Seeing Sea Turtles in San Diego

wow. what. an. adventure.

It was different today.  I couldn't get anywhere near where I usually enter the ocean, so I had to walk through business districts, hike through a trail, and climb down a different cliff to get to my "secret beach.  Today, the secret lagoon was at super low tide and as I putting on my goggles 2 full sized spotted stingrays IN 6 INCHES OF WATER start swimming towards my feet. I scare them away with my fins.  Strange, because I never see that species of ray reguarly.

Then I start swimming and I see tons of hound sharks and baby leopard sharks....also something I never see often...especially at this lagoon.

All of a sudden big wave comes and kicks up the sand, so the visibility goes to ZERO. I'm literally swimming in mud.

Out of the murkiness this shark with spot patterns I don't recognize emerges right in front of my face and I SCREAM.  It stares at me for a little bit. this makes me feel uneasy because there's almost no visibility, and sharks usually swim past me.

...It took me a second to recognize I was face to face with a sea turtle. I swam with it for the rest of my swim, despite the fact it kept swimming farther and farther out through zero visibility.  I had no clue what else was lurking out there.  I followed it, and it let me stay really close to it.  I was able to pet its shell and swim side-by-side with it.

Man. what an experience. I've spent two years trying to find them, and this one found me.  

Here are the photos.  [side note:  the visibility was really poor....and a kerfuffle at the photo lab caused me to take my photos home and self scan them]

Why a Nikonos?

I had to wrestle with myself on this new camera for underwater use.  I was either going to get a GoPro or a Nikonos.  I decided to go with Nikonos because of my love for film photography.  and the limitations you have to work with to actively think up creative solutions.  Also, if you look through everything I've ever shot in the ocean and compared my digital photos to my film photos, it's no contest.  I also took into account that the Nikonos's resale value remains consistent whereas GoPro values go down with each generation.  Here are some photos from my first roll:

*disclaimer:  I didn't rewind the film correctly so I accidentally exposed my film when I opened up the back of the camera.

My First Film SLR...for SALE

I really don't want to do this because I get emotionally attached to my cameras, but up for sale is my Canon Canonflex RM (1962) with a 35mm f/3.5 & 50mm f/1.8 lens.  Above are photos of my actual camera.  This is the last model in the first series of SLRs from Canon.

Does it work?  It works great.  The selenium light meter still measure light correctly without the need for batteries.  [Whereas most cameras of this age rarely ever have a working meter]  The shutter fires correctly at all speeds.  35mm lens is flawless.  The 50mm lens is the lens that came with the camera when I first acquired it, and it is dented at the filter ring.  This does not affect the photos in any way.  The photos below were all taken with the 50mm lens.

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If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

To purchase this camera, head on over to my store!

ZGroove Live Gallery

ZGroove invites you to experience a LIVE gallery of dance, spoken word, photography, beatboxing, & jam-grass acoustic music as you mingle, move, and meet our community of artists! 

There will be a raffle for a FREE 60 min Thai massage, private classes (yoga, house, b-boying, popping), & MORE following the performance. :)

TICKETS $10 student admission
$25 donation ticket (w/ raffle)

TIME 8 pm Show 
(doors open at 7:30 pm)


LOCATION
Molli & Arthur Wagner Dance Building (UCSD)
(next to La Jolla Playhouse)
2910 La Jolla Village Dr., La Jolla, CA 92037

It's a bit tricky to get to for first time visitors, so please plan accordingly to get there on time! 

Theatre info: http://theatre.ucsd.edu/places/theatres/dance.html


PARKING
UCSD has free parking on the weekends. So any of the parking lots near the Wagner Theatre should be free (many spots off Scholars Dr S.). 

Here is a MAP showing the 2 parking lots you can park at, then walk over to the Wagner Theatre:
http://goo.gl/yoTr3v

National Camera Day

One of the many questions I get when people see my photos are "what camera are you shooting with?"  I am a firm believer that cameras don't shoot photos, people shoot photos....but I do use different cameras for different reasons....here's why I use some of these cameras...:

Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 [1982: bottom-left]:   I got this camera originally for use with Disneyland.  It was lightweight, and came with a wide-angle attachment, and built in flash.  Since then it became my "go to" camera because of its portability and auto focus [which really comes in handy when doing street photography]

Minolta Maxxum 7000 [1985:  top-left]:  I consider this camera to be the big brother to the Hi-Matic.  It does almost the same thing, except for it allows me more manual control over the camera.  I've started taking this camera out more to shoots and outings for things I want to remember.  The selective focus is why I like this better than the Hi-Matic but it's a little bigger than the Hi-Matic.

Minolta Weathermatic [1987:  center-top]:  My underwater camera of choice.  I've tried many many cameras from disposable, to digital, to other film cameras..[and can't justify dropping money on a Nikonos...yet]  The weathermatic has a strap that goes around my torso when I swim, giving me easy access to it at all times....but not only that, the photos I've captured using this camera on land are amazing for a point-and-shoot.

Olympus XA [1979:  center-center]:  My latest addition to my roster of cameras I use.  I rarely ever use flash, so the flash unit is tucked away most of the times...making this camera TINY.  One thing I really enjoy about this camera is the manual settings and the fact that it is literally the quietest camera I've owned.  I thought it was broken when I bought it.  I can see why this camera series has developed a following behind it.  This is the perfect everyday camera. 

Canon Canonflex RM [1972: bottom-center]:  I found this camera for $5 at a thrift store.  $5!!!  I originally started shooting film years ago with a Holga and disposable underwater cameras...this camera forced me to go to the next level and teach myself about the manual settings of cameras.  It reinvigorated my love for film.  I use it for when I want to shoot pure manual, and plan on taking many many photos.

Minolta Instant Pro [1990: top-right]:  Notice a motif?  I've turned into a Minolta fan mainly because of the results I've achieved with the Weathermatic.  This camera is really a Polaroid Spectra Pro, but rebranded by Minolta.  I rarely ever shoot instant film.  I do own the trademark hipster SX-70 foldable SLR....but I very much prefer using this because you never know when that flash will come in handy. 

Mamiya C330 [1969:  bottom-right]:  One from my list of dream cameras.  [the other camera on that list is a Nikonos V]  Why this camera?  It is fully manual.  It's beautiful.  It takes 220 film [similar to 120, a bigger format of film, except twice the number of exposures].  The lenses are interchangeable.  There is a waist-level viewfinder.  And its a definite conversation starter.  This is the camera I use for fine art and portraiture.  Most of my best work was taken with this camera, or its predecessor the Mamiya C3.