Over the Spillway

For the first time in six years water flows over the Lake Hodges Reservoir spillway in Escondido, just north of San Diego. A somewhat rare occurrence considering just a few months ago the water level in the lake was dangerously low, only 20 percent full due to the seemingly never ending drought. My original idea was to shoot the water at sunset, and hope for a combination magenta/blue sky, or as I like to call it, Sky Blue Pink. But Mother Nature wouldn’t cooperate. The sky was overcast and no sunset. In color it looked pretty lifeless, so I desaturated the color to make it turn into black and white, and then boosted the contrast. The exposure was for 2.5 seconds at f20 on ISO 50 with a 70-200mm lens set at 200mm on a tripod and triggered with an electronic cable release.

Howard Lipin

Over the Spillway

Buddha

When over 1,000 Buddhist statues were moved to the new location of the store that sells them, it became a three-block pilgrimage. Followers from all over the area converged to move the statues in this spiritual way. Participants chanted, Om Mani Padme Hum, the Mantra of Compassion, during the short trek.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Buddha

Bernanke

When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks, people listen. It also attracts photographers jockeying for position trying to get a photo better than everyone else. Conventions by their very nature are difficult places to shoot something different. The light is terrible, the access beyond the front of the stage is almost impossible, and when a camera shutter decides to blow, it further limits what can be done. That’s what happened while I was photographing the man a person attending the speech was overheard saying is more important than the President.

Howard Lipin
Photos used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Bernanke

After the Rain

I like a good rain. It cleans the air and makes for interesting cloud formations after the rain stops. I didn't have a lot of luck chasing many of the formations in San Diego, so I went to East San Diego County, and La Mesa, where I found the American flags and a pretty good set of clouds above. It may be the first full day of Spring, but don't tell us that. Between one and two inches of rain fell in less than 24-hours.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

After the Rain

Charger Girls

I was going through some photos shot last year and came across Charger Girls tryout photos. It might be a long while before they grace the sidelines of football games as the NFL owners and the players, play a 9 billion dollar game of chicken. More Photos.

Howard Lipin

Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Charger Girls

Going March Madness Dancing

With the best season in school history in the bag, the San Diego State men's basketball team celebrates as the announcement is made on CBS television that they are the number two seed in the West Region for the NCAA Tournament.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Going March Madness Dancing

Protest

As political unrest spreads from one country to the next in the Middle East, protests in The United States supporting the ouster of one dictator after another continues. One Sunday afternoon a group of protestors took to the streets of San Diego calling for the end of the regime in Iran. Most of the protestors themselves are from Iran and other countries in the region, and many were reluctant to give their names. They fear what might happen to family members still there.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of the San Diego Union-Tribune

Protest

Gas

Just about everyday the price of gas keeps rising, the result of revolutions going on in faraway places around the World. I have a feeling we're going to be photographing gas stations for a while, so finding different ways to do it is the challenge.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Gas

San Diego Winter

It seldom snows in San Diego County low enough on the mountains so it can clearly be seen from the downtown skyline. When it does, it's a big deal. Like everything else weather related in this semi-arid desert, we make a big deal out of it while the rest of the country looks at us and says, so.....what's the big deal. Because it happens so seldom, we like to make a big deal out of it, savor the moment, and take pretty pictures of it.

Howard Lipin

San Diego Winter