I’ve been working on the next segment of the “Dealing With Nature” series, but this week I actually got to go play a couple of times. On Thursday I went to Balboa Park to help a friend learn to use a tilt/shift lens and to learn to make a multi-shot panorama. I carried a camera around but didn’t have a chance to use it until late in the afternoon. While setting up a pano I could not help but notice the incredible reflections in the pool in front of the botanical house. And there, swimming in the midst of the astounding color was this lady Mallard so of course the title of the fun shot is “Lady of the Lake.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if the duck had any awareness of the color in which she was swimming. This was taken with an old 135mm soft-focus lens designed primarily for portrait use. The setting was to maximum but there was no time to re-calibrate it for the shot.
Then on Sunday, after breakfast, I almost always swing by the Ocean Beach Pier to see if there is anything interesting. A major onshore wind has been whipping up some serious waves. The pier was closed for safety. I missed high tide but even here you can see the fury of the water and the height of the water.
Needless to say the surfers were staying out of the water. Shooting the pier, never a good idea, would have been borderline suicidal…
Even if only for a couple of fun shots, it was nice to get out a little. OK, back to the keyboard and series…
Travels with Rocinante 