and in a way the opposite of each other. At Zion we were down in the bottom of the deep narrow canyon (except for our hike up to Scout Landing) looking up - at Grand Canyon we were on the rim of the canyon looking down.

As we walked back to our cabin to get ready for dinner we could see the Moon rising over the El Tovar Hotel in the distance. A little later that evening we walked back over to the El Tovar and had a great meal in their dining room.

On Tuesday morning we would leave Grand Canyon and head south towards Scottsdale for our last two nights on the road, with a few stops along the way of course.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more images from our stay in Grand Canyon National Park.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 4) - From Zion to Grand Canyon

2011-12-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

We left Zion National Park on Sunday morning, heading east on UT 9 and then south on US 89. Our route would take us through Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, across the Colorado River via the steel-arch bridge at Glen Canyon Dam, through Page, AZ and into the Navajo Nation until we got to AZ 64 and the road that would take us to the east entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. It's about a 260-mile drive, and we added on a bit more with a little off-road detour outside of Kanab.

The stormy weather of the last few days cleared out overnight, and Sunday was a beautiful day for a drive across the high desert. The eastern side of Zion National Park looks very different than the Virgin River canyon where the Lodge is. We saw a group of bighorn sheep alongside the road as we were leaving the Park. People were doing some really stupid things in the roadway to get a look at them. We kept moving.

Heading south on US 89 outside of Kanab, UT the scenery changes again. From the 1930's to the 1990's over 300 movies and TV shows (mostly Westerns) were filmed in the Kanab area. One of the filming locations was a set comprised of 3 buildings, at a site called Paria, very near the location of late-1800's town of Pahreah. The site is about 5 miles north of the highway, down a graded dirt road. The sets were destroyed by fire a few years back, and all that remains of the original town is the cemetery. We spent some time exploring around there. It seemed as if we were the only people for miles around.

We made a brief stop at the Visitor Center for Grand Staircase/Escalante NM, and then continued on south to the Visitor Center for the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, Arizona. You get a nice view of the dam from the old steel-arch bridge.

We got out and stretched our legs a bit with a walk across the bridge and back, and then stopped into the Visitor Center.

One of the great things about traveling the way we do is all of the interesting people we come across. When we stopped at the Grand Staircase Visitor Center one of the people working there introduced himself, and told us about how many dinosaurs they have been finding in the National Monument lately. He told us his name was Merle Graffam and mentioned that he had discovered the toe of a previously unknown species, and that it had been named after him. He insisted that we stop at the Glen Canyon Visitor Center to see his dinosaur, Nothronychus Graffami, so we did. Here he (the dinosaur) is.

About 5 miles south of Page, AZ the road gets to a spot that is just a 3/4-mile walk to a sharp bend in the Colorado River. Known as Horseshoe Bend, the drop off is a very abrupt 1,000'. There are no guardrails or anything, really, the trail just sort of ends at this view.

US 89 continues south through the Navajo Nation, crossing over Antelope Pass, with some spectacular views along the way.

By the time we got to AZ 64 and started heading east towards the village on the south rim of the Grand Canyon it was getting dark, and the road was getting icy. We saw a beautiful orange sunset as we climbed up towards the Park entrance, and then later we spotted a mountain lion and some elk along the road. I was concentrating more on not running off the road on the ice than I was on taking pictures, so nothing to show. By the time we got to our little cabin at Bright Angel Lodge it was dark, but with the half-moon or so we could still see that we were only about 50 yards from the rim of the Grand Canyon.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more pictures from the part of our drive between Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 3) - Zion National Park

2011-12-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

I think that Zion National Park has to be one of the most amazing places I've seen in the US. It's a very narrow canyon with very steep walls. This time of year the canyon floor doesn't get a lot of sunlight, but since the elevation is only about 4,000' it doesn't get all that cold (relatively speaking anyway). We spent 2 nights at the Zion Lodge. There are lots of good reasons to visit Zion in the off-season, including the lack of crowds and the fact that you can drive your own car into the Park. The food and rooms at the Zion Lodge are great, and quite a bargain this time of year. On our first day there we hiked the Emerald Pools trail. It was cold and a little dark at times with all the clouds, but we got some great views.

There can be a lot of water flowing from the Middle Pool over the edge of the cliff to the Lower Pool. Most of it misses the trail, making for a nice little waterfall, but enough gets through to make one stretch fairly muddy.

We woke up Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow in the canyon, and even more up in the higher elevations. We walked the Riverside Trail in the morning, up to the start of The Narrows, the point where the Virgin River fills up the gorge, and the only way through is to walk in the river itself.

In a sort of last minute decision, we decided to see how far up the trail to Angel's Landing we could get. It was 3:00PM by the time we finished the 2-mile climb up to Scout Landing, so we decided to save the last 1/2 mile to the top of Angel's Landing for another time and head back down. Maybe when there is not as much ice on the trail. Here are some shots from the way up and back.

The trail starts down by the river and works its way up the sandstone cliffs. It's a well maintained, mostly paved, mostly shelf trail that switchbacks its way up. I'm still wondering who got stuck hauling all that concrete up there.

The last portion of the trail before Scout Landing is a 1/4-mile stretch of 21 short, steep switchbacks called Walter's Wiggles. It's too steep to get all of it in one picture.

We turned around at Scout Landing, a little past this point. What a view.

Looking down, about halfway back down the trail.

At one point I found a convenient rock to rest my camera on.

As we were walking back to the Lodge at the end of the day we caught a glimpse of the Moon rising over the canyon wall, as the Sun set in the opposite direction.

Zion National Park is a pretty amazing place. Anyone who has not been there really should get there at least once. We would like to go back again. In speaking with the staff at the Zion Lodge, it sounds like early November would be a great time to be there, with a lot more color in the trees. That said, early December was still a great time, as it didn't get uncomfortably cold, and the light dusting of snow was beautiful.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more images from Zion National Park.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 2) - Valley of Fire State Park (NV) and Southern Utah

2011-12-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

When we pulled out of Las Vegas on Thursday morning the temperature had dropped about 25 degrees from what it was the day before, it was raining off and on (mostly on) and it was very windy. Our end point for that day was St. George, UT, about 150 miles north of Las Vegas, NV. We planned to take most of the day to get there, stopping off in Valley of Fire State Park along the way.

