After the rain
Taken on an iPhone after yesterday’s rain. Not my phone. Nor taken by me. But permission to post has been asked and granted (plus I don’t think he had much of a choice anyway). Hope you have a wonderful day.
Filed under: Nature, Southern Cal | 1 Comment
Tags: photography
Happy Year of the Dragon !
Wishing you a new year of happiness, good health, and good fortune!
Filed under: Chinese new year, Little people, Travel | 6 Comments
Instagramish Sunday at the beach
OK, so these photos don’t really have that Instagram look. I was just inspired by the idea of Instagram, which to me means using a point and shoot, and then applying retro effects to the images. Yes I know, it is way cooler than what I’m describing. But since I don’t have an iPhone and not about to get one anytime soon, I figured my old P&S was close enough. No retro effects here. Just keeping it loose and fun, which seems to be what iPhoneography is about.
Thanks for stopping by. Back soon next week.
P.S. I usually don’t respond individually to comments, as I figure people don’t come back to check for a response, but I truly do appreciate your taking the time to leave them.
Filed under: Misc, Nature, Southern Cal, Things | 4 Comments
Tags: beach, photography
Day tripping from La Serena
Another day trip from La Serena, Chile. In case you haven’t seen, my first one was to the Elqui Valley, posted here. This time it was to the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve. I should just let the photos speak for themselves, but I can’t help talking and editorializing sometimes. OK, most of the time.
First, I will say that this Reserve is worth the day trip from La Serena (it’s about a two hour’s drive to the beach landing area, then another 45 minute boat ride to the islands). And yes, from afar you’ll see birds, sea lions, sea otters, and penguins frolicking on the rock outcrops. But I think the fun is more in the journey itself than in the amazement of seeing marine life, because the boats cannot disembark on these rocky islands where these animals inhabit, or even get all that close.
Setting off point in the tiny fishing village of Punta de Choros.
Not our boat below, but roughly almost the same size.
This is what I meant about the fun being in the journey itself. It was an early spring day, and overcast and windy. And honestly, the 45-min boat ride on choppy waters felt much longer. But I really enjoyed it, even knowing that whatever marine life I see would be pretty tiny (I suppose I could have brought binoculars, but I’m not much of a binoculars fan, or a long lens fan either).
Maybe it’s just me, but I like the absurd feeling I get now and then when traveling, as in “am I really going all this way, or taking a 3 hour bus ride, or whatever just to see [fill in the blank -- the smallest known set of cutlery in the world; or the single two-inch large red flower that opens once every decade]?” I’m exaggerating a bit, and am not saying that my trip to the Humboldt Reserve was like that, but sometimes doesn’t it feel funny the things travelers may fixate on? And on this day I was determined to see penguins, even knowing that we couldn’t get close to shore, and that the Humboldt penguins are about 18 inches/46 cm tall (not to be confused with the Emperor penguins in Antarctica, which can reach 4 feet/1.2 m tall).
So here they are. I’d say that this is after cropping about 60% of the image (truly hard to choose among my many Rorschach images).
Setting foot on land in Isla Damas, also part of the Humboldt Reserve.
The biggest treat of the day for me was probably having a school of dolphins follow our boat for part of the return trip. And I was wise enough to simply enjoy the moment. Not all memories can, or have to be captured in print, or megapixels.
Have a wonderful week, and thank you for stopping by again.
Filed under: animals, Chile, Flowers, Nature, Travel | 8 Comments
Tags: photography travel chile
Glow
This was taken inside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse several months ago on a day trip. It’s truly one of the most beautiful government buildings in Southern California I’ve ever seen (though not like I’m an expert on such buildings).
But I have to confess that the real reason I’m posting this is because I decided that I needed a “buffer” photo. I was deciding what photos from my Chile trip to upload next, to follow my Elqui Valley in the Mist post. And it occurred to me that it’s just too jarring to have nature images on an overcast day immediately following the blindingly bright technicolor happy photos from the last post. I know, not like anyone necessarily scrolls from one post to the other or cares, but I feel like I need a transition or something. So this one fits the bill.
See you soon next time.
Filed under: Film photography, Things | 5 Comments
Tags: photography
