The Eye in the Sky
Bill took me up in the Helicopter today to go all the way up to Los Angeles and back and take photos. I must say that I got quite a few.
We just happened to take the doors off the chopper on the coldest day of the year and I was freezing. Taking the doors off the helicopter let us get some crystal clear shots instead of getting the glare from the windows if we had the doors on.
I have over 1,000 pictures to go through, trash and or edit. More good material to work with. This is one of the last shots of the day while we were going back home over the Coronado Bridge.
Dr Seuss and La Jolla
Did you know that Dr Seuss lived and worked for most his life in La Jolla California? He bought an observation tower where he would work at least 8 hours a day writing and thinking of all the wonderful children’s books that he wrote.
Many people say that the wildlife and tree’s in La Jolla influenced the drawings that he included in those books such as the Cat in the Hat and Horton hears a Who. The images in these book are deep in our minds because for many of us, looking at his drawings inspired some of our first day dreams.
I was walking through La Jolla and I started to realize just how influential it was on Dr Seuss. Mostly the trees I guess and maybe the pathways along the ocean. Here is the first scene, I came upon that made me think of it. The tree is amazing but it looks like something I have seen from a Dr Seuss book.
I keep thinking the curvy paths along the ocean must have also influenced his drawings as well.
And I remembered last year when I was at Joshua Tree how much his book, “The Lorax” must have somehow been based on those trees too. First is the picture on the cover of the book and then take a look at the trees in the park.
Walk though Del Mar
I went out hunting for some cool picture locations in Del Mar and ended up finding a really cool path that leads along the train tracks on the ocean. The Coaster is owned by Amtrak and it has probably one of the most beautiful train rides along some of the west coast most beautiful beaches. It goes from DownTown San Diego all they way up to Northern California but the best stretch is between San Diego and Santa Barbara. It was raining and I caught this shot just before sunset.
Whoop There it Is
I always wanted to get one of my photos published and I was happy when my photo entitled “Soaring Birds over Scripps Pier” was selected as the cover for La Jolla Magazine. Since I am from La Jolla and I love the city so much, I was really happy to get it on the cover of my hometown magazine. Loving it!
Photo Walking on New Years Day
The gym was closed today. It’s January 1st so they gave everyone the day off. I decided to take a photo walk instead of jogging along the treadmill. A photo walk is when you bring your camera along with you for a walk. The purpose is not always to take photos but rather to walk and if you happen to see a photo opportunity than your camera is available.
I think I ended up getting about 4 miles. I walked from Sea Lane Beach, down towards Windansea Beach along the coast then over to Bird Rock Coffee Roasters for a little coffee and then all the way back home. It was a cold day and everyone was walking today. There really is not that much to do on New Years day if you don’t like watching football. Everyone had the same idea as me and I could tell that lots of people were out there trying new camera equipment that they had received for Christmas.
I like walking. You can just think and walk, think and walk. I came up with lots of ideas for future blog post that I am going to start working on. When you go for a walk you really commit to nothing except moving your legs and thinking without the disturbances of computers, phones or the internet. It took about 3 hours for my walk. I did find a few shots that I liked.
This is the quintessential Southern California shot. If you ever see shots from Los Angeles or Beverly Hills they always have this upward shot of palm trees and blue sky. That is because it tells the whole story of Southern California. Good weather, blue skies and breezy palm trees. It was chilly today (about 50 degrees F) but the skies were brilliant blue.
As I walked on, the skies got clearer and the sun began to peek through. Rounding the corner towards Bird Rock I came upon this view. Its off a small park of Coast Blvd. This is really the edge of California. This is where land falls off into the ocean. Its a beautiful place. This is the kind of photo that you might see while browsing through the pages of Sunset Magazine. It might say something like, “take a weekend trip to beautiful La Jolla sea and watch the sunset while reading a book on the park bench”. It would say something interesting, and the picture would compel you to come. Do you want to?
The sun began to set. The air grew chillier and I was still about 30 minutes from home. I began to walk a little faster since I wanted to get home before it got dark. As I passed by WindanSea Beach, I could see it was a very popular day. The waves were good. There was no work to do and the sunset was looking glorious. I took this picture of a lone surfer catching some of the last waves of the day. It was a nice photo walk but I was ready to go home.
Stormy Surf
We had some stormy surf and dramatic sunset tonight. Caught some surfers down at Windansea Beach.
You can see it raining in the distance.
The surfer is waiting for another set of waves but it was not to be.
The iconic Windansea surf hut.
Wedding Photos
I spent yesterday afternoon taking some wedding photos for friends. San Diego is a nice place to take wedding photos particularly around sunset. In winter though your sunlight can run out pretty quickly – especially now when it is Winter Solstice with the shortest days of the year. I wish there was more time but we got some good shots.
Vietnam Day 3 – Around Vinh Long
Good morning Vietnam. I am still in Vinh Long which is located about 3 hours south of Saigon and right on the Mekong Delta. You know the Mekong Delta is the long river like the Amazon that flows through most of the south of Vietnam. The river is a source of transportation, food and livihood for the people of Vietnam. In fact Tu’s parents own a large construction supply company and they use the river and barges to transport their goods. The river branches in so many directions here in Southern Vietnam you can practically get anywhere that you want by River. The second choice of course is scooters and there are millions of scooters virtually everywhere on the streets. You don’t see cars but you see millions of people riding scooters – in fact the whole family will jump on the scooter and head out to dinner just like we would jump in our cars with the family to go out for a nice dinner.
This kid looks a little sleepy. It isn’t unusual to see passengers on the scooters so comfortable that they actually fall asleep while the scooter rumbles down the road.
The other way people get around here is by bike. You will see people dressed up in their Sunday best on their bikes. I have noticed the roads are so dusty that my clothes actually get quite dusty by the end of the day. Thank God that Tu has a laundry machine in her house or I would be looking pretty dingy.
The Mekong Delta can be very pretty but everything here is so green. When you are traveling along the river the jungle is so dense and green and tropical. You can pick fruits off trees and eat them if you want. I don’t but Tu always does.
Vietnamese food is really good and fresh and pretty low calorie. For lunch today we had hot soup that was boiled fresh over wood. This is the equivalent of a Vietnamese hot plate done the old fashioned way with burning wood. So great.
The Vietnamese kids are very cute. Tu has a ton of nieces, nephews and kids running around. We took some pictures of some of the girls at her mom’s workplace.
Here she is again being funny.
And another little girl that works with her mother.
Here is another black and white portrait of her.
I took this picture at Tu’s factory. The guy was toiling away carrying loads of bricks on his back off a boat into the warehouse.
I always wonder why everyone stares at me here and then I realize that they have a big camera pointed at them.