The drive north on I-15 from Las Vegas was pretty ugly, but after about 50 miles or so we turned off on to NV 169 and things got a lot better really quickly. You can't see any of the red rocks that give the park its name, but this shot pretty much sums up how Heather and I do our road trips.

Valley of Fire is Nevada's oldest State Park, founded in 1935. The visitor center is very well done, with lots of informative displays. The park gets its name from the red sandstone formations that jut up from the surrounding desert, making it look like a red island in a sea of brownish-green desert.

No trouble spotting the black Xterra in the sea of red sandstone.

This area has been inhabited for many years. We visited several pictograph sites in the park.

We followed the hiking trail out to Mouse's Tank. At some points along the walk the soft sand was as deep as what you would find at the beach, except that it was the same red color as the rocks.

We got to St. George a little after dark. The headwind was so bad going north on 1-15 up through the Virgin River Gorge that I think we dropped down to maybe 12-13 mpg.

On Friday morning we set out for Zion National Park on UT 9. Some great views along the way.

At Rockville we took a little detour south on an unpaved road known as the Smithsonian Butte Scenic Backcountry Byway. We only drove a short portion of this, but found some spectacular scenery along the way.

We arrived at Zion Lodge in time for lunch, and then went for a hike on the Emerald Pools trail.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more images from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. There will be a link to the Zion pictures in the next post.

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 1) - Mojave Preserve, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam & Bridge

2011-12-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

We recently finished up a 10-day 1,600-mile road trip around the Southwest, from 29 November to 8 December. Starting and ending in San Diego, we drove northeast to southern Utah, then back south through Arizona. Our overnight stops were Las Vegas, NV - St. George, UT - Zion National Park - Grand Canyon National Park - Scottsdale, AZ. Along the way we visited the Mojave Preserve, Hoover Dam, Valley Fire State Park (NV), Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument (UT), Glen Canyon Dam, Horseshoe Bend, Bedrock City (AZ), Walnut Canyon and Montezuma's Castle National Monuments, the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale.

Most people make the drive from San Diego to Las Vegas in just over 5 hours. We took considerably longer than that, by detouring through the Mojave National Preserve. Our first stop was the old train station in Kelso. The National Park Service has done a beautiful job of restoring the old 1920's-vintage station, including the lunch counter, which serves a very good sandwich.

The late afternoon light along Morningstar Mine Road was pretty nice. Even though we planned to stay in hotels the entire trip, and stick mostly to paved roads, we took the Xterra. It's nice to be able to just take off on some little side road, paved or unpaved, when we spot something interesting along the way. We had food, water and camping supplies for 2-3 days in case it was needed.

We got quite a variety on our first day out. After we checked into our room at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas we made our way over the Venetian, where we had dinner in the bar area at Zefferino's so that we could visit with old family friend Joe Vento while he played the piano. Joe and my father were the best of friends - they met when my father came to the US from Sicily in 1937.

The hotels were all decorated up for the holiday season, but the crowds were pretty thin. More people started showing up as we were leaving town on Thursday morning, but those first few days of the week immediately following Thanksgiving are really quiet. That makes for some real bargains in room rates though.

While we were in Las Vegas I took a side trip over to see Hoover Dam and new US 93 bypass bridge. The bridge, which is known as the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, was only recently opened in late 2010. It now carries all through traffic on US 93, and the roadway over Hoover Dam is now only open to tourists, and you have to turn around and come back the same way after crossing. The new bridge has a very nice pedestrian walkway, complete with panels describing how it was built and who it is dedicated to. The road bed sits about 900' above the Colorado River at the center of the span, and the view of the dam from that point is pretty impressive. The bridge is only about 1,500' downstream from the dam.

They really did a nice job on the pedestrian access to this bridge. You can walk from a specially designed plaza on the Nevada side all the way across (1,600') to the Arizona side. This next shot is taken from partway across, looking back towards Nevada.

Wednesday was a bright, sunny, calm day, which made for a great shadow of the bridge across the narrow canyon looking back from the Arizona side to Nevada. You can just see the dam on the far right side of the frame.

Straddling the Nevada-Arizona State Line, partway across the bridge.

Back on the Nevada side after walking across, here's the view looking over towards Arizona.

Here's one shot to help put this all into perspective. Taken from near the center of the top of Hoover Dam, looking downstream. The first shot in this series was taken from near the center of the bridge looking in the opposite direction.

I didn't take the tour of the interior of the dam - it was such a nice day that I decided to just wander around outside instead. Here's a shot of a sculpture dedicated to the men who built Hoover Dam in the early 1930's.

That giant wind storm that hit the whole southwestern US came through Las Vegas starting just after sunset on Wednesday night (just as I was getting back to the hotel). On Thursday morning we set out for St. George, Utah. It was almost 25 degrees colder than it was the day before, very windy, and with intermittent rain.

To be continued . . .

Click here to see more images from our drive to and our stay in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the first part of our southwestern road trip.

Click here for more images of Hoover Dam and of the new US 93 bridge.

A Few New Tiger Photos (and a Red Panda) - San Diego Zoo

2011-12-15T23:18:00.000-08:00

Since I was up early on Saturday to watch the lunar eclipse I was able to get to the San Diego Zoo not long after it opened. The Malayan Tiger cubs and their mother were out.

Here's mom Mek - she seems to be giving me a somewhat suspicious look.

After a while little (well, maybe not so little any more really, he's up to about 100 lbs. now) Christopher came up and started nuzzling and licking her.

There are actually a few more in this series, you can see them by clicking on the link at the end of this posting.

Here's a shot of Lily, the red panda.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, December 10, 2011.

