photography – Page 3 – branching out… on a limb

Whine Free Wildflower Photography!

Very grumpy children. She is totally faking that smile and was as miserable as he was that day. — Very grumpy children, 2011. She is totally faking that smile and was as miserable as he was to go hiking that day.

Today The Husband and I did something we have never done. We went on a long drive to go hiking in the Anza Borrego State Park lands in the desert… without the teenagers. They asked to stay home, finish homework, and generally relax. We had a grand time eating pie, seeing wildflowers, stopping on a whim for tacos, all without anyone complaining about being too hot, too cold, bored, hungry or ready to go home.

The Amma (my mom) after being tricked into hiking up the Borrego Palm Canyon trail — The Amma (my mom) after hiking Borrego Palm Canyon trail

All four of us have had a ball tromping through state parks, but rarely are all four people happy at one time. You want to see that old phrase “madder than a wet hen” in action? Add my mom to the mix. I have tricked her into hiking on short trails and have been surprised she was speaking to me by the end.

*Click on any of the photos for larger versions, the flowers are really pretty*

More pie pics. Because, pie. That’s why.

For this day trip, we stopped in Santa Ysabel for apple pie à la mode at the Julian Pie Company. We carpool school trips to this area and I always try to bring my car load of middle schoolers to this shop for a snack. If you have the chance to visit, don’t miss it! Seriously, pie is my favorite dessert, and I prefer my own pie usually. This is the only pie I buy. I think they only hire the nicest people. Must be part of their hiring tactics.

I call this photo "Cholla Blooms, One Week Too Early" — I call this photo “Cholla Blooms, One Week Too Early”

Wildflowers of Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Next on the agenda- hunt down some wildflowers. We’ve had enough rain to ensure a good year for desert flowers in all their beauty. Looks like it’s Yellow Flower Season to me. And can you see the citrus groves in the distance in the photo on the right? The groves were in full bloom and words cannot begin to describe their perfume that filled the air.

What's left of lunch from El Borrego. — What’s left of lunch from El Borrego.

We finished the day with a snack from El Borrego. This little taco shop had a great menu, but we went for the basics- tacos and a carnitas burrito. The Husband declared that he will be stopping at El Borrego every future trip to the desert. You’ll have to use your imagination to decide if the lunches looked as good as they tasted… they did, and I for got to snap a pic. I love a good, hard fried shredded beef taco, and they know how to make them here.

While I missed my kids, I’m glad they had a quiet day at home instead of being dragged out to the desert on a 92 degree day (but it’s a DRY heat!). If you are looking for a nice day trip, I love the Anza Borrego desert this time of year. Don’t forget the State Park Visitor’s Center, the day hikes, buy a bag of oranges and enjoy the fresh air if you come out.

More flowers, that's why we came... — More flowers, that’s why we came…

Ocotillo in bloom, Anza Borrego Desert State Park — Ocotillo in bloom, Anza Borrego Desert

More Photography Lessons… (I need to take a class!)

Whew. Trying to figure out how to work the Christmas Camera is waaaaaay harder than I thought. I may have to completely throw in the towel and pop for a real class with a real instructor, ’cause I ain’t making any headway on my own.

Just when I thought I couldn’t combine this control with that option, I re-studied how to work with different aperture settings, and after about an hour of monkeying around, I think I get this one… (Thanks to my “Nikon D3300 For Dummies” book)

OK- here’s what I think is sticking in my brain:

close focus + small aperture setting = out of focus background and clear foreground, better for close-ups
zoomed out + larger aperture setting = larger depth of focus, better for outdoor and landscape shots
Less than 10 feet in the shot? Larger aperture settings just get blurry with a slower shutter speed.

So… The object of today’s practice was to see how the snacks, the cat and the rosemary outside the window would look at different settings:

Oops- forgot to bring in the focus, resulted in fuzzy pic- 26mm f/4

55mm f/32 and a 3 sec. shutter... no wonder it is really blurry. I need a tripod. — 55mm f/32 and a 3 sec. shutter… no wonder it is really blurry. I need a tripod.

