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I recently reviewed the pictures I took during 2012 and tried to pick my 10 favorites, but I had a hard time doing that and I am still sorting them out and ranking them. However, there are 4 or 5 I definitely like a lot and I have posted them. I did not travel outside San Diego too much during 2012, so most of my pictures were taken in and around SD. I may add some more, but for right now here are the pictures that made the cut…
Here are a few pictures that I have taken in San Diego during the past few weeks of the Holiday Season…..
Below is the Christmas Tree in Ocean Beach, San Diego…..
I was in Coronado last night and took a walk by the iconic Hotel Del Coronado, which is now adorned with Christmas lights. It is quite a sight to see in person. I went out on the beach so I could get a good picture, which captures the entire hotel.
Here are a few more pictures.
I just happened to be out at Pacific Beach late this afternoon (10-18-12) and I caught a great sunset, which I took several pictures of. The picture below may be the best of the group. I wasn’t expecting to see a beautiful sunset because the weather really wasn’t all that great. Most of the day it was quite cloudy and the sun never broke through the thick blanket of cloud cover on a day that seemed more like the kind of day you would experience in “Gray May” than you would in October here in San Diego. However, the clouds started parting a bit late in the day and the clouds that remained helped create a beautiful frame as sunset approached.
I made a trip out to the Mission Trails Regional Park to climb Cowles Mountain today (09-06-12). The Park is a 5,800 acre preserve located in the northeast corner of San Diego. The Park contains several large mountains, including Cowles, which is the tallest mountain in San Diego. The summit reaches 1,591 feet and provides spectacular 360 degree views of the San Diego region.
The trailhead is located at the corner of Navajo Road and Golfcrest Drive. There is a parking lot at the trailhead, as well as restrooms. The parking lot appears to only have room for only about 20 vehicles, so you might have to park a few blocks away on the street. It is also possible to get to the mountain via San Diego’s mass transit system. Just take the Green Line trolly to the San Diego State transit station and transfer to the 115 Bus. Ride the bus to stop at the corner of Jackson Drive and Golfcrest Drive. The ride takes about 10-12 minutes and leaves you one block from the trailhead. Just look for the huge mountain when you get off the bus, you can’t miss it.
Here are a few of the pictures I took while on the way up:
Test post.
Just giving the updated version of the WordPress iPad App a try. I like the updated interface a lot. It is a big improvement.
Test picture post….Here is a recent picture I took in Del Mar….
I finally got around to downloading the very popular Instagram photo sharing app.
I took my first picture in downtown San Diego today (03-07-12), on the corner of 7th Avenue and Cedar Street, which is an intersection nearby where I live. This is the view facing west, looking down Cedar Street, toward the San Diego Bay.
On Feb 9th, 2012 Kodak announced that they would be phasing out production of all digital cameras and video recorders. Kodak has been producing cameras since 1888 and as an owner of several Kodak digital cameras I was disappointed, but not surprised, when I read the report of this decision. Most of the Kodak digital cameras sold today are sub $300.00, with many under $200.00. I always thought Kodak digital cameras were well built and good values, but that segment of the market is highly competitive and under constant pressure from ever improving cameras built into smartphones and other multifunction devices , such as the iPhone and the iPod Touch.
My first digital camera was a Kodak DC290, which I purchased about 12 years ago. It was quite expensive, about $800.00 IIRC, but I was fascinated by it and digital cameras totally rekindled my interest in photography. I used the DC290 as my primary camera for just a couple years and ultimately replaced it as my primary just a couple of years later with a much small and less expensive Kodak digital camera. However, it was the DC290 that demonstrated to me just what a quantum leap digital photography represented. I made a point of taking the camera with me on a summer trip to Aspen, CO because I knew I would be able to find numerous scenic areas out there. When I downloaded those pictures to my computer I was stunned by the detail and the rich colors. A few of those pictures remain among my all time favorites and I have posted them below.
Photogene is a photo-editing app for the iPad. It has been around for a few years, but it was just updated a few days ago. I’ve used it for well over a year and I thought it was a great app before the most recent update, but it is even better now. The update has added many new features, such as new filters and other tools for modifying photos, including a feature that enables you to make collages. I think this app is an outstanding value at only $2.99. You can buy it at the iTunes store.
Here are a few examples of photos that I have modified using the Photogene app….
I went hiking at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in San Diego a couple of months ago and shot some video of a few portions of the hike, which I have posted below.
I have hiked at the Torrey Pines Reserve at least a half a dozen times before and it is one my favorite locations in the San Diego area for hiking and photography because of the stunning views that many of the trails in the Reserve provide. The Reserve is located on the coast, immediately to the north of the famous Torrey Pines Golf Course and just south of Del Mar. The size of the Reserve is 2,000 acres and it is one the few places on the coast of Southern California that remains undeveloped. It is an interesting place to visit because it gives visitors a good idea of what large parts of the Southern California coast must have looked like prior to the arrival of man. There are eight miles of trails that crisscross the Reserve, including several that bring you to Torrey Pines State Beach.
I made the trip to the Reserve on this particular occasion because I wanted to shoot some video using my Steadicam Smoothee, which is a hand held rig for small video recording devices such as iPhones, iPods or Flip video cameras. I purchased the Smoothee last year and used an iPhone 3GS with it to take these videos. The Smoothee helps stabilize the video and enables the user to move about on uneven surfaces, walking or running, and shoot fairly stable video. It takes practice to use the rig effectively, but it does work. The videos below are among my first made using the Smoothee and I need more practice with it, but I had fun out there. On the second video posted below I also used the stabilization tool that is now included as part of the You Tube video editing tools.
gmf journal 