Lunar Eclipse in San Diego - Saturday, December 10, 2011

2011-12-13T23:28:00.000-08:00

I got up at 4:00AM on Saturday and drove down to the coast at La Jolla where I met some friends from our photo club to get some pictures of the moon in a full eclipse just before sunrise. As I was driving west I could see the moon in the sky ahead of me going into the eclipse. I actually had a pretty good view from the car as I was driving. I got to La Jolla and, along with a bunch of other folks, set up my tripod and took a couple of shots, just in time to see the moon disappear into a rather dense fog bank. Here's the one shot that is even halfway decent. At least I got a little of the orange color that happens when a full lunar eclipse is this low in the sky.

I didn't want to have the trip out there (and the effort to get up that early in the morning) be totally wasted, so I snapped a couple of shots of the waves crashing over the sea wall at the Children's Pool.

After that I wandered off to breakfast with one of my friends, and then headed down to the Zoo. Even if I didn't get any great pictures of the lunar eclipse, it was still fun to be out with a few friends enjoying the sunrise at the shore. There is supposed to be another eclipse like this in three years.

The Living Desert - Palm Desert, California

2011-12-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

The Living Desert is a zoo and botanical garden located in Palm Desert, Califonia. We stopped there on our way home from our Thanksgiving weekend visit to Palm Springs.

Not all of the animals are native to the desert, or even to California for that matter.

They do have a few local animals as well, like a whole herd of Peninsula Bighorn Sheep.

There is also a great model train exhibit, with lots of interesting detail.

Click here to see more images from our visit to The Living Desert on Sunday, November 27, 2011.

Palm Springs Art Museum

2011-12-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

Next stop after our visit to the Air Museum was the Palm Springs Art Museum. The collection is primarily modern art, and the building itself is quite something. One of their most recognizable pieces is Spot, the dog.

Here's Heather, contemplating the meaning of life, or the painting, or something like that.

The cafe at the museum is quite good, and a great place for lunch when visiting Palm Springs.

Click here to see more images from our visit to the Palm Springs Art Museum on Saturday, November 26, 2011.

Palm Springs Air Museum

2011-12-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Palm Springs Air Museum houses a great collection of mostly WWII-vintage aircraft, many of which still fly. One of the best parts about a visit to this museum is getting a chance to speak with some of the many volunteer docents on hand. Like the aircraft, many of them are WWII-vintage as well, and some of them flew in the same types of planes that are on display.

They have a B-17 Flying Fortress (that still flies occasionally) on display, and it was open for tours (as long as you were taller than the bomb).

Lots of great artwork on the planes as well.

Click here to see a few more images from our visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum on Saturday, November 26, 2011.

Palm Springs Weekend - Nov 25-27, 2011

2011-12-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

We spent the first part of our vacation this year in Palm Springs, touristing around the area with some good friends who live nearby in Indio. The weather was perfect for a weekend in the desert. We booked a room at the downtown Hilton, which is within walking distance of the shops and restaurants on Palm Canyon Drive.

One of our first stops was the Palm Springs Visitor Center, which is housed in the recently renovated Albert Frey designed former Tramway Gas Station. Frey designed the building in the Modernism style in 1965.

It was pretty crowded out on Palm Canyon Drive on both Friday and Saturday nights. It's a fun place to walk around, people watch, and have a nice meal. We found a good Florentine-style Italian restaurant on Friday, and a Belgian/French one on Saturday. Both were excellent.

We also spent some time at the Palm Springs Air Museum, the Palm Springs Art Museum, and the Living Desert (a cross between a botanical garden and a zoo). I'll put up separate posts for each of those.

Click here to see more images from our general wandering around Palm Springs, as well as a few images from Diamond Lake Reservoir and Shields Date Farm, a couple of places we stopped on our way to Palm Springs.

Thanksgiving Day at the San Diego Zoo

2011-12-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm back from our vacation road trip I can catch up on posting some photos from the last two weeks. Heather and I spent Thanksgiving Day at the San Diego Zoo. They put on a choice of buffet or sit-down dinner, each with a special Thanksgiving menu.

I finally saw Chantek, the Malaysian tapir, doing something other than sleeping.

Lily, the Red Panda, was moving around pretty quickly, but I did manage to get a few shots.

The Rock Hyrax are one of my favorites.

Click here to see more images from Thanksgiving Day 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

Wandering In The Desert - Exploring in Anza Borrego Desert - Sat 19 Nov 2011

2011-11-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

A few of us got together on Saturday to go exploring around Anza Borrego Desert State Park, on the eastern end of San Diego County. We wandered around an area known as Borrego Mountain, traveling up sandy washes, then narrow sandstone canyons, back into the sandy washes, up and over a rutted ridgeline track, and finally north across the edge of the badlands - getting back to pavement a little after a spectacular sunset.

Here we are lined up in a narrow sandy wash right near the spot where the Anza expedition was said to have made camp in 1774.

My friend Robert snapped a picture of me driving over a rocky spot in Borrego Mountain Wash.

Looking north towards the badlands, there's not much but desert all the way to the mountains in the distance.

As you come to the crest of this hill, which is on a trail called The Goat Trail, all you can see is sky over your hood. I wonder how they came up with the name.

Earlier in the day we drove into the narrow canyon you can see at the bottom of the picture and found a spot for a lunch break.

Our vehicles parked on the ridgeline trail overlooking the slot canyon in the shot above.

Looking north across the Borrego Badlands towards Fonts Point, as the sun gets low in the sky behind us.

About 1/3 mile from the end of the last trail we stopped for a bit to admire the sunset.

It may look pretty, but it is still the desert. These things can hurt.

We got to the pavement just as it was getting dark. We re-inflated our tires and headed for home. Another great day in the desert.

