Tag: Photo on Flickr

Not a Rainbow

Feathery Not-a-Rainbow

An amazing circumhorizon arc that I saw last May. I had just crossed the street while walking to lunch when I looked up, saw it…and walked back to the office to get my camera!

It started out as just a couple of small segments, but as the clouds drifted into position it quickly grew, and at its strongest it was just long enough to fill the field of view on my camera. There were also a couple of fragments of a 22° circular halo visible at the time.

It looks like a sort of straightened-out rainbow, but it’s actually caused by ice crystals. If the right type of crystals cover the entire sky, this will actually stretch in a circle all the way around the sky, parallel to the horizon.

At times like this, I really wish I had a DSLR, but the point-and-shoot will do in a pinch.

Location: Irvine, California. May 14, 2010, 1:30pm

Palm Tree Alley

Palm Tree Alley

The walkway between the Hilton Anaheim and the Anaheim Convention Center. The blocky wall to the right is a large area full of staircases at one end of the convention center.

Taken this past April, during Anaheim Comic Con. The convention center was also host to a much larger coffee convention.

Yerba Buena Gardens

Yerba Buena Gardens

Looking north across the park on a spring afternoon during WonderCon 2010. It rained most of the weekend, but the one day we were (mostly) indoors was the one day that the sun came out.

The tiered building to the left is the Marriott Marquis, the convention hotel. The church across the way is St. Patrick’s. The tall building behind it is the Four Seasons hotel.

Photo: Yerba Buena Gardens

Santiago Canyon in Green

Santiago Canyon after Rain
Santiago Canyon after Rain, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Looking roughly southeast on the side of Santiago Canyon Road, somewhere between Irvine Lake and the turnoff for Silverado Canyon. The peaks of Saddleback, with a dusting of snow barely visible at larger sizes, are shrouded in clouds.

Taken between rainstorms last January.

Gnarled Tree

Gnarled Tree

Somewhere in Cuyamaca State Park (now Cuyamaca Rancho State Park) in the mountains east of San Diego, California. We camped at Paso Picacho, but I don’t remember whether this was near the campsite or spotted during a hike.

This was taken in April 2002, about a year and a half before a devastating fire destroyed large areas of the park.

(It was also about a year before I got my first digital camera, so this image was scanned from a print.)

Santa Ana Mountains Snow II

Santa Ana Mountains Snow from Irvine

According to Flickr, this is my most interesting* photo that isn’t someone in costume at a fan convention. It’s #68 on the list!

The photo was taken December 18, 2008, after a storm passed through Orange County and did something unusual: it blanketed the Santa Ana Mountains with snow. Saddleback typically gets a light dusting a couple of times a year, and the next peak down sometimes gets a little snow that melts by noon, but it’s rare for the snow to reach any lower.

The vantage point is a housing development on Quail Hill, looking southeast over the Irvine Spectrum area. You can see the Great Park Balloon near the left. Saddleback itself is out of frame to the right, but you can see its base (the peaks are covered in clouds) in the panorama I shot at the same time.

*Flickr’s “interestingness” is a measure that combines a count of views, comments, and “favorites.” The exact balance is secret, but from what I can tell, comments outweigh favorites, which outweigh views.

Maxfield Parrish Sky

Maxfield Parrish Sky

Maxfield Parrish Sky, originally uploaded by Kelson.

One night last October, I stepped out of the office building and felt like I’d stepped into a Maxfield Parrish painting. The whole sky looked like this. (Or at least the half that was visible.) It literally stopped me in my tracks.

I spent the next 15 minutes walking around the parking lot, watching the lighting on the clouds change as the sun set and taking pictures.

Nighttime Fair From Above

OC Fair from Above at Night
OC Fair from Above at Night, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Looking down at the carnival area of the 2009 Orange County Fair from the top of the Ferris wheel. This was the end of a busy afternoon and evening at the fair that encompassed “Weird Al” Yankovic’s 3-D brain, a concert, and the horrifying realization that at the fair, people will fry anything. Is the world ready for the Zucchini Weenie?

Santa Ana Mountains Snow

Saddleback Snow Quail Hill View
Santa Ana Mountains Snow – Quail Hill View, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Monday’s storm didn’t leave much snow on Saddleback (though the San Gabriel Mountains were pretty well covered), but it’s been cold enough that I half-suspect this weekend’s storm will leave a bit more.

So here are a couple of views of the Santa Ana Mountains and the Irvine Spectrum from last December, seen from Quail Hill. The first was taken the morning after the storm ended. The second was taken the following day at lunchtime. I’ve also got a full panorama taken at the same time as the first photo.

Santa Ana Mountains Snow - Quail Hill Revisited
Santa Ana Mountains Snow – Quail Hill Revisited, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Neptune Pool (Hearst Castle)

Neptune Pool

The main outdoor swimming pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. Taken on a tour last February.

This was at least the third time I’ve been to Hearst Castle, and the second time as an adult. I vaguely remember visiting when I was eight, or ten, or somewhere around that age. Years later, in 2008, my wife and I planned a trip to San Francisco and decided to do it in stages, including a stopover at Hearst Castle. We only had time for one of the four tours, so when we planned another trip this year, we made sure to include another stop in San Simeon. This time we had a little more sense of how much time was involved, and managed to fit in two of the remaining tours.

At some point, we need to head back during spring or summer when they’re running the garden tour.

Morning Glories

Morning Glories
Morning Glories, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Last year my wife and I found some morning glories growing in our backyard, and decided to train them with twine to grow along the back wall. They did phenomenally well…and then produced a zillion seed pods, reminding us that they’re often classified as weeds.

They’re gone now.