I went up into the mountains today--the San Jacinto Mountains--and stopped for birding at a few locations. One place was Idyllwild County Park & Nature Center. Outside the Nature Center, I spotted this unusual wildlife. I'll bet even Bill Boyd doesn't have one like this coming into his back yard! The artist was Lauretta Lowell. 5/28/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
We have had some strange atmospheric conditions around here, with smoky skies and all. Three different days I had seen the setting sun as a large red dot--but was never in a place I could photograph it that way. I finally found a location not far from home with a view of the setting sun, but instead of the red circle, this is what I saw. Truthfully, to the naked eye, it did not look quite this orange, but this is how the sensor captured it. In fact I actually desaturated the color a bit! As the sun got closer to going down, it came to a thicker layer of smoke--the actual horizon is well below what it appears to be here, but the sun was obscured by the smoke as it went below this level. Welcome to my world! 10/8/20 My website: www.sparhawkphotography.com
Right before the lockdown, I made a trip down to San Diego, including a visit to the town of Imperial Beach. Right by the beach, I saw this statue of Captain Morgan on the roof of a bar and restaurant, Ye Old Plank Inn. I realized it referenced Captain Morgan Rum. My curiosity was piqued, and I looked up just who Captain Morgan was. Maybe everyone already knows this, but the rum is named after the 17th century Welsh privateer of the Carribean, Sir Henry Morgan, who died in 1688. He was a privateer, pirate, a wealthy plantation owner, and later was Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Since 2017 the rum's label slogan has been "Live Like the Captain". 5/2/20 My website: www.sparhawkphotography.com
