Ocean Beach kite surfer

Exciting afternoon yesterday  at the OB Pier with my two grandsons.  We went there to see the waves and were lucky enough to see this kite surfer.  He must have been out for over an hour, finally quit as it got too dark.   My grandsons were my two enthusiastic spotters:  as in "WOW, look at that", and "don't miss this shot"!   "Oh, grandma, did you get that jump"??    So much fun with them along as my photo buddies.

Here they are, Cole and Shane.

Kite surfer mid-jump. 

OB Pier

From the OB Pier

Regatta photos

The start of the race.  Countdown to the start, if a boat is over before
the final bell, that boat must do a 360 turn and go on from there.  

I'd like to share a few of my favorites from the recent Carolyn Nute Memorial Snipe Regatta (held at Mission Bay Yacht Club).

My son & daughter-in-law sail this class boat -- a  Snipe  (for more info click on the link).   I've been lucky enough to get on a committee boat and photograph several of their regattas.  This is always a fun one because some sailors wear costumes.   Elvis sailed with us this year!  

Rounding the mark, always looks chaotic but there are rules! 

Successful rounding!

Elvis sails.  

Shelter Island sunset

San Diego city front from Shelter Island.  I enjoyed a brief sunset tonight from Shelter Island.  I'll need to check this location out another day, the clouds were beautiful tonight!    Hope you all have a great week.

Ocean Beach Sunset

After being in the house all day and alternating between paperwork, more paperwork and unpacking (yes, still unpacking), I was restless and had to get outside.    Decided to head over to Ocean Beach for the sunset ...

Twp birds from Santee Lakes

It's fun to go back through photos taken last week at Santee Lakes, I found a few more to post (and could use some help on an  ID on these too)

Great-tailed Grackle ?

More photos from Santee Lakes

We were entertained by the coots, but weren't sure if it was courtship behavior or territorial.  I researched this and  have learned that it is territorial --  two males fighting, each defending his territory.  They kept at it for quite some time, and we noticed that every so often another coot would fly in and watch.  

 

















I'm wondering about an ID on this duck.  After looking at many different ID photos, I'm guessing it might be a young pied-billed grebe.  They breed at Santee Lakes I learned.

Santee Lakes

I met up with my photo buddies (Terry Myers, CJ Middendorf & Rich Baker)  at Santee Lakes on Wednesday.  After a morning of photography, we then enjoyed a great lunch at Janet's Cafe.   I went back to the lakes after lunch & found the male & female wood duck.

They are my favorites!  Love the colors.

Ocean Beach sunset

The clouds last night looked fantastic and I hoped for a good sunset photo, so I dove down to the beach.  It turns out a lot of people felt the same because it took me longer to find a parking place than it did to get there.  It was well worth it, though, because the sunset was beautiful.  Hope you enjoy my photos.

Lunar eclipse photographs taken at the Cabrillo National Monument

My 3 photo buddies (Terry, CJ & Rich) and I drove up to the Cabrillo National Monument last night to enjoy the lunar eclipse.  We arrived a bit early and waited in line for the special 6 pm opening, parked  and easily found a place to set up our tripods.  It was a fun evening sharing this with friends.   For other special after-hour events, follow the link here:   Friends of Cabrillo National Monument

Just a few of the photographs I took last night.

First sighting.  

Home again.

Back from a wonderful trip to Nova Scotia with good friends Terry Myers, CJ Middendorf & Rich Baker.   Lots of photos to process, but wanted to share just one of my (many) favorites from the trip.

My overall impressions of Nova Scotia --  colorful fishing harbors, lush green countrysides,  friendly people, and food, oh, the good food!   Favorite meal probably was the scallops, gently pan fried in garlic and butter.  Sorry, no photos of the meal -- I just started eating & couldn't stop  LOL

And, of course, good company, it was fun touring around with CJ & Rich.  Terry & I drove our own car & either followed their path or met up with them for a dinner.

