All My Blogs

Spotted tanager at the San Diego Zoo. I have, until two days ago, ever only seen one species of tanager.  The western tanager, the male, a stunning orange and yellow bird, even came to visit me at home once.  But I was unaware of other tanager species.  And then I went to the San Diego Zoo. The field guide of the Birds of Mexico and Central America shows 22 different species of tanager.  The aviary held four different species of tanager; I managed to photograph two of them.  I included the plate below.  None of the four listed are found in North or Central America. Plaque at one of the aviaries showing different species present.  Notice the 4 tanager species. Honeycreepers used to belong to a different taxonomic group, but have recently been added to the tanagers.  There are two on the info plaque above, three listed in the book I referenced.  I don't currently have access to the internet, but there must be dozens of related species, perhaps ...

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge - A fun photo project. When visiting San Francisco, especially by boat, you have to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  I mean that in both the literal sense, in that you pass directly under it on your way into the harbour, and in the figurative sense, in that it is such an icon that it's just one of the things that has to be done. I decided to do a series on the famous architecture; I made a point of photographing it from many points of view.  The time and transportation limited us to exploring it visually from only a few angles, but it was still enough to come away with satisfying results.  We walked for 4 or 5 kilometers, maybe more, from the south entrance of the bridge to the marina to the east.  I originally wanted to explore the southwestern section, but it was fenced off and inaccessible. The area was busy, with plenty of cars, pedestrians, and people on all types of personal transportation devices.  Along the way, we crossed ...

California sea lion having a good scratch, Pier 39, San Francisco. While visiting Pier 39 yesterday (September 30), we saw the sea lion basking area that is so famous.  Sure enough, there were California sea lions, although not the horde that there is room for.  And their larger kin, the Steller's sea lions, weren't in attendance. I got off a few good shots, but I especially liked this one giving itself a good scratch with its front flipper.  I decided to crop it both vertically and horizontally, making two different files, to compare which one was more appealing and why. I prefer the vertical format, but why?  What makes it better than the horizontal format? After all, they are both the same image.  It turns out it has to do with composition. The two main points, the face and the flipper, are relatively close together.  The narrow vertical format allows them to be near to the thirds positioning.  Horizontally, they are similar, except that there is li...

Snowy egret photographed in San Francisco Yesterday (September 30), Kathryn and I went to the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We walked from there for a couple of hours and ended up at a freshwater estuary called Crissy Marsh. While there, we saw quite a few birds, a great egret, a couple of snowy egrets, and a pair of remarkable curlews.  I will talk about those another day.  I watched the snowy egrets for quite a while and photographed them in various poses. Snowy egrets are "common and widespread."  I have seen them in Texas, in the Caribbean, and of course in San Francisco.  They are easy to identify in that they are mostly white with a distinctive yellow patch around the eyes leading to the beak and black and yellow legs.  Cattle egrets look similar but have a yellow bill and black legs. I have included a photo below of a cattle egret.  You can see the yellow bill and black legs that clearly distinguish it from the snowy egret's.  Catt...

White sided dolphins I photographed while travelling on our cruise. We are on a cruise through the Panama Canal.  Today, off the coast of Oregon, I saw a pair of dorsal fins that were poking out of the water.  "Dolphins!" I thought. I grabbed my gear and headed to the Promenade deck where I could see the ocean without glass being in the way.  No sign of the dolphins.  I talked to a few people and asked them if they saw them.  Vague reports about seeing some playing off the bow in the waves emanating from the ship.  However, I did see them. I made my way around the promenade a few times and then, to my joy, I saw the tell-tale sign of a dorsal fin in the water.  Then a jump, there it was, a dolphin.  As I brought my camera to bear, I noticed another, then another. In fact, there were dozens of them, swimming and jumping in large arcs, heading right for the ship.  Sixty or seventy to be sure, maybe more.  I started shooting. The challenge ...

How do you holiday?  When it comes down to it, it's really all about the people. People love to go on holiday.  Different places, sights, experiences, and all that goes with it.  The two great barriers to trips are money and time.  Many of us travel to see relatives or friends.  I applaud that, as it often addresses issues with money, and time with loved ones is never poorly spent.  But if free room and board is not available, what do you do? Young people often go camping.  Of the three, it is far less expensive.  The destinations are usually close to home, within a few hours by car anyway, and the number of people you can have at one site usually isn't a factor.  I used to be able to sleep anywhere, with or without any kind of mattress, and the great outdoors was stimulation enough.  It was really all about the friends and family with you anyway; where wasn't as important. Of course camping isn't limited to just tents, and the world of ...