For anyone who is interested in the specifics of the route we took - we started out crossing the Borrego Sink area and heading eastward into San Felipe Wash. We turned south into Borrego Mountain Wash and drove that until the point where it becomes too narrow to drive, then walked for a bit up The Slot. We drove back out Borrego Mountain Wash the same way we came in, then turned east in San Felipe Wash until we got to Blow Sand Canyon. We followed that up to the Goat Trail, taking that west to its end at Buttes Pass Road. We took Buttes Pass south to the spot overlooking The Slot, then turned around and came back the same way, taking Buttes Pass north to its end in San Felipe Wash. We continued east again, this time until we got to Military Wash, which we took north to its end, then jogged east until we hit Fault Wash, which we took north to where it ends in Arroyo Salado. From there it was east again for a short distance to Ella Wash, which took us north to the pavement on County Road S-22.

Click here to see more images from Anza Borrego Desert State Park on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

Point Loma Lighthouse at Sunset

2011-11-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

After my walk around the Zoo on Sunday I drove out to the Cabrillo National Monument at the end of Point Loma, which is also the site of the old Point Loma Lighthouse. My main reason for going was to try for some shots of the Star of India and the other sailing ships from the Maritime Museum which were out sailing this past weekend. By the time I got there the Star of India had finished her sail and was being towed back into port. Some of the sails were up, but it really wan't all that impressive. The HMS Surprise was out, with most sails up, but running on it's engine as well. It looked kind of funny at one point, with the mainsails blowing backwards as the ship moved forward. You can see a few images of the sailing ships by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

It turned out to be a beautiful evening, so I hung around and took some shots of the lighthouse as the sun went down.

Another beautiful evening in San Diego.

Click here to see a few more images, including the sailing ships from the San Diego Maritime Museum - Star of India, Californian, HMS Surprise, from Sunday, November 13, 2011.

Sunday Morning at the San Diego Zoo

2011-11-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Apparently San Diego got as much rain in the 24 hours up to Saturday evening as it usually gets in the entire month of November. It continued raining during the early evening, and then Sunday morning was bright and clear, and not even all that cold. Perfect day for a walk around the Zoo.

On my way down the Tiger Trail I stopped to check in on the crocodiles, but they were way back in their heated caves. I did spot this one turtle sticking his head up above the surface of the water.

Bullet the Fishing Cat was wandering around, looking rather relaxed now that he has the place to himself. I did have to wait quite a while for him to get into the sun, and then quite a bit longer for him to open his eyes and look towards me.

The Malayan Tiger cubs and their mother were in a jumble in their heated cave. Every now and then one of them would look up for a second, then it was back to sleep.

Here are Christopher (r.) and Conner (l.) out in the sun waiting for some chunks of fresh beef heart.

I spent a couple of hours up with the Polar Bears on Sunday. According to the Zoo website polar bears are patient hunters who will often wait hours for a seal to emerge from an air hole in the ice. It seemed like I had to wait hours to get some of these pictures, but that's part of the fun. Here's Kalluk playing in the water.

Tatqiq seemed like she wasn't sure she wanted to go into the water, but she did eventually.

Kalluk came over to the new feeding area to get some fresh fruits and vegetables from Lindsey.

It took her a while but eventually Tatqiq decided she should join in on the snacks, and swam over to the fence.

Visitors to the Zoo just love to get right up to the glass when the bears are in the water. You do get quite a view if you're in the front row. So does the bear.

Click here to see more images from Sunday, November 13, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

Liberty Station / Former Naval Training Center San Diego - SD-DSLR Monthly Group Shoot - Nov 2011

2011-11-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

We had a nice-sized turnout for our monthly group shoot this morning, despite the rain. We met at Liberty Station, on the site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego. Many of the buildings have been restored and are now used as offices, galleries, shops and restaurants. As usual, we wandered around for a few hours taking pictures and visiting, and then met for lunch.

Since the sky was fairly gray and dull, I concentrated more on smaller objects and details of sorts.

I think these hallways look a lot better at night when the lights are on, but today this was a way to get out of the rain.

There are a few anti-aircraft guns out on display.

For lunch we went to Tin Fish. For anyone visiting San Diego I can highly recommend this restaurant. It's primarily a seafood theme, but with a selection of Portuguese items and a few non-fish items as well. I had the Ervilhas, a Portuguese stew of sorts, with potatoes, peas and linguica sausage in a light tomato base, served with a poached egg on top.

One of my friends had the brownie for dessert. Of course we had to get some pictures of it.

Click here to see a few more pictures from my morning walk around the former Naval Training Center with the San Diego DSLR Photography Group on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

You can also click here to see photos from the rest of the group. Look under Group Albums.

Renaissance Faire - Escondido, CA - November 6, 2011

2011-11-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

It was cold and gray when we got to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday morning. Many of the participants were quick to point out that the weather was pretty much what one would expect in Olde England, and thus made it quite authentic. I have to say, the shivering did look real.

It's always fun to start out with a visit to the pirates. They're generally the most boistrous group, and since most of the others were still just waking up, even more so. Someone asked this guy if he was the captain. He said no, he had a better job - he's the Keeper Of The Rum. It's always nice to meet someone who enjoys their work.

It rained more than it didn't, and there weren't really all that many people there, so I didn't get a lot of pictures this time. One of the good things about the lack of crowds was that we were able to spend some time talking with the various guild members. The Swiss pike men gave us a great demonstration and history lesson on the use of the pike as a weapon, and on the history of the Swiss as mercenaries.

Along the way I stopped to visit with the Vikings. They were all sitting at a table in their camp playing a game of dice.

They explained to me that they craft much of their own clothing and furniture, since you can't just go down to the local store and pick up authentic looking Viking clothing. At least, I think that's what they were saying - I'm not sure I understand old Norse all that well. They could just as easily have been telling me that they planned to plunder my home and cart off my women and sheep. Maybe giving them my card wasn't such a good idea after all.

I think this was one of the Spanish soldiers. He was showing us the suit of armor that he had crafted.

The Germans are always a fun group to check out.

Here are a couple more random shots from the morning. We only stayed until about 1PM, by then it was raining pretty hard. The parade and battle were both cancelled. Check out the links at the bottom of this post to see pictures from the Faire in April of 2011. The sun was shining, and there were a lot more people.

