Ling Cod & Chick

Here it is: A good friend of mine recently caught this Ling Cod near Santa Cruz, CA and soon after landing it, the Ling burped up this chick.  The question is, what kind of bird is it and how did the chick manage to get to the water and then gobbled up?  Feel free to post in the comment section any thoughts...

A Santa Barbara Barber

John Papallardo.  John was my barber when I was a kid starting around the age of 5.  I was recently back in Santa Barbara and had a chance to catch up and take some images of him.  He has been cutting my father's hair for about 35 years.  He cut my brother's hair as well and for many years had a picture of him screaming through his first haircut posted on his wall.  Born in Salerno, Italy he migrated to the States in 1949.  He is the son of a barber and his mother's father was a barber as well.  He lived through World War II in Italy and has stories about the occupation there.  He has been cutting hair in the same location for 35 years.  He is a kind and wonderful man and in my mind is a symbol of Santa Barbara. 

Nikon D3s, Nikon 35 f2 lens

To this day, John still carries a strong Italian Accent.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 35 f2 lens

At 82, he has cut back from 6 days a week to 5.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 35 f2 lens

A tool of his trade.

Nikon D3s, Nikon 35 f2 lens



 

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach and tracks near Miramar.

Nikon D3s & Nikon 24 pc-e lens. A variable 8 stop nd filter was used for the beach image. Images were edited on an iPad using Nik Sofware's Snapseed.

Santa Barbara Mission

Having a back-up camera has proven nice as my main body, a Nikon D3s is getting worked on. This is a shot of the Santa Barbara Mission about 30 minutes after the sun went down.

Nikon D200 and Nikon 24 pc-e lens

Sun Valley Fishing Report

Last Light.  Silver Creek, Idaho.  May 2012

 

Sunset Pano.  Silver Creek, Idaho

 

An optimistic spider got this web ready prior to his buddies and is undoubtedly thinking of the immienent brown drake hatch.  Silver Creek

 

Guinness, my soon-to-be 10 year old English Setter.

Nikon D3s & Nikon 24 pc-e lens

Opening day is just around the corner on our local water--May 26th.  Given the fact we have had an early runoff our water should be in far better shape to start the season than we've had the past couple of years.  Does that mean the Big Wood should be fishable for the opener?  That's a bit contingent on our weather between now and then but it's sure looking like we should have high but fishable water.  Below is a snapshot for the flow on the Wood taken from the USGS site today.  Note the flow around April 27th:

Here's a snapshot from the USGS site for Silver Creek which is pretty low at the moment likely due to the earlier-than-normal call for irrigation water.  The flows should gradually increase over the next 3 weeks.:

And a snapshot from the USGS site for the Lower Big Lost River (Note the Lost River drainage is open all year and is fishable at the moment.  It's really hard to say when the water will increase in flow to unfishable levels, but for now it's very fishable and worth the trek.  Trail Cr. is still closed and the long circuitous route through Arco is the way to go from the Ketchum area.  I would imagine Trail Cr. should open up within the next two weeks.  Contact Blaine County Road & Bridge for more info.):

 

 

Silver Creek, Idaho

Silver Creek

The above image is a 5 frame pano taken last night on Silver Creek.  It felt like summer.  Night hawks were whooping and fish were rising and there were a few caddis and lots of midges and it was green and there were even a few mosquitoes to swat at.  Brown drakes are just around the corner.  Silver Creek opens to fishing on May 26th along with most of the rest of Idaho.

Nikon D3s & Nikon 24 pc-e lens

Into The Sun

Pacific Ocean

An image I overlooked from a trip this winter to Northern California.

Nikon D3s & Nikon 80-200 afs 2.8 lens

Nikon D3s & Nikon 105 Micro Lens

Stove-Top Espresso Long Exposure

Tulip

Above are a couple of images taken today.  I used extension tubes along with the 105mm lens.

Nikon D3s & Nikon 105 Micro

Silver Creek Preserve

Nature Conservancy & Storm

Nikon D3S & Nikon 24 pc-e lens

I took the above 3 image pano last night.  I tilted the lens down about 1.5 degrees to have the look of unlimited depth of field and shifted the lens left and right for the pano.  We have been in the afternoon thunderstorm cycle for about a week or so.  Highs in Ketchum have even crept over 80 degrees which has started our runoff on local rivers much earlier than normal.  Below is a graph of the flow of the Salmon River.  Note the average flow and how much the river went up yesterday alone.  Also, note that the previous record flow for today was 3110 cfs set in 1974.  All in all, this is a super early runoff and while the high water will certainly last some time, I suspect our rivers should be in great shape in early June.  That means we are likely to have fishable water on the Big Wood River for our green drake hatch...

 

Here's a graph showing the flow on the Big Wood River:

Might as well include the flow on the Big Lost as well--which is open year round:

Macro & Form

Spring Bulb

I am in the middle of reading Karl Blossfeldt's, The Complete Published Work.  A German photographer (1865-1932) who used a home-made large format wooden camera to catalogue plants primarily to serve as a teaching aid for drawing classes.  He was a professor of art at The Berlin College of Art.  His photographic work was discovered later in his life.  His work has certainly inspired me to shoot tiny plant details and remove color to leave behind a simple composition of a plant's form.

Nikon D3S & Nikon Micro 105 with extension tubes