Liu Fang Yuan, Huntington Botanical Gardens

Liu Fang Yuan (Garden of Flowing Fragrance) is just one of five classical Chinese gardens in the United States. Having opened at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in 2008, I finally got a chance to see it yesterday while running an errand in Pasadena. My previous visit was in 2007 when I given a free annual pass as a gift but the garden was still being developed at the time. Several family members showed me pictures when it opened and it looked like a photogenic garden but I just never got around to going despite living nearby. I haven’t seen any other classical Chinese gardens so I have nothing to compare it to but it is perhaps the prettiest garden at the Huntington along with the famous Rose Garden.

I went for the high-key effect on this image since it was overcast. If I can acquire another annual pass, I’d like to try shooting this spot at sunset to see this place for all it’s glory. (During the summer, they have evening concerts for members and open til dusk.) I think the fall season might be a good time as well since the Japanese maples should turn colors.

Wood Duck, Los Angeles County Arboretum, California

I have nothing deep to add other than I just wanted to share another pretty picture taken on the Canon 400mm f5.6 lens.

See more of my bird pictures.

Wood Duck Couple, L.A. County Arboretum, California

I received a Canon 400mm f5.6 lens this week and went to test it out locally at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. I previously blogged about renting the Canon 500mm f4.0 lens and testing it out on wood ducks at the L.A. County Arboretum but not liking the bulk of that lens so that led me to this lighter weight lens. From initial testing, I think the image quality is probably better than the 500mm lens and it is much easier to use since it is about 2.5 lbs rather than 9 lbs. My only complaint is that there is no autofocus with a tele-converter attached to my 20D camera unless you tape over the pins. Plus, the lens is slow to focus at f8.0 which is the widest aperture with the 1.4x teleconverter attached. I don’t think it will be an issue for me photographing bison in Yellowstone and grizzly bears in Alaska though since they are big lumbering mammals as opposed to small birds in perpetual motion. I’ll likely be using manual focus for those subjects.

See more of my bird pictures.

San Gabriel River Scenic Landscape

The next year or so will be a crucial one for me as I am preparing to buy my first house. I’ve been saving up for the past two years and have the money for a good down payment but I want to make sure I have a “safety nest” in case things don’t quite pan out. With that come some sacrifices, travel being the primary one since I haven’t traveled since October. The furthest I have been since then was the Carrizo Plain and some assignment work in the desert. Honestly, I would probably be more happy traveling around the country inside of a truck for the next few years but with the current state of the economy this might be my only chance to get into the California housing market which was a bit of a rip-off in most places to say the least.

To put things into perspective, I had a co-worker five years ago who was married and had several kids yet was living at her mom’s house so they could finally afford their first house in the Inland Empire. The price tag of that house was $600,000… She did clerical work and her husband was a part-time employee at UPS if I remember correctly. From the current real estate prices I have seen, I would estimate that the house is worth about $200,000 these days. Even if I was married, there is no way in hell that I would try to buy a $600,000 house as a first-time homebuyer! $200k, you bet!

Either way, that is a lot of money so I had to learn to enjoy photographing close to home. Somewhere along the way, I discovered that it can be really rewarding creatively (see my nature photography video) and has led to a good amount of business. It is a fun challenge to find things to shoot in Southern California because lets be honest, it is generally a crappy place to be an outdoor photographer. It’s up the photographer to make their own tripod holes here.

With that said, I will be going to Yellowstone National Park this month for nine days of sunrise to sunset blitzkrieg-style photography just like the good old days. I can’t wait!

Japanese Garden at Descanso Gardens

Taking pretty pictures is always a double-edged sword. On one hand, we want to show how beautiful the world is to people. On the other hand, all well-known scenes eventually get trampled to death by those who care for nothing but getting a pretty picture. The recent closure of the popular Cal Photo Wildflower Report website due to hordes of people trampling flower fields to death and not respecting private property laws in other places is a very dramatic example of how little some people care for the landscape. I’ve read reports of photographers ripping large chunks of flowers / vegetation out of the ground just so no one could duplicate their composition. No ethical nature photographer should ever do that!

