An Evening View of Downtown San Diego from Coronado

I met up with a few friends on Monday evening to get some pictures of the downtown San Diego skyline from the Ferry Landing at Coronado.  The sun was not quite down yet when I first arrived, and there was a very bright reflection from one of the tall buildings.

Click here to see a few more images of downtown San Diego from Coronado on Monday, September 9, 2013.
     

Weekend in Seattle - Aug 24-26, 2013

Here are a few images from our recent weekend trip to Seattle at the end of August.

A seagull sat right over my head on the umbrella of our table on the deck at the Seattle Yacht Club.

I found these glasses where they were setting up for an afternoon wedding at the Yacht Club.

We went for a walk along the canal that connects Lake Union to Lake Washington, under the Montlake Bridge.

The late afternoon sun lit this flower arrangement on the table at Heather's cousin's house.

After dinner we walked over to downtown Ballard for a chocolate lava cake dessert.

We had dinner on Sunday night at Maneki, one of our favorite Japanese restaurants.

On Monday morning we went back to the International District for dim sum, and walked around for a bit. There are dragons here.

Afterwards we drove up to Volunteer Park to go to the Asian Art Museum, but we forgot it was Monday, and the Museum was closed. The Conservatory was closed as well, but since it was such a nice day outside we weren't all that disappointed. There was still plenty to see and enjoy.

The Dahlia Garden was looking pretty good.

At that point it seemed like more food was in order, so we wandered downtown to Top Pot Doughnuts.

We walked along the waterfront for a bit, checked out the new attractions, and then it was time to head for the airport and our flight home. It was a short trip, but we had a great visit with friends and family, and got to wander around one of our favorite places.

Click here to see a few more images from our weekend trip to Seattle.
    

A Portrait Session With Connor (the Tiger)

When I got to the Malayan Tiger exhibit on the morning of Sunday, August 18 there were not many people there. I got there later than usual, Connor was sitting up in the far corner at the top of the enclosure, and the group of friends that I generally meet up with there had apparently taken off to see if there was perhaps more action at the Leopards. Most of the other zoo visitors who came by took a quick look at Connor sitting way up at the top of the hill and moved on. This is what most people saw during the first half-hour or so that I was there. I did notice at one point, though, that Connor was looking right at me.

After a bit he came slowly down the hill towards me.

He stopped partway down the hill and posed for me - or at least, he stopped partway down the hill, in what turned out to be a great spot for me to get some shots.

After sitting there for a while he came even closer, down to the edge of the cliff, and just sat there.

Click here to see a few more images of Connor, the Malayan Tiger, from Saturday August 18, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo.
      

A Weekend in Seattle - Japanese Gardens

Two of our favorite places to visit while in Seattle are Japanese gardens, one at the UW Arboretum and the other a little south of downtown near Boeing Field called Kubota Garden.  We try to stop at one or both of these each time we visit Seattle, even if only for a short walk.  This last trip we made Kubota Garden our first stop after getting out of the airport.

Located in the Ranier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Kubota Garden covers 20 acres of streams, waterfalls, ponds, rock outcroppings and a mature collection of plant material. It was started on 5 acres in 1927 by Japanese immigrant Fujitaro Kubota.  In 1987 the City of Seattle acquired the property and it is open to the public as a park. We didn't spend a lot of time there this trip, we just wanted a pleasant place to walk for a bit after our plane flight from San Diego.

On Sunday we went for a walk around the Japanese Garden at the University of Washington Arboretum.

       
Click here to see more images from Kubota Garden and the Japanese Garden at the UW Arboretum.
   

Dragonfly

Anyone who follows this blog will notice that I spend a lot of time at the Malayan Tiger enclosure at the San Diego Zoo. Anyone who has been to the San Diego Zoo will know that the tigers aren't always out where people can see (and photograph) them.  In fact, most visitors who aren't willing to wait a while rarely see anything. There is a small group of us who find ourselves there on a regular basis, and we spend a lot more time just hanging out visiting and waiting for something to happen than we do actually taking pictures. The other day, while waiting for a tiger to show up, we spotted this dragonfly. The green background is the sunlit water in the pond at the bottom of the enclosure.

   

A Portrait Session With Tiga (the Tiger)

I mentioned in an earlier post how I had spent pretty much the entire day at the Zoo one Saturday last month, almost all of it at the tiger enclosure, and only got a few shots that I liked. I went back on Sunday morning, and somehow managed to score a several-hour portrait session with Tiga, the San Diego Zoo's young female Malayan Tiger.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Is it appropriate to use the word "demure" when describing a tiger?

Click here to see more images of Tiga from Sunday, July 14, 2013.
     

Comic-Con 2013 - San Diego

Here are a few pictures from Comic-Con International 2013 in San Diego. Heather and I went on Saturday - we didn't have tickets to get inside the Convention Center, but you really don't need to go in. There is so much going on all around the area that you don't feel like you've missed much at all.

There were all sorts of great costumes, and all sorts of great people who really enjoyed being there.

You could get your face painted with war paint at the Mad Max video game exhibit . . .

. . . or lose your head altogether, like the Headless Horseman.

There were promotions for several TV shows, including Bates Motel and Vikings.

It looks they're already working on Sharknado 2, a sequel for Sharknado.

The streets of the San Diego Gaslamp Quarter were filled. This is by far the biggest convention of the year, and draws huge crowds.

Click here to see a few more images from Comic-Con 2013 in San Diego on Saturday, July 20, 2013.