Rebel with Paws

Rebel, a young brown Maine coonish tabby, is looking for a home.  You can visit him at the North County Humane Society in Atascadero.

Big Bucks in Morro Bay

Deer, that is.

This guy hangs around the "back 40" acres at Morro Bay Power Plant.  I caught him napping in the shade on Thursday morning.

Santa Margarita Ranch, Part 2

I had another opportunity to photograph the "back country" at Santa Margarita Ranch this past weekend.  My photos focused on the vineyards this time, and I have several nice grape photos.

Unfortunately, my camera was in the bag when we came upon the bear next to the road, and he (or she) was gone up the hillside before I could get the camera and long lens ready to go.  I've got to learn to leave that wildlife lens in my lap when driving out on the back roads.

Here are a few photos from the day - including my first ever IR photo (converted to black and white).  I used the (unmodified) Pentax K-5 with a 720 IR filter and an exposure of about 45 seconds.  It is something that I will have to experiment with.

You can learn more about photo tours of the ranch at

http://www.margarita-adventures.com/photo-tours-of-santa-margarita-ranch/

Iconic SLO County Oak Tree

One oak tree in San Luis Obispo county stands out from all others.  It is probably not the most picturesque, or most stately, or most historic oak, but it shows up repeatedly in photos and County publications.  This was the "cover photo oak" for the County Ag report a few years ago.

Why is this oak so popular?  Probably because it's easy to get to - right off Oakdale Rd - and easy to photograph without foreground and background distractions.

So here are a few of my contributions of this well known oak.

Templeton Sunsets

Recent tropical storm moisture over San Luis Obispo County didn't bring any measurable rain, but brought interesting cloud formations and excellent sunsets.  Sunsets are mostly a winter phenomenon on the Central Coast, so it is very much a pleasure to enjoy sunset colors in the summer when it's warm and pleasant outside.

Here are a couple of sunsets from West Templeton (near HW 46 and Vineyard) from the Labor day weekend.

4th of July Fireworks in the Fog

Along with thousands of others, I made the annual trip to the coast to watch 4th of July fireworks.  This year I visited with friends in the coast town of Cambria.

Weather was clear and delightful for most of the afternoon, but you could see the bank of fog looming just off shore.  Would we see fireworks, or just a colorful glow as the rockets disappeared into the clouds?

The answer is - both.  Stars were shining directly over head , but clouds kept blowing across our viewing area.  So here is a set of photos - fireworks in the fog!