Breaking In the Lens

Woke up yesterday morning and first thing first: quick trip to the restroom. In the short time it took for me to use the commode and return to my bedside, my dutiful Neighbor called me and left a message, one of most spectacular luck: We are launching!

I accept the call of the Big Blue, and We're off on voyage for adventure 7-miles off the coast of Southern California, My hometown! Today will be the day I break in my new Whalin' Lens, a Nikon 55-200mm Zoom complete with Vibration Reduction technology.

We first cross paths with a small pod of dolphins, and head out further until we spot our first spout on the horizon: our first Blue of the day!

Throughout our incredibley fortunate and fruitful triup we spot a total of 3 Blue whales and My first Fin whale, the second largest animal on Earth!

PS My Whalin' Lens worked like a charm! Its my Baby!

                                          ^A Fin Whale, the Greyhounds of the sea, discernable from the Blues for their well-defined Fin

Belmont Park

As part of a class assignment to shoot "Urban Portraiture", I headed for Mission Beach, and Belmont Park. Grabbed this interesting take on the Coaster and the crossroads Ventura and Mission

San Diego Harbor

Recently took a trip to San Diego Bay in the early evening to shoot some frames off for class. Also got to stretch my 55-200mm VR zoom lens' Legs before taking her on the Boat.

Seal Day

Quick trip to a very open Children's pool. Usually, This beach is void of people, open for hundreds of seals to settle up on the beach only. Today, the beach was filled with people, both on the beach and in the water snorkeling with a few seal pups.

Eclipse

                              

                                          Captain Courageous, Careful and Calm, Careens towards Cetacean

                                         

                                             Karl and the Blue Whale... Paddleboarding in for the Krill



Blue Haze

A Spur-of-the-Moment day on the boat brings a beautiful bounty of Blue whale happenings! We venture straight out, using a distant white vessel as our steady way point. As the boat grew larger and larger, closer and closer, a spout is spotted starboard the apparent commercial whale watcher. As we investigated closer, we found ourselves following two giant Blue Whales, the largest animals on Earth! A spout and spray every few minutes kept us tight on their tales, without us getting too mesmerized in their beauty. It wasn't long before the Whales' motives became clear: lurking just below the surface were balls of a tiny shrimp-like animal called krill. The pinkie nail-sized crustacean, ironically, is the main food source for the world's largest Mammal! Out of no where, a large side flipper cuts through the surface followed by a speeding mass of gray flesh as the animal curves through the water, gulping up as much of the red it can grab. Truly a magnificent sight!

                                         Apologies for the poor quality, but this image depicts the feeding 100-ft. Blue Whale

Back in the Game!

Did you see the new National Geographic Magazine? Did you? Did you pick it up, thumb through the pages and find your eyes scanning the Beautiful photographs of California Tidepools? I sure Did!

I found June 2011 Issue inspiring me to venture down to the Tidepools here at La Jolla Shores, just North of the Scripps Pier, It felt incredible to venture down to the beach and see the creatures of the big blue with my newfound energy and Health!