Great Horned Owl

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending some time at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in Vista California. They had their Spring Tractor Show going on. It was a fun time as always, but I had a particularly thrilling experience. I got to see a whole family of Great Horned Owls in a barn there! Here are some of the photos I took of the family.

This one sounded like it was going to deposit an owl pellet and even looked like it but didn't.

It really was an exciting experience to be able to take photos of these owls. I have since learned that Great Horned Owls are usually quite skittish. These seemed quite comfortable with our presence. If you'd like to see more photos of this family here is a link to 16 photos I uploaded to a gallery. Owl Gallery
Great Horned Owl slide show

Wings Over Gillespie 2011



Took a trip to the Wings Over Gillespie Air Show 2011 this past Saturday. I love this air show because it is like a small town air show. It is casual and the pilots are very accessable. The variety of old planes is excellent. It is a fun show.

The sky was nice and clear blue.

Spectators are able to get very close to moving planes in this show.

I was missing Ace for the plane identification!

The gliders always intrigue me. I looked into flight costs and they were quite reasonable. Anyone want to go with me for a ride sometime?

Cool Wheels

The reenactment is always fun to watch.

I got to spend some time with my good friend Shawn.
All in all it was a beautiful day and lots of fun!
Slide Show Gallery of Photos from the Air Show

Maritime Museum of San Diego

Ace and I always enjoy visiting the ships at the Maritime Museum. This weekend the museum had a Pirate Event with a lot of fun activities. San Diego Maritime Museum is rich with historic nautical information. Click on the link above and check out the explore tab to see the ships and submarines available to explore. The Maritime Dancers performed on the HMS Surprise. They were so much fun Ace requested to return for their second performance of the day.

The guests on this day were all dressed in period clothing to add in the fun.

Ace had to check out the bunks on the Soviet B-39 submarine on exhibit.

My favorite pirate from the Maritime Museum. He really engaged with the guests and added much to the experience!

Ace looking mighty piratey.

More photos

Rancho Bernardo Winery

Rancho Bernardo Winery founded in 1889 is the oldest continuosly opperating winery in southern California. It is a treasure trove of wonderful antiques and quaint shops. The grounds are a photographer's paradise. For more information about the winery click this link
I had the pleasure of joining the SDDSLR group for a shoot and lunch at the winery. The winery mixes beautiful plants and flowers with intriguing rustic antiques.





The pop of floral color and rust!



Maybe it is the Cars movie influence but this old tractor has character!

 The mushroom soup at Cafe Merlot is the best I've ever tasted!

 The bread pudding is always a popular treat.

The Barrel Room is fantastic. The aroma of aging grapes fills the air. It hearkens me back to when I was a little girl visiting a neighbor who made wine in his cellar. The fragrance is rich and welcoming.

Please visit my Rancho Bernardo Winery Group Shoot gallery for more photos.



Charlie Sheen-co de Mayo

I had the good fortune of going to the Charlie Sheen-co de Mayo celebration in Lake Elsinore Diamond baseball stadium. The Storm was playing Bakersfield Blaze. I had never been to a Minor League baseball game. Initially I was taken back by the beautiful stadium. They were giving out Charlie Sheen bobblehead's and big clear dark frame glasses. I really would have liked to get a Sheen bobblehead. I've since learned they only had 500 to give out. Here is a link to the official site of The Storm 

 The fun to come as the game progressed was a surprise. The director of media relations was genius in coming up with this theme. Not only was the theme great, but they went all out all night long. If you've never attended a Minor League baseball game, I highly recommend it. They pack so much entertainment around the game that it is worth the price even if the game being played on the field is a snoozer.


To celebrate The Wild Thing.



Meet Thunder. If you want to see him in all his green glory, you'll have to visit the gallery link.



The Best Seat in the House competition

Not every day you get entertained by a gorrila strip-tease!

Wild Thing took the mound for a few pitches.



There were many sideline games. Never a dull moment.

To keep this post from being too long, I invite you to check out the small gallery I put together of the photos I took at Charlie Sheen-co de Mayo. You'll see the full strip-tease of the gorilla. If that isn't enough on its own, you'll meet Scoop and watch him melt right before your eyes! Gallery

Support your local Minor League Baseball team and go see a game soon! It will be fun!



Renaissance Faire

I went to the Renaissance Faire in Felicita Park, Escondido, California with a few friends. The day was beautiful fortunately as the park had a bit of rain in the days before. It was still muddy, but for the most part easy to move around the mud. Many of the same characters are at this faire each year and it is always good to see them. The food area is a popular place and the most popular and best tasting is the crepe vendor.

Plenty of happy people abound!

Performing Artists

The cast and crew take their reenactments seriously

The whimsy makes this faire fun!

Here is a link to the gallery of images I took this day: Ren Faire

And the slide show link: Ren Faire Slide Show

Anza Borrego

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. Five hundred miles of dirt roads, 12 wilderness areas and many miles of hiking trails. I've loved the desert since my first visit but my appreciation of it has increased dramatically with the help of my sister and JC along with my friend Frank. Last year Frank gave me a tour of Sandstone canyon (before the earthquake and subsequent road blockage), that showed me things I'd never seen in the desert before. This year JC took me 4 wheeling to Font's Point. I was blown away by what we saw there. The road out is pretty typical flat desert land through a wash. At the end it opens up to a drop into some amazing badlands. It is quite a surprise and treat! I'll start this blog entry with an image from our drive to the desert.
Lake Wolford Area

It was very windy most of the time during our visit. The wildflower bloom that is usually just about over at this time of year was only at level 4 out of 10! It was amazingly green for the desert at this time of year.Wildflower macros were not in the cards because of the winds, but this view at the visitor's center caught my eye.

One of my photographic missions was to take a long exposure showing the movement of the stars in the night sky. This next image shows not only the movement of the stars in a 5 minute exposure but you can see the different colors too.

The night sky is not the only fun thing to experiment with photographically in the desert night if you have a campfire burning.

I got up before sunrise and at times before dawn and was rewarded for my early rising with the beautiful colors of the sun rising in the desert.

It rained most the time in the local mountains while we were in the desert. We only got spit on a little bit, but the clouds were a real treat to set off desert scenery.

I have a very large gallery of photos from our trip. You can view them here: Anza Borrego 2011

My favorite way to view is the slideshow you can use this link for the slideshow: Slideshow