Those incidents are just a small part of what happens in general. When I went to Descanso Gardens last week, I waited for 1.5 hours at this spot for people to clear out and was disturbed by what I saw. I saw countless people stepping off the path into the planted area on the left to pose underneath the cherry tree blossoms. There were people who picked the blossoms off the trees. There was a kid who was running through the planted area and fell into the azaleas. Then there were kids (who had picked flowers off the bushes) who kept running underneath my tripod as if I weren’t even there then tossing the flowers at the koi in the water. If those were my kids they would have been in for a… well let’s not go there.

I hate to say it but I think security should start monitoring the gardens. I don’t know what it is about America that attracts uncivilized behavior, but when I went to Queen Elizabeth Park and Butchart Gardens in Canada, I didn’t see anyone doing anything disrespectful to the gardens despite being crowded.

Descanso Gardens Tulip

I’m curious to know how many other photographers out there who are allergic to pollen? Whenever I am around flowers, my allergies are so bad that I basically get sick for several days after. This is as cruel of a joke as there is for nature photography.

See more of my flower pictures.

Mount Baldy Water Reflection in San Gabriel River, Los Angeles County, California

The nice thing about all this rain we have gotten in February is that we have water in the San Gabriel Valley. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen anything other than a dry river bed. This photo shoot was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. There was a vantage point that I had photographed from in the past that I had intended to shoot from but it wasn’t available this time so I decided to try another angle but it required wading out into the San Gabriel River. I took off my shoes and went into the river about knee deep. By this point I’m thinking that I could probably make it out to the middle of the river to get my photo. That was before I felt a big drop-off to my right where I tried to stick my tripod so I decided it wasn’t worth it…

Soaking wet and dirty, I went back up to the trail and decided to explore further upstream where I had never been. I lucked out and found a similar scene that didn’t require getting into the water. Not that I’m complaining since that is the fun part about landscape photography; having a connection with the natural world.

See more of my San Gabriel Valley photos.

Mandarin Duck

I had only seen one mandarin duck before but didn’t get a picture of it so this has been on my trophy photo list for a while now. I didn’t expect to see one on Saturday but I caught a fleeting glimpse of it from afar when the ladies near me asked what I was looking for. “I think I saw an orange duck but it left before I could get a good look.” “That was a mandarin duck.” “Nice! That is what I thought it was.” So I walked around both sides of the lagoon multiple times (with a 500mm f4 lens + tripod) but didn’t see it until more than an hour later on the opposite shoreline. Eventually it came over to my side and in fact, too close on a several photos but I did manage a few clear pictures of the mandarin duck. It is the prettiest bird I have ever seen by far.

Mandarin Duck Portrait

See more of my bird pictures.

Wood Duck

In preparation for my upcoming travel, I rented a Canon 500 f4 lens to see what it would be like to lug that monster around. I took it to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and headed straight to the lagoon where I knew there would be some colorful wood ducks. I found it cumbersome to shoot with. Now I have been doing 3 – 4x / week weight training since August but there is no way in heck you can shoot this comfortably hand-held. Shooting on my standard ball-head was okay. I was kind of scared to loosen the ball for fear of smashing the lens against my mouth but I managed okay though I probably missed more photos than I got. The image stabilizer was really good though. I didn’t lose a single image due to camera shake no matter how sloppy the technique. Overall, I think I would have more fun shooting with the 400mm f5.6 because it would give me more mobility and also reduce the need for a chiropractor.

See more of my bird pictures.

Big Dalton Canyon Waterfall, Glendora, California

“Weather” is sort of a joke here in Southern California. It is generally either hot or warm year-round out here in the valley but the past week was a bit cooler from the 40’s and 50’s during the day. While cool, the at times heavy rainfall this weekend wasn’t cold enough to produce any new snow in the San Gabriel Mountains apparently. On the plus side, I got to shoot a waterfall picture with my new 35mm f2.0 lens. Yay!

See more of my San Gabriel Mountains pictures.