Best three for explaining to myself what I’m doing:

18mm f5.6 clear cookies, fuzzy kitty (rosemary not even in the shot)

26mm f/18 cookies in focus, kitty clearer

26mm f/25 everything is fuzzy, not just the cat, do I need glasses? No, just a higher focus or lower aperture... — 26mm f/25 everything is fuzzy, not just the cat, do I need glasses? No, just a higher focus or lower aperture, faster shutter… aieeee!!!

ANY AND ALL TIPS FROM EXPERIENCED PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL BE APPRECIATED. GREATLY!!!

Peñasquitos Preserve, Waterfall to the West End

I have hiked in the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, but always approaching from the east and hiking to the waterfall. By “hike,” I mean easy walk. I knew that the preserve trails continued all the way into Sorrento Vally, just east of the 5 and 805 freeways… by the way, you know how to peg a Native Californian? By how they refer to all highways and freeways as “The + Number,” no matter where they live. My Indiana friends always thought I was nuts to say “The 465,” or “Remember that 4th of July weekend when Bryan’s accident shut down The 65 North to Chicago?” If you would like an easy, but long-ish hike, I recommend this walk. And it was a beautiful day for this beautiful walk.

Looking north, towards Del Mar and Rancho Penasquitos

These two photos are taken from the same spot, I just turned 180 degrees. The south slopes of the canyon received more rain this winter, maybe?

One of the sages that grows in California. Smells soooo good!

This is one of the native sages that grows in California. I mentioned the chaparral in this earlier post- Two Mile Monkey is Off My Back.

Purple Nightshade... don't eat it. — Purple Nightshade… don’t eat it.

Wildflowers, trees and scrub were blooming everywhere thanks to the earlier rains. We passed bunches of Purple Nightshade and Blue-Eyed Grass… fortunately, we didn’t cross paths with any rattlesnakes.

The Headache-Preventing Nice Guy Award goes to.... — The Headache-Preventing Nice Guy Award goes to….

And all of these photos? Taken with my iPhone 5s. Because when I went to take the first picture of the waterfall, with my Christmas Nikon D3300… that’s when I figured out that the battery was dead. Duh. But what a nice guy is The Husband? He carried the dead weight the whole three hours so I didn’t get a headache from having it hang around my neck. What a guy!

View of Sycamore Crossing, looking west toward La Jolla and Sorrento Valley

The walk we took was about four miles starting at the western entrance of the Peñasquitos Preserve accessed on Park Village Road, and ending all the way west on Sorrento Valley Blvd.

West end of the walk. There is parking somewhere around here... look it up. — West end of the walk. There is parking somewhere around here… go look it up yourself. Just kidding. Click on this photo and it will link you to a map of this area, parking, and trails.

The weather was perfect- lots of clouds, some sun and a nice onshore breeze. From the start of our walk to the end the paths were hopping with mountain bikers and other walkers, dogs and horses. It was a beautiful day! The round trip 8.2 mile walk totaled just over three hours. Did I mention what a beautiful day it was? Gorgeous.

Boring Post Alert! Learning Camera Controls (Unless You Dig Photos of Shrimp Salad and Freshly Baked Bread)

I played around with my Christmas camera tonight, trying to make some headway into my February project- learn how to operate my Nikon 3300. I swear, I’m going to figure out this piece of technology and I am paging my way through my “Nikon D3300 For Dummies” book to help. Tonight I learned about several different auto and semi-automatic controls, and that I can type the word “exposure” twenty-five times in 30 minutes, and spell it wrong each time. I’m pretty proud of the fact that I can’t spell in three- count ’em- THREE different languages. Go me.

First shot is in Manual Exposure Mode, and I have no idea what I am doing. This proves that the camera is way smarter than I am.

