I spent Saturday morning at the Sarah Dukes Garden, Durham, NC. The following images are just the ones I took with my iPhone, but I will be posting some of the final selection soon.
~ Enjoy!
Don't be a stranger
This image was shot earlier today from my hotel room in Vancouver, WA. It’s a total overcast day, so we couldn’t see too much of the mountain there, but I like the feel to this photograph and I wanted to share with you.
Canon 60D | ISO 160 | f/8 | 1/400 sec | 290 mm
Enjoy!
Don't be a stranger
For some reason, this has become a tradition with me. Every year in the month of August, Fairchild Tropical Gardens has FREE admission to their grounds (Every Sunday of August) and of course, instead of me taking advantage of this, I always forget and go only once and usually it is the last Sunday of August.
After a quick edit of the photographs today, these two photographs jumped at me. Actually, both of them jumped at me the moment I released the shutter.
I am sure that you have had that moment. The moment when you chimp at your LCD and go… “Exactly what I wanted… This is a PRINT”… Right? Yes, I’m sure you’ve been there.
I’ve decided to send these two photographs to print to MPIX as my PhotoLab of choice. Both of these images will be printed in their incredible Metallic Paper.
Hope you enjoy the selection. If you like any of these prints and would like to own a copy of it for your wall, please feel free to let me know.
220mm, f/11, 0.4 sec, ISO 160
300mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO 160
Thanks!
Don't be a stranger
As you saw in my previous post, I went to Devil’s Punch Bowl (http://devils-punchbowl.com/) for the Meteor Shower night and I though I come during the day time… Well, I was in for a little treat!
The Devil’s Punchbowl County Park consists of 1,310 acres and was opened in December 1963. The forty acres where the nature center is located was once in private ownership and was purchased by the County of Los Angeles because of its unique features. Surrounding U.S. Forest Service lands were then added to enhance the park. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation now operates this area as one of its Natural Areas facilities. The Ranger on duty or Volunteer Naturalist will be happy to assist you and answer any questions that you may have. The Devil’s Punchbowl Nature Center is designed to assist you in learning more about the flora, fauna, and the geological features of the park.
The most conspicuous features of the park are geological. The Punchbowl is a deep canyon cut by the runoff of large quantities of water from the higher San Gabriel Mountains occurring over a long period of time. These mountain peaks above the park are 8,000 feet in elevation while the Nature Center is located at 4,740 feet above sea level. The Punchbowl Canyon is 300 feet deep at the vista point. The peculiar uptilted rock formations to be seen in the entire area are layers of sedimentary rocks that were formed long ago by the depositing of loose material in horizontal layers by water. Later they were squeezed into their present steeply-tilted form by the continuing action of uplift along the Punchbowl and Pinyon Faults and pressures along the San Andreas Fault. The Punchbowl Fault is to the south of the rock formation while the Pinyon and San Andreas Faults are to the north. A detailed description of the process theories is available in handout form from the Nature Center.
In any area, the predominant plants contribute greatly to the particular "look" of the landscape. One rewarding way to look at plants is through the plant community approach. You may have noticed on your drive to the park that further down on the flats of the Antelope Valley there was almost a complete absence of large shrubs or trees. The road then climbs into a belt of Joshua Trees and California Junipers. As you entered the park boundaries, the Joshuas were left behind and you entered a region dominated by Pinyon Pine Woodland, with shrubs of the Desert Chaparral as an understory. The streambeds, both of the Punchbowl Creek at the bottom of the bowl and the other watercourses down in the Antelope Valley, have their own type of vegetation with cottonwoods, willows, and other plants that required more water. The next plant community above us is the Coulter Pines and Yellow Pine Forest of the higher San Gabriel Mountains. Above these trees you can see the White Firs silhouetted against the sky on the high slopes and peaks.
Many types of mammals live here but most are nocturnal, or night active, and are seldom seen. Gray foxes may sometimes be seen in the early mornings or at dusk and you may occasionally see a deer crossing the road. Chipmunks and California ground squirrels are active during most of the day. A few of the common birds are on display. Many additional species migrate through the area at various times of the year. The reptile and amphibian fauna of the park represents a unique blend of the types found in the deserts and in the mountains. Examples of some of the more commonly seen reptiles and amphibians are on display. Rattlesnakes are a common inhabitant but are leery of people and are rarely encountered. Insects and spiders are seasonally abundant. They may be seen on flowers and shrubs throughout the park, especially during the spring and summer. A representative collection of the various orders of insects is on display.
To get a closer look at the many natural features of the park, we encourage you to take a walk on the trails. The self-guiding "Pinyon Pathway" trail is about a third of a mile and only takes a few minutes to read the brochure and walk the trail. A one mile "Loop Trail" is longer and quite strenuous with a 300 foot elevation drop into the canyon and back to the top above the picnic area and parking lot. A much longer trail to the Devil’s Chair and the eastern canyons of the park is also available. This trail is 3.7 miles to the Devil’s Chair or about 7 1/2 miles round trip and approximately 4 hours hiking time. Please feel free to ask the Ranger on duty for maps or other information required.
Happy trails to you.
I spent about 3 hours hiking in this park today, I was so high in the mountains that I could barely breathe.
~ Enjoy!
Don't be a stranger
Last night I went out to see this Meteor Shower and it was a bit disappointing that it was too bright out and not able to see many meteors out there.
Below are my 6 images I picked from the night.
~ Enjoy!
Don't be a stranger
I had planned to be at up and out of the hotel by 7am, but because this week really took a toll on me, I woke at 7, anyways, I continued with what I had planned and that was to go to Griffith Park and some flower, plant photography. When I arrived at the park, it was 9:30 in the morning and I had to be at the airport by 11:30, not knowing the unknown, this park it was huge to cover and I ended up just driving around and taking the beautiful scenery in. One thing that I HAD to see was the Hollywood sign, just because I’ve seen it a million times on TV and the fact that my 11 year old wanted to me to take a picture for her. I HAD to make every effort to find where the observatory was and just drive there.
When I arrived at the Observatory, it was 10:00am and when I saw that I had to climb quiet a bit to get to the top, I decided to find a vantage view point and was able to take a few images. I also find a few flowers and interesting trees around the area and decided NOT to continue climbing, but I MUST visit next time I’m in California.
Since I only took some images, I’m including the ones I choose to correct.
As always your comments are appreciated and encouraged.
~ Enjoy
Don't be a stranger