I think one of the most entertaing people of all was the Town Crier. It's worth going to the Faire just to listen to him, especially early in the morning.

Even with the cold, wet (and, as they said, authentic) weather, it was still a lot of fun. The participants are what make these things, and they weren't going to let a little rain (and a lot of mud) ruin their day or ours.

Click here to see more images from the Renaissance Fair in Escondido, CA on Sunday, November 6, 2011.

If you want to see some images from the Renaissance Faire held in the same location in April of 2011, I have 2 blog posts here and here. There are links at the end of each to the galleries as well.

San Diego Zoo - Saturday, Nov 5, 2011

2011-11-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

I spent a good portion of the day wandering around the San Diego Zoo. The air was crisp and clean after a full day of rain.

Bullet the Fishing Cat was moving around quite a bit, mostly down in the front of his habitat where I couldn't get a picture. Finally we went up on the hill, but he really wasn't staying still at all. I only took one shot. With a bit of help, I think it worked. Bullet has got the whole place to himself these days - at least for a little while. Miri has moved to Oklahoma City, and her replacement isn't due in for a bit.

There was some really nice morning light down in the Tiger River canyon.

Funani and her son Adhama were swimming around the pool.

Of course I spent some time with the Malayan Tigers. Here's Mek, watching for piece of beef heart. She caught a few of them in mid-air. Anyone who's watched the original Star Trek TV series will recognize this lighting. Whenever Captain Kirk (William Shatner) was sitting in his chair on the bridge they always seemed to highlight him with a band of light across his eyes.

Mother Mek and son Christopher.

It seems like he's always trying to get his mom's attention.

Here's young Conner.

Here's Danai, the older adult female Malayan Tiger. She was really too close for the lens I was using, and she never stopped moving - so this one's a little different.

Stopped in to see what the Gorillas were up to. Checking the manicure and scratching heads seemed to be the morning agenda.

I think we'll end up this batch with the end of a Polar Bear.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

Scripps - Stephen Birch Aquarium - San Diego

2011-10-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Heather and I went to the Stephen Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD this afternoon. It's always a fun place to wander around for an hour or so. Here are a few pictures from this afternoon.

The jellyfish and the moray eels are two of my favorites to watch. They're also some of the toughest to get good shots of. I think I got lucky today.

I found this colorful little fish in one of the tropical tanks.

Most people seem to walk right past the sand eels. I think they glance into the tank, don't see any fish swimming around, and just keep going.

This was in one of the local waters tanks. Heather spotted it, and said she thought it was pretty cool looking, but neither of us remembered to write down just what it was.

Scripps has a great collection of seahorses, all sorts of varieties including the kind you generally think of, like this one . . .

. . . and then there are the leafy sea dragons - which look like something from Dr. Seuss.

Click here to see a few more images from our afternoon at the Stephen Birch Aquarium.

Another Great Saturday at the San Diego Zoo

2011-10-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Bullet the Fishing Cat was alternating between sitting up high on a ledge watching people and cruising around his habitat this morning. He's pretty good at making use of cover.

When I first arrived at the Malayan Tigers they were all in a jumble, and to most people it looked like they were all sound asleep. But with a closer look you can see that mom Mek was keeping a close eye on all the people while her sons napped.

After a while the little guys wandered down towards the pool at the uppermost viewing area. There were so many people in front of me I couldn't see quite what was going on - but something certainly was happening.

I finally got a good look at the Red Panda, but the mid-day sun makes for some pretty harsh lighting.

This guy has some serious tusks.

The Grevy's Zebras were eating when I first got to them.

After a bit they decided it was time for a roll in the dirt.

I stopped in at the Gorillas briefly, but between the glare on the glass and all the people it's tough to get a decent shot.

I'll finish up this group with my usual last shot - the Crested Screamers. These guys are often my last stop on a day at the Zoo - partly out of convenience and partly because they are just such cool birds to watch. They live with the Flamingos in the large pool right by the entrance and exit. I generally stop at one of the benches there to put away my camera before heading out to the car.

It looks like this is my 200th blog post . . . I'm not sure if that really means anything, but it sounds like a lot.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, October 29, 2011.

Evening Walk Around Little Italy San Diego

2011-10-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night I met up with a couple of friends from San Diego dSLR for a little "photo walk" around San Diego's Little Italy. We wandered around shooting pictures and checking out the various restaurants in anticipation of dinner.

This time of year there are lots of fall and Halloween themed decorations out. The weather was mild, and there were plenty of people out and about.

After dinner we stopped in to my favorite gelato (Italian ice cream) place - Pappalecco, located on the corner of Cedar and State Streets.

What would a walk around any Little Italy be without an Italian market - complete with a big pile of bacalla (salted codfish). (The weird red glare is because I shot this through a window with a big red neon sign in it.)

Click here if you would like to see a few more images from our walk around San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood on Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

San Diego Zoo - Saturday, Oct 22, 2011

2011-10-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Lions . . . and tigers . . . and bears . . . well, okay not bears, but I did see a bearcat. Otherwise known as a binturong. And, not really a bear or a cat - but they are cool looking, even when they're asleep.

The lions were both sleeping as well. Here's Etosha, taking a late-afternoon nap. Every now and then she would open one eye just a bit. Check the link at the end of this post to see a picture of the large male lion M'bari, or at least the little bit of him that I could see.

Keeping with the napping theme, here's Danai, one of the adult female Malayan Tigers. I wound up staying almost all day, and found her on my way up Tiger River at about 5:30pm. It was actually a lot darker there than it looks in this shot.

One guy who was definitely not napping was Guapo the male Jaguar. He was pacing back and forth like an expectant father - which from what I've heard is exactly what he is. His girlfriend Nindiri is due to give birth any day now. There are a few more pictures of Guapo at the link below. He's a bit blurry looking through the dirty glass, but you get the idea.

Late in the afternoon is a great time to see the hippos. When I got to the Zoo early in the morning, mom Funani and son Adhama were just hanging out by the glass, not moving, and I didn't even try to get past the crowds to get close. By the end of the day they were out cruising around their pool.