Shrimp Salad... better shot... — Shrimp Salad ingredients… decent shot…

This next one is too bright, but I think I am figuring out how to use the Exposure Compensation button:

Shrimp Salad ingredients, monkeying with the Exposure Compensation button.

Hey, now it is getting better! I think I need a different lens for close up shots, yes?

Manual setting, Exposure Compensation brightening up things

This one I knocked the exposure down a tic or two. Next thing to learn is how to correctly use the technical language of photography… The daylight really looks nice here as opposed to the next few pictures of the bread.

Manual, less exposed with using the Exposure Compensation button... — Manual, less exposed with using the Exposure Compensation button…

On to the bread ingredients. OK, it’s even obvious to ME that the flash should not be used in this type of lighting (kitchen table overhead lighting, after sunset)

Flash with bread ingredients... — Flash with bread ingredients… bad.

All righty then! Not enough light in this, but not too shabby, either. I can’t seem to get the little stuff in focus- like the millet and bulgur wheat (two of the ingredients in the small bowl).

Fully auto focus. Pretty good! But it needs to be focused differently, maybe on the millet and bulgur?

Switching back to the simple auto focus-

Auto Focus... (it smells as good as it looks) — Auto Focus… (it smells as good as it looks)

And with Aperture I got what I expected- better light but lost focus. Guess I need to learn how to compensate for this.

Aperture Priority auto-exposure- good lighting but bad focus?

OK- if I use a better light source, is this the shot I wanted?

Shutter Priority auto-exposure. Too dark, good focus.

And here we have my standard favorite, my iPhone 5s. Notice the lighting is fine, the focus is fine… good depth of field, too, huh? You can clearly see the dirty napkins from tonight’s dinner:

Side by side- Nikon and iPhone:

So, there you have it. My iPhone and I have been doing a great job all along. I can really make it sing. This just makes me want to understand how to use the Big Person’s camera even more. I’m not (too) discouraged. Yet.

February Tourist Trip- Dragging the Family to Oceanside

It’s getting difficult to get the four of us together for a tourist day. Between college and high school entrance requirements we are more scattered than ever.
Plus, the half hour ride in the car to get anywhere means 30 minutes of butt jokes coming from the back seat.

Aside from bringing The Girl to her friend’s house in Oceanside (pre-licensed teenager days), the only thing I associated with this city was a long drive down the coast to my great-grandparents condo when my brother and I were younger. We had nothing to do but read the books we brought along. Our other option was to slip and slide down a long iceplant covered hill, cross a highway and buy candy at a 7-11 mini mart. When the great-grandparents’ health began to fail, I don’t remember helping out with any of moving or cleaning… we were probably just under foot while others took care of the work, but then again, we were just flaky little punks back then. My brother did a complete turnaround not long after that, and since then he’s the one the family can count on when the older family members have needed anything.

Clear at the start of the walk... — Clear at the start of the walk…

15 minutes later at the end of the pier.

I'm guessing this is a California Brown Pelican. His beak can hold more than his belly can, you know... — A California Brown Pelican? His beak can hold more than his belly can, you know…

Egret posing for my camera on the Oceanside pier.

Today we spent the afternoon driving through beach towns before arriving in Oceanside. We walked to the pier with the sun in our faces only to have the marine layer roll in by the time we reached the end of the walk. After five days of Santa Ana conditions, I was in heaven! My kids played on the boardwalk like I did decades ago. They loved seeing the sand underneath give way to the rocks then the waves. We snapped pictures of birds waiting to snatch the catch away from people fishing on the pier. I busted them before they could spit on the surfers below. Fourteen-year-old boys are such… fourteen-year-old boys. Especially when egged on by the big sister.

“OK, now we don’t have to go to Oceanside again.” That was The Husband’s observation.
He prefers the Encinitas, Cardiff and Del Mar scene.

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