Since giving the nature photography lecture at the Sierra Club in March, I had been looking for ways to get parts of my presentation online. It wasn’t until I picked up the Canon 5D Mark II recently that I was able to figure out how to put all of the pieces together. I get a little chuckle out of that too because before I got the camera I was thinking how the HD video was more for marketing the camera than it was for actual professional use and how I wasn’t going to bother with it. That thought quickly got dispelled as soon as I tried out video mode because it is pretty awesome!

There were some issues with getting the video formatted for the web since the video was initially optimized for wide-screen HD TV’s. Also some of the footage I intended to include was unrenderable by my computer so I had to use an alternative clip. Either way, putting this together has been a learning experience. Hope you enjoy the video.

Lenticular clouds are a regular occurence in the Owens Valley due to the high elevation of the Sierra Nevada Mountains but they are not so common in the San Gabriel Valley. In certain instances lenticular clouds can even take the shape of a UFO. In fact there were two of them on this evening. I wasn’t in a position to get a clear view of the other lenticular but it was almost directly above me. On a positive note, I’m happy to report that I wasn’t abducted.

See more Glendora photos.

All of the autumn leaves on the ground were on this tree the previous week. With more funding perhaps the Glendora Preservation Foundation might be able to open Centennial Heritage Park more than once per month…

See more Glendora photos.

Death can be a beautiful thing.

Most of the leaves had fallen from the liquid amber trees at Glendora Centennial Heritage Park. The week before I looked over the chain link fence and noticed that the foliage was at peak color. I longed for an opportunity to photograph it but the park wasn’t open that weekend. This is what it looked like the following week.

See more Glendora pictures.

A pretty straightforward composition but I felt a sense of comfort by looking at the Hamilton House. I guess I kind of long for the simpler things in life. I’m not much of a city person and gravitate more toward the low-key humble places. The only thing missing here is the girl next door welcoming me with open arms.

See more Glendora pictures.

Earlier this month during my interview with Kristin Parisi she mentioned one of her favorite local places was the Centennial Heritage Park. I had never heard of the place since it is tucked in between the north side of the South Hills, a wash and an apartment complex. It only opens one weekend per month so I decided to go check it out a few weeks ago when there was still a little bit of color left on the trees.

It is a pretty cool place I must admit! The star attraction is the Hamilton House but the garden consists of a citrus grove, a row of liquid amber trees lining the property and an array of old farming equipment scattered about. My tour guide, Tom, was very passionate about describing the stories behind the place. If you question your own passion for life, take this house tour and you’ll learn what passion is about from a 73 year old man. He’s been volunteering for the Preservation Foundation for 12 years since his retirement and loves it. I ended up talking to him for probably two hours off and on in between taking photos. The light outdoors was horrible at that hour anyway due to the sun rising behind the South Hills so I wasn’t able to get many photos.

I thought this picture showed how quaint the Hamilton House is. They really did a good job at restoring this place as I think it previously housed some sort of store on Route 66 and was home to the original family before that. I have the brochure around here somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment so excuse me if my facts are a little off.

Google Earth is a fascinating tool that can serve a multitude of purposes. For a photographer this can mean location scouting opportunities. For an environmentalist it can help give perspective to threatened landscapes such as the Glendora South Hills. Click on the image to see a higher resolution picture of the environmental degradation that is happening in my local community.

Also here are some ground-level photos courtesy of Erica Landmann-Johnsey:

Wholesale Nursery Delivery Truck Driving Past Hiker on Glendora South Hills Trail

A Line of Colorama Wholesale Nursery Employees Driving Their Cars Down Bonnie Cove Hiking Trail

Nursery Employee in Hazmat Suit Spraying Chemicals in Glendora South Hills

Colorama Diesel Truck Driving Up Bonnie Cove Trail, Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park, California

Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park Trail in Spring Bloom

See more of my environmental pictures.

South Hills Alosta Canyon Trail, Glendora, California

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional background.

Both my husband and I are transplants from the Midwest to California, and we chose Glendora nearly 25 years ago as the place we wanted to raise our family. Soon after our children started school, I got involved in PTA and with other local issues and was quickly “hooked”.

Growing up, my folks were small business owners and we were always active on local issues and local politics. My mother owned and operