(Remember you can click on an image to see it enlarged!)
San Diego — It is hard to believe but I’ve been in San Diego since January 2000 and have never been to the Big Bear Lake area. But Tuesday that was remedied! And I have to say I really liked the area and want to go back during better times of the year for photography. With only a day-trip’s time available it was frustrating to say the least.
The place and area reminded me of some of the high country towns in my beloved Rockies such as Grand Lake/Shadow Mountain where we used to do so much canoeing and photography. Water sports per se are not a draw to me, but when the water in question has wonderful areas for wild life viewing then count me in. Shots of power boats, water skiers, and jet boats flying through the water are subjects I would be drawn to only if money were being offered for them… but that was not the case. So here is a simple shot of the southeast end of the Lake.
East end of Big Bear Lake looking south and west.
At the far eastern shore lies a large marsh/wetlands which, with the right time of year to bring in the birds, could be quite nice though I need to remember to being my “wellies” when I return to this area.
Marsh/Wetlands at the far eastern end of Big Bear Lake. At the right time of year this should be a good place for some bird shots.
The surrounding deep canyons and long vistas available are a major draw for me. And I do really like the little town/village of Big Bear Lake. We had a great lunch at the “Nottingham” Tavern, visited the C of C center for lots of info brochures, took a drive through some wonderful cabin areas then finally started back.
Since the mid day light was flat and the mid summer colors were fairly drab this was not a good time to really be trying to get some good “wall hanging” shots. But it did allow me to play with some “I was there” shots as well as play with compositions to be revisited in better light. Here is a shot from the roadside but you cane see the smoke in the air from a major fire to the south east. The good news is that it resulted in some really golden light when the sun passed behind.
View along Hiway 38 south of Big Bear Lake. You can see the smoke in the sky near Center Laft. It gave a yellow glow to everything as the sun was filtered through it at this point.
Though late in the year there were also quite a few flowers still blooming so here are a couple of shots.
Tiny wildflowers line the road on CA38 south of Big Bear Lake.
In the shot below, you can see a ladybug beetle camouflaged to match the flower petals crawling around searching for a little extra dessert.
Perfectly camoflaged lady bug beetle prowls this flower along the CA38 road between Big Bear Lake and Redlands, CA. Canon 1Ds Mk II with Tamron 180mm macro at f8, handheld at 1/80 second (hence a litte camera shake in the shot)
Soooo that is about it. Today Wednesday Aug 15th) I start the meetings in preparation for Fall Semester to start again Monday. I will be glad to get back in front of a class but to be honest, I’m pretty much done with the political structure and its near constant BS.
Travels with Rocinante 