I caught these two Grevy's Zebras when they stuck their heads up from the feed trough.

At one point I stumbled on to a duck feeding frenzy.

The light was really nice all day. There was a bit of fog in the air which diffused the sunlight nicely. All of the shots above were taken in the late afternoon. The next few were taken earlier in the day, starting with this Flamingo shortly after I arrived.

I spent the first 4 hours or so of the day just hanging out with the Malayan Tiger cubs and their mother. As usual, the cubs alternated between lounging around . . .

. . . chasing each other around . . .

. . . and sometimes really annoying their mother.

I thought last weekend was going to be the last time I would get to see Miri the Fishing Cat. It turns out she's now leaving for her new home this coming week, and she was out all day on Saturday. I guess "out" is a relative term with fishing cats - they don't seem to like just sitting around out in the open. They usually seem to be hiding someplace where they can watch but not be easily seen. When they are out in the open they're generally moving pretty quickly.

I must have spent over an hour at her little habitat on Saturday, but it was worth it. She really is a photogenic cat - when you can see her.

Here's one last shot, and appropriately one of the last shots I got before leaving for the day. The Crested Screamers that live at the big Flamingo pool near the Zoo entrance were chasing other birds away from their nests.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, October 22, 2011.

Some San Diego Zoo Images From This Weekend

2011-10-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

It seems like I spent most of this weekend at the San Diego Zoo, and most of that at the Malayan Tigers. I'm not quite sure why, but I find it quite relaxing wandering around the Zoo taking pictures. I'll often spend an hour or two in one place, especially with the tigers, waiting for something good to happen. I rarely try to cover the whole Zoo, unless I'm showing an out-of-town guest around, but instead concentrate on just a few animals.

Christopher and Conner were sitting way up in the back of the habitat on Saturday morning, just watching the people walk by. Many of them didn't even notice the little beasties were there at first.

The little guys wrestled around with each other a bit, played with Mom for a bit, and finally came towards the front when the keeper showed up with some food for them. Here's Christopher watching intently.

Bullet the Fishing Cat was out and wandering around looking for bits of food the keeper had placed around his habitat.

The Malayan Tapir was in her usual morning spot. She doesn't move a whole lot during the day (since tapirs are nocturnal). Evenings in the summer are best time to see her up and about.

I got there a little earlier on Sunday morning than I did on Saturday. It was still a little overcast, which meant some great light on the Flamingos.

Christopher, Conner and their mom, Mek, were all three napping in the little alcove next to the pond at the uppermost viewing area. It's pretty dark in there, but I managed to get a few shots. I had to get down on the ground to get eye level with them. He was almost too close for my lens to focus.

Mom was sitting furthest back in the cave, watching - both the cubs and the people. I certainly don't know this cat all that well, but I have a feeling that look on her face is the "I wonder just how many of these people I can eat in one sitting?" look.

After a while they wandered up the hill, and then all 3 started chasing each other around. More accurately, I think it was Mek chasing the cubs around.

When the keeper showed up with some beef heart they changed their attention from each other to the tasty snacks. Here's a shot of Conner this time.

On my way out I stopped to see if the Johnston's Crocodiles were in a good spot. I watched the darker one for quite a while, and then the lighter one crawled over and lined up behind him. The glass is really dirty, and there's a lot of glare and reflection on it, but these guys are fun to watch regardless.

Here's one last shot, a young Mandrill.

Click here to see more images from Saturday and Sunday, October 15 & 16, 2011, at the San Diego Zoo, including a couple close up shots of Mek that you would not ordinarily see, and a lot more of the 3 tigers wrestling around together.

Sunday Morning Walk Around The San Diego Zoo

2011-10-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

I spent several hours wandering around the Zoo today, most of it either at the Tigers or the Polar Bears and the Arctic Fox. The Malayan Tiger cubs were playing up in the tree at one point, while Mek, their mother, sat up on the hill and watched.

Once Rochelle got there with some fresh meat they focused their attention to where we were standing.

On my way up to see the polar bears I stopped by the large bird pool at the bottom of the hill. This Lesser Flamingo was mixed in with a group of Caribbean Flamingos. It's pretty amazing the way they can turn their heads almost completely around and bury their beaks in their feathers, all while standing on one leg.

These two are White-Breasted Cormorants - I don't know why they're called that, I don't see any white.

The Egrets are local birds, they pop in and out of the Zoo whenever they want.

On my way up the hill I stopped for a bit to watch the Grevy's Zebras.

Tucked away in a corner out behind the Polar Bear is a small enclosure with a couple of Arctic Foxes. I hardly ever get a good look at them - they're usually either up against the back fence watching the Polar Bears, or hiding back in a cave. Today they were both out and even moving around some. This one looks to missing part of an ear.

Their fur changes color to adapt to the season or where they are, from white to grayish-brown. There's one of each color out right now.

The Polar Bears at the Zoo are one of the toughest animals to get a good photo of. They're behind a very thick piece of glass, which is generally quite dirty, and has lots of reflections on it.

The bear was sitting up on a rock ledge not doing much, but I was in no hurry so I hung out for a while and just watched. After a bit a keeper showed up and began feeding fruits and vegetables to the bear. I saw carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and even grapes. I've been told that they also feed them raw meat, but do that in the back off exhibit.

It looks like they get along pretty well.

On my way out of the Zoo I went back up Tiger River so that I could get one last look at both Paka and Miri. Paka, the male Malayan Tiger, and the father of the 2 cubs here, is moving to Fresno in a few days. They've arranged a new girlfriend for him, and hopefully he'll father a few more cubs. When I first got back to the habitat he was up on the hill watching from behind a rock.

Every now and then he would stick his head up for a better view.

Miri, the female Fishing Cat, is on her way to another zoo in a few days as well. The plan is to breed her with another cat since Bullet didn't seem all that interested in her. She was sitting in her favorite little cave watching the people walk by. Someone conveniently dropped something loud, and she perked up for this shot.

