San Diego Waterfront & Maritime Museum - SD-dSLR Monthly Group Shoot

We had one of the largest turnouts I think I've seen yet for our monthly Group Shoot on Saturday. We met in front of the Star of India, on the Embarcadero, San Diego's scenic waterfront area. I think there were over 30 of us.


I spent most of the morning in or around the Maritime Museum, while others wandered up and down the waterfront. These first 2 images are from the Star of India sailing ship. The sky was a dull overcast, quite boring, so we tried to find things to shoot that didn't include a lot of sky.

A few of us went on board the Russian submarine. Its periscope was pointed right at the USS Carl Vinson, which was moored just across the Bay.

We all met for lunch at the Elephant and Castle Pub across the street from the Maritime Museum. It's my new favorite place for fish & chips in San Diego.


Click here to see more images from our monthly Group Shoot held on Saturday, August 13, 2011.


Click here to go to the club website to see what the other folks did. 
    

A Few More Tiger Pictures From Saturday Morning

Here are a few more pictures of the Malayan tigers from Saturday morning. Mek and her just over 4-month-old cubs Christopher and Conner. The keepers have set up a misting system at the top of the enclosure for them, so that they have a cool spot to hang out. You can the water droplets on Mek's back in few of the shots.

I guess it's just as tough to get tigers to sit still and pose for a group portrait as it is with people.

After all the excitement of climbing on the fences, chasing down the chunks of beef heart, and generally just being out playing around, the 2 boys decided to find a nice protected shady spot to just hang out for bit.

For more tiger pictures check out the post just before this one, and the link at the bottom of that post to the full gallery.
   

Morning Walk Around the San Diego Zoo - Tigers and More

This was a great morning for a walk around the San Diego Zoo. I met some friends from the local photo club at Tiger River. The cubs Christopher and Conner were out, playing and exploring around the enclosure. When I first arrived they were up towards the top of the hill, I had to shoot this through a piece of not-very-clean glass.

Mom Mek was there as well. Mek knows when it's getting close to 11:30, she heads down to the spot where she knows the keeper will be tossing some sort of tasty treats to her. Here she is watching as a piece of beef heart flies her way.

Here are a few with the little guys in the background. They're up to about 35 pounds now.

The little guys alternated between resting in the bushes and chasing each other around.

Along the way we checked in on the hippos - Funani and her young son Adhama were hanging out at the glass wall napping in the sun. I don't know if hippos actually smile, but little Adhama sure has a contented look on his face.

There were some cool little monkeys out.

We took a quick walk through the Children's Zoo, and found this butterfly.

Back in a seldom-visited corner of the Zoo, not too far from the Children's Zoo area, is the ocelot. He's tough to see, as the caging is pretty thick, but I managed to snag this shot through the cage.

On our way out we stopped in to see one of my favorites, the monitor lizard. I got quite a few shots that I liked, and had a hard time picking which ones to post here. You can see more at the link below (along with a lot more tiger pictures too).

This one has some serious claws.

Click here to see more images from today, Saturday Aug 6, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.
    

Chihuly Bridge of Glass - An Evening Stroll in Tacoma, Washington

We spent last weekend in the Seattle area, with our first night visiting some old friends in Tacoma. After a very nice dinner at Marzano's Italian Restaurant in Parkland we drove over to the Bridge of Glass and walked around for a bit. Here are a few images from on and around the bridge. All of the glass sculptures are done by artist Dale Chihuly.

    

Click here to see more images from our evening in Tacoma, wandering around the Bridge of Glass on Friday, July 29, 2011.

   

(Mostly) Reptiles at the San Diego Zoo

I wandered around the San Diego Zoo today with a couple of friends from out of town. Their main goal was to see the tigers, but before we got to Tiger River we spent some time with the reptiles.


The Komodo Dragon (I guess this is technically a monitor lizard) was up by the glass, watching all the people walk by (and probably wondering which one would make a nice snack).

I think this is some sort of iguana. The red eyes are interesting.

We got there pretty early, so we had time to walk all the way around the outdoor reptile exhibits and the Reptile House. There was some glare on the glass at times, but it's always fun to see the snakes up close . . . when they're behind a strong piece of glass. 

This cobra was pretty cool.

We did see some birds along the way as well, including this one half-hidden behind some bushes.

Finally, some tigers. It was pretty crowded, and even though we stayed at this one spot for over an hour I only took a few shots. I stepped back and let some other people in, but I did manage to get my friend to a prime viewing spot right on the rail, and she got lots of pictures, so we got what we came for. Here's a shot of Mek and one of her 3.5 month old cubs. I'm not sure if this is Christopher or Conner. Either way, I think he's grown a bit since I saw him last week.

Here's a close-up of Mek.

And here's a close-up of Danai, the other adult female Malayan tiger at the Zoo.

We even got to see some great little birds in the hummingbird house.

All in all it was a pretty good day to wander around the Zoo.


Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on Sunday, July 24, 2011, including some interesting shots of the Galapagos Tortoises.
    

Esmeralda - Chilean Navy Tall Ship in San Diego

The Chilean Navy's tall ship Esmeralda was in San Diego for a few days this week. On Friday night after dinner Heather and I took a short walk along the waterfront so that we could take a look at what is said to be the second tallest and longest sailing ship in the world. We were too late to go on board for a tour, and all I had was a compact camera for a quick handheld shot, but at least we did get a look at it. It was tied up at the Cruise Ship Terminal, and the gate to the wharf was closed, so this was about as close as we were going to get.

     

Tigers at the San Diego Zoo

I made a quick trip to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday morning, mostly just to check out the tigers. When I got to Tiger River at 11:00AM the 2 cubs, Christopher and Conner, were napping at the top of the enclosure, pretty much out of sight. Mom tiger Mek must have been checking her watch, because she showed up a few minutes early at the spot where the keeper generally tosses food during the 11:30AM "Keeper Talk". Here she is watching for a chunk of beef heart that is about to be tossed her way.

The boys stayed up at the top of the hill. After finishing her snack Mom went up to have a chat with one of her sons. I'm not sure what they were discussing, but the little guy seems to have that "yeah, Mom . . . whatever" look on his face.

Shortly after that Mek and the boys went in, and Danai, the other adult female tiger, came out into the enclosure.

I only got a few shots this time, not enough to warrant a separate gallery, so no link to more pictures this time.