Birthday celebrations ...

Before posting any photos from my Nova Scotia trip (they are coming ... )  I wanted to share a bit about part of  my birthday celebration.  It was 9/8, the day before leaving for Nova Scotia.

It started with a telephone call from David duChemin -- Yes! "that"   David duChemin    

I was lucky enough to win an hour consultation with him simply by purchasing one of his eBooks that I wanted (Making the Image).  The purchase entered me into a drawing & I won!    I've followed his work for many years via his blogs, photographs and books, and continue to greatly admire his work and philosophy.  

So, to have his time and attention for one hour -- overwhelming &  amazing!   The process prior to the phone call was a lesson in itself, forcing me to take a hard look on my photographs, culling out just eight  that I wanted him to critique, then thinking about goals for my photography.  This is probably something I should do annually anyway, but have never really taken the time.  Nothing like pressure from a phone call!   I'm still processing the information, and luckily was sent an audio recording of his comments so I can listen to our conversation when I need direction in my photography.  What a way to start my birthday!  

Thank you David duChemin for the gift of your time and knowledge.

Maritime Museum of San Diego, Festival of Sail

I enjoyed sailing on the s/v Jada for the Tall Ship Parade this past Friday.   The parade was led by the newly-launched San Salvador.   For more information about this remarkable vessel  go to the Maritime Museum web site

Of course I took a few photos while in the parade and will be posting over the next few days.  Enjoy!  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience sailing in the parade, and the s/v Jada made it all that more exciting --  Emy Yeazell and Leandria Williams, don't you agree?  

On the Jada, Carole passing out snacks and drinks.

Curlew

The American Pride 

The Jada is a local boat, so if you have a celebration coming up, what better way to celebrate than aboard this gorgeous boat.

The Curlew is from Dana Point  http://www.sailcurlew.com/

The American Pride is from Long Beach and information on sailing with them can be found here:  http://www.americanpride.org/   

Full moon kayak on Mission Bay

Joined up with other kayakers at Mission Bay Yacht Club and enjoyed seeing the moon rise while paddling on the bay.

Just starting out ...

First look at the moon.  

Taken with Sony NEX-7, hand-held while gently rocking in my kayak on Mission Bay.

Famosa Slough

I've seen many photos taken at Famosa Slough, and finally have a few myself.  This area is just about 1/2 mile from my condo, so I went down last night to check it out.  I will be back many more times, I'm sure,  with my tripod & longer lens.  Beautiful area tucked away between apartment buildings  and busy streets.  The snowy egret was happy here.

Photos taken with Nikon D7100, 28-200 lens, VR, hand held.

Sunset Cliffs & sunset

It's official, I've moved!  I'm completely out of my old house & in the new, piles of boxes in the garage and slowly unpacking.   I'm in Ocean Beach/Pt. Loma and loving being near all my favorite hang outs.   Just because I can, I drive down to Sunset Cliffs (hmmm, maybe about 2 miles?) around sunset time.  Here's a photo from last night.

Hope you'll all take some time to come by:  call, email/PM me for the new address, I love to have company.    OB Pier has really good lobster tacos, favorite place for food & photos. 

San Salvador building site

I stopped by Spanish Landing this morning to check on the San Salvador.  A great surprise today, there was an osprey in the crow's nest.  LOL   Hope it brings good luck to the ship.   An amazing undertaking for the San Diego Maritime Museum  The photos were taken after the early-morning lightning & thunder storm passed through, and before the afternoon one.  Beautiful sky between storms!

Leo Carrillo Ranch, Carlsbad

Yesterday I was at the Leo Carrillo Ranch with the Pacific Photographic Society.  Thanks, Maxine, for arranging this outing -- it took the group to get me there.   I've heard about the ranch, but never visited.   There was a lot to photograph, including many peacocks.   As I was leaving, I decided I wanted to return another day for more photography.  

I saw my first albino peacock and. of course, took photos.

Loved the doors with blue trim.