Last stop on the way out was the big Flamingo pool right by the entrance.

The Flamingos must have gotten too close to something, because the Crested Screamers that share the habitat with them were just going nuts. They were working together trying to herd a group of Flamingos out of the way.

Click here to see more images from Sunday, October 9, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

A Little Road Trip Across The Desert

2011-10-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

I attended a conference for work in Las Vegas earlier this week, and decided to drive out there from San Diego rather than fly. Two of us from the office drove out on Wednesday morning, just in time to catch most of the rain heading up the Cajon Pass. There was pretty much no visibility until we got out past Victorville. At Barstow we turned off from I-15 (the route that goes straight to Las Vegas) and headed east on I-40 until we got to Kelbaker Road. From there we drove north through the Mojave Preserve, first to the restored train station a Kelso, then northeast across the Preserve until we connected back up with I-15 just west of the Nevada border. Not long after we got off the freeway we found a little dirt road that went up to a radio tower, and got this view looking out towards the southwest.

They've restored the train station in Kelso, but have not quite gotten around to the old Post Office yet.

The views from the Kelso-Cima-Nipton road were pretty nice, especially with the storm clouds.

On our way back from Las Vegas on Friday we travelled south on US 95, then west on Old Route 66 for a while, then south to Twentynine Palms. We stopped for dinner in Palm Springs and then headed over the mountains to San Diego.

At Amboy we stopped to check out Roy's, one of the iconic spots along old Route 66. We got there just as a group of German tourists on Harleys were lining up to take a picture in front of the famous sign.

Click here to see a few more shots from our quick trip out to Las Vegas, including one of John in the Kelso jail.

A Few Tiger Pictures From Saturday

2011-10-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Malayan tiger cubs at the San Diego Zoo spent most of the morning Saturday playing around in the water. Every now and then they would chase around the rest of their habitat.

Mom alternated between ignoring them, hanging out near them at the pool, and occasionally wandering around on her own. She can go from being a peaceful looking, almost friendly cat to looking like a total psycho in no time at all.

Here's little Conner biting his brother Christopher on the back.

This last shot is pretty blurry, and is actually only a small portion of the original frame. All three cats were up at the very top of the habitat, way in the corner. The size of the paws and the extended claws on Conner reminded me of the Puss-N-Boots character from Shrek.

Click here to see more images of the Malayan tigers from Saturday, October 1, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

Fishing Cats - San Diego Zoo

2011-10-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

I spent a few hours on Saturday morning at the Zoo, mostly watching the Malayan tiger cubs chase each other around in the water. I'll put up some pictures of them later. When I first stopped by the Fishing Cats on my way down Tiger River, Miri was sitting up on her favorite spot just watching.

The one I've never been able to get good pictures of in the past is Bullet, the male. On Saturday I got lucky. After spending quite a while with the tigers, I stopped by the Fishing Cat enclosure again on my way out. I watched Miri for close to 30 minutes but she barely moved, so finally I decided lunch was more important. Right before I got to the Zoo exit I ran into the keeper who takes care of Miri and Bullet. She had a bowl of fresh meat in her hand, and said she was on her way to give Bullet a snack. She was going to pull Miri in off exhibit, places chunks of meat in various spots around the enclosure, and let Bullet out so that he would have something to go looking for.

Bullet weighs about 25 lbs but doesn't really look all that big. He moves pretty fast too.

He's spotted a piece of meat on the log that crosses the pond.

I think this next one is my favorite shot of Bullet so far.

Click here to see more pictures of Miri and Bullet, and a bunch of shots of the Malayan tigers as well, from Saturday morning, October 1, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

Miramar Air Show 2011

2011-10-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

New Photos Added 10/8/11: Here are some more images from the MCAS Miramar Air Show 2011. One of the first planes up on Friday was the B-25 Mitchell bomber. This particular aircraft was built in 1944-45, and has been restored to its original condition, complete with operable bomb bay and a Norden bombsight.

After watching the B-25 we decided to walk around the static exhibits for a bit, including climbing inside an MV-22a Osprey. Here's the cockpit. Looks complicated.

The Marines keep a rescue helo fired up and ready to go immediately.

The Air Force brought out an F-16 Viper.

Here's a shot of the Heritage Flight - an F-16 Viper along side a WWII-ear P-51 Mustang.

After the F-16 it was time for the F/A-18 Super Hornet. That's condensing water vapor, not smoke, coming off the wings.

I didn't quite get the full donut-shaped ring of vapor when the F/A-18 got up to just below Mach 1, but I came close. I saw it clearly with my eyes, which meant that my camera didn't get it. Oh well, it was still fun to see it that close. The bright sun produced all sorts of color effects in the vapor.

The Navy called this one a Legacy Flight - an F/A-18 Super Hornet along side an F-6F Hellcat from WWII.

All in all it was a great day to be out at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar with a bunch of friends and a whole lot to see.

If you scroll further down this page I have separate posts for the Blue Angels, the Oracle Challenger Bi-Plane, and the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) demonstration, each with links to their own galleries with more images.

Click here to see more images from the MCAS Miramar Air Show 2011. Note that these are not the same pictures as in the galleries linked in the other posts.

Miramar Air Show 2011 - The Blue Angels

2011-10-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

The Blue Angels shows always start out with Fat Albert, the C-130T Hercules transport that is used to carry all of their maintenance and support personnel and supplies. Unfortunately they ran out of Jet-Assisted Take-Off (JATO) bottles in 2009, so we don't get to see those spectacular jet-assisted take-offs any more. It's still an impressive aircraft to watch fly.

The Blue Angels have been performing for 65 years. These days they're flying F/A-18 Hornets, which they get from the fleet once the plane has reached the end of its carrier arrestment functionality. Here's the lead pilot, in Blue Angel One, taxing for take off.

The Diamond Formation. Blue Angel Seven is a two-seater, where they can carry a guest. I imagine it must be quite a ride.

We had really great weather at the air show on Friday, there were some nice clouds to give some character to the sky.

There was also enough moisture in the air to produce some great vapor effects at times.

