Sunday, January 31, 2021

Wanderings in the Scrub (pt. 1)

It was supposed to be a partly cloudy day, and I wanted to go out and take photos of the snow-capped mountains, but not if I had to venture up to the Angeles Crest road. There is snow up there, and you are required to have snow chains, and I don't, plus I don't want to take extended trips the day after I passed a miserable night with stomach pain. So, I sat at home and prepared a Powerpoint lecture for my class, finished it and took a look outside. There was sunlight outside, it was 12:30, and I said, carpe diem! So I got ready and drove out to the California Botanic Garden with two cameras, my DSLR and my Fuji GW690. I have not taken my DSLR there yet, out of the maybe 4 or 5 times I have been there, and it was time. 

I got there at 1:30 and the parking lot was full. I did find a spot after someone pulled out but I was nervous, since I had to squeeze into a space with a big SUV next to it, and even though the license plate read "UC Davis alumni", and my impression is that that is a very civilized campus with a civilized culture, I thought, I won't risk it. So I waited and found another spot.

Walking in and you could hear the kids. I don't mind, although you have to be careful with them, they tend not to wear masks and they tend not to respect personal space so they will run right up to you or next to you, sending me into a panic as I try to scramble away while lugging big cameras. But I had no trouble today.

The sun was out briefly before it took leave and hid itself. Most of my cellphone photos were dark. The mountains and hills nearby are beautiful with their layer of snow. I didn't get very many clear shots, though, and to do so, I could have used a split density filter.

Here are a few cellphone photos.












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