Category Archives: Photos

San Diego Zoo Photo Dec 10 2023

A few of the pics I took at the San Diego Zoo Sunday.

A Trip to the Zoo

Over the weekend a new lens I ordered arrive and I had a chance to try it out on the weekly Zoo trip.

I seem to have about the usual ratio of photos taken to photos work showing, that is to say 1 photograph in ten was somewhat decent.

In the new children’s section, (there was one before, but this was a massive redesign) we found an enclosure with a pair of Western Burrowing Owls.

Here’s one the Zoo’s gorillas, looking very much like the old man of the mountains.

Here’s a small monkey that appears very contemplative.

And though the quality if the last photo is lacking I’m happy to have the pic of a Fishing Cat. We’ve been going to the Zoo for years and this animal is very shy, rarely visible in his enclosure. Often the best you get is a bit of the tail or a leg exposed from its’ hiding spot. Sunday however we caught the cutie walking around. Sadly he settled on a ledge that had terrible lighting and I had to push the ISO to 1600 and artificially open up the exposure to get anything decent at all.

This week’s Zoo Trip

I did not take very many photos Sunday when my sweetie-wife and I made our weekly excursion. We ended up in deeply shadowed area with poor lighting, but I have a couple that I did like and will share here.

Running Late Here’s a couple of Zoo Photos

Boxing Day at the San Diego Zoo

First off let me say I should be back to fairly regular postings here. I have reached the ‘burn out’ stage of overtime and while there is another week or three to be offered by my employer, I am happy enough to just work regular hours.

December 26th, Boxing Day to most of the commonwealth nations but just ‘the day after Christmas’ here in the United States my sweetie-wife and I enjoyed a pleasant morning at the Zoo. (Mostly pleasant, I did develop a head and we cut it a little short.) Of course, I took photos and three of the 25 seemed worth sharing.

This is an Ibis of some species but as it was there holding down the enclosure where an eagle normally resides there was no plaque to tell us precisely which variety of ibis it is.

I really like this photo of the ibis because it has a real ‘Raptors in the grass’ feel about it.

An elephant made the cut this week. I just like the framing of the photo but for no particular reason.

Odds and Ends

Here’s a potpourri of thoughts for this Wednesday morning.

1) I’m Bummed: I had been so looking forward to attending in person 2021’s Horrible Imaginings Film Festival but with Orange County’s COVID-19 positivity rate above 20%, the theater instituting a quite reasonable mask mandate, and my own somewhat compromised immune system due to arthritis medications it just doesn’t make sense to go in person. So just like last year I will be watching the films virtually.

2) The Face-Eating-Leopards that in the GOP Base is beyond control. It is both ironic and terrifying that the former guy himself, the Turd that stained our democracy and attempted to overthrow a fair and free election, was booed by his own crowd for suggesting that people get vaccinated. I am horrified that things are going to get worse before they get better.

3) I am now experimenting with greater post processing of the pictures I am taking with my DSLR. Here’s a color pushed and modified photo of a trip to the shore I took last year.

Playing with the Xmas Haul

So, my sweetie-wife gifted me a really nice tripod and last night I played around with long exposure night photography using it.

Here’s an attempt form that first night shoot.

Photos by the Water

Yesterday I took the day off from the day-job and spent a little time down at the harbor. Normally one the weekends I’m taking photos at the San Diego Zoo but with the pandemic we haven’t been making our trips there every Sunday. So to get in a little more photography I decided to see what I could shoot from shore.

This is a replica of the San Salvador the first European Ship to sail into our harbor.