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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The fast moving F-22 Raptor, one of the latest and greatest next generation jet fighters made for an interesting photo as the water vapor in the air was squeezed out during higher speed, and high-G turns, causing the plane to become enveloped in the moisture during the annual Miramar Air Show in San Diego. I’ve seen the plane at the Reno Air Races when it was 100-degrees, and no humidity, and no matter how fast it went, this kind of photo wasn’t possible. I dropped the color because the sky really wasn’t very good. In fact, it was really, really bad, and the black-and-white added drama, which is what it’s all about.
A car struck a natural gas line in Mira Mesa late Sunday afternoon, triggering a house fire, San Diego fire officials reported. The incident occurred about 5 p.m. at 8136 Calico St. A fire department spokesman said a motorist hit the gas line, igniting a fire that destroyed the home’s garage. The driver was transported to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.
The first day of summer in San Diego started out as an overcast cool day. The kind of day I like. Not too cold, not too hot, and overcast for the soft lighting. I was searching for a picture that illustrated the cooler than normal temperature and was different. I spotted the group of riders, and waited for them to pass in front of me. With a slow 1/50th of a second shutter speed and panning the camera as they passed, I was able to get the shot.
It was just another day in San Diego as I hit the streets at 6 a.m., with the goal of finding, shooting, and transmitting breaking news photos, so they can be used on The San Diego Union-Tribune website ASAP. In many ways it’s a cat and mouse game of listening to the police scanners to find out where the action is, which has become more difficult because the cops are doing a lot of their dispatching via computer, and not the audible Adam-12 thing on a lot of good stuff. So listening for any type of tip, or out of the ordinary communication on what’s happening early-on, is more important because there's less of it than in the past. An officer reported to his sergeant that he couldn’t move his patrol car because “It“ was still under the car wouldn’t move, which got me wondering what could keep a cop from moving his car. After figuring out where it was happening, I headed to the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego to find a sea lion hiding under a police car. It had come out of the ocean and decided to setup shop under the patrol car in the middle of the street at 4 a.m. The officer was checking-out a report of a sea lion under a parked car, and when he arrived, the pup came out from under the parked car and headed to his patrol car where he stayed four several hours until the mammal rescue folks from SeaWorld arrived, and in a matter of a couple of minutes, convinced the little guy to come out. They took him back to SeaWorld where he will stay for several weeks until he’s ready to go back into the ocean. This brings the motto of "To Protect and Serve," to a new level. More Photos.