Quick question - how many planes in this next picture?

Check out the heat mirage coming from the engines in this next shot.

"Maybe if we split up they won't know which one of us is which." I think this is the first time I've seen 2 Blue Angel Sevens in the same show. I think Friday may be considered sort of a practice day, and they were taking the opportunity to give rides to 2 different special guests.

That's it, time to head off into the clouds.

Click here to see more images from the Blue Angel's performance at the MCAS Miramar Air Show 2011 on Friday, September 30, 2011.

Miramar Air Show 2011 - Sean Tucker's "Oracle Challenger III"

2011-10-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

This little plane can really move. It may be a bi-plane, but it's made from very modern materials including kevlar and titanium. I don't know just how fast he's flying during most of the show, but for the pass through the 2 poles to slice up the ribbons which are 25 feet off the ground, he's moving at 220 mph.

You can see the bits of ribbon still in the air after he's sliced through them with his wings.

Click here to see more images of Sean Tucker flying the Oracle Challenger III at the MCAS Miramar Air Show 2011.

Miramar Air Show 2011 - Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Demonstation

2011-10-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

One of just about everyone's favorites at the Miramar Air Show is the demonstration assault on the air field by the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). We were pretty much front and center for this on Friday.

From the description in the Air Show program:

"MAGTF's are self-sustaining combined-arms forces organized to accomplish specific missions. Each MAGTF is made up of four elements: Command, Ground Combat, Aviation Combat and Combat Service Support. . . Within a matter of days a MAGTF can arrive anywhere in the world, and can immediately set out to accomplish its mission. . . This highly trained team is also an extremely effective disaster relief unit, delivering supplies, offering medical aid, assisting in rebuilding efforts and saving lives."

It all starts out with the jets flying in to take a look around, then the AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18s refuel from the KC-130 tanker, and the assault is on.

A UH-1Y Huey drops in and a group of Marines fast rope to the ground.

Once this first group has completed their task they're extracted from the field by the Huey. All the while the Harriers and F/A-18s are circling overhead, along with a few Cobra gunships, and a pair of MV-22A Ospreys.

A pair of CH-46 Sea Knights come in to drop off supplies, while a Cobra gunship stands guard not far away.

A CH-53E Super Stallion brings in a vehicle.

Meanwhile, additional ground troops are advancing on the air field. . .

. . . along with armored support.

At one point the troops on the ground call on the Harriers, which swoop in and drop napalm on the enemy.

Once the field is secured the Ospreys return, tilt their rotors for landing, and unload their supplies.

Finally, the Harrier comes in for a vertical landing.

After the demonstration the Marines walk down the front of the spectator area to greet the crowd.

Click here to see more images from the MAGTF demonstration at the 2011 MCAS Miramar Air Show.

Big Cats and Little Cats - Malayan Tigers and Fishing Cats at the San Diego Zoo

2011-09-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived at the Malayan tiger habitat this morning little Conner was hanging out on a rock ledge, probably trying to figure out which of the people he had the best chance of catching.

After a while little Christopher came down the hill to see what was going on.

It didn't take him long to get bored, and he went up to the rock ledge to enjoy the view.

I'm told these guys are now up to about 60 pounds, which is more than twice what they were when I first saw them not all that long ago. As I mentioned in the previous post, we stopped here for about 1/2 an hour, wandered around a little and then came back so that we could be there when the keeper tossed some fresh meat to them. Conner seems to be quite the impatient one, here he is screaming at Rochelle to toss him a chunk of beef heart. He was getting really agitated.

Mom was right there of course, she doesn't miss any opportunities for treats. She'll push those little guys right out of her way too.

Time for a break - Conner's worn himself out. The misters at the top of the enclosure must have been on, his fur is all wet.

Mother and son.

Mek might be moving, but she's not taking her eyes off the keeper with the tray of meat.

And now for something a bit smaller - this is Miri, the female fishing cat. Miri lives just up the hill from the tigers. She weighs about 20 pounds, which makes her about 1/10 the size of Mek. She's still just as aggressive though.

Miri is a really fun cat to watch. She seems to like sitting up high in her enclosure watching the people wander by. She reminds me of Aldo, who likes to sit in an upstairs window overlooking the street. When I'm standing at the fishing cat enclosure I'll sometimes hear people say that they think she's just a big house cat and keep going, but she really is special - webbed feet and all. If you want to see her don't wait too long, she's scheduled to move to another zoo in mid-October.

Click here to see more images of Mek, Christopher, Conner and Miri, and even a couple of pretty much unrecognizably blurry shots of Bullet, the male fishing cat, all from Saturday, September 24, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

Saturday Morning Walk - San Diego Zoo

2011-09-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the Zoo right as they opened this morning. It was cool and completely overcast, very unusual for September in San Diego but great for photography. There was a harpy eagle on the stage right by the entrance, so I took advantage of the opportunity to get a shot of one of these without a fence in the way.

While I was waiting for a friend to arrive I wandered over to see what the flamingos were up to. They were all clustered over on one end of the habitat, and pretty excited about the food the keeper was putting out for them.

We spent some time at the tigers, then went down to the hippos, and got there just in time to catch little Funani leaving.

Just kidding. Actually, we did get to watch Funani and his mother swim around for a while. You can see a few more hippo pictures by following the link at the end of this post. We also spent a lot of time at the tigers, I'll put them and the fishing cat in a separate post.

This Malayan tapir has really blue eyes. She was a bit tough to get a good shot of since she was sitting right behind a piece of glass. You can find her on the Tiger Trail, partway between the fishing cats and the tiger, and almost right next door to the albino Burmese python.

When I first got to the polar bears it was so crowded I couldn't really even see the bear that was in the water right up against the glass. Then as I was walking away I found a spot that most people hadn't noticed, and got this great angle to shoot from. There is still a little glare from the glass I had to shoot though, but it wasn't too bad.

On my way out I stopped to get a shot of this Johnson's Crocodile.

Click here to see more pictures from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, September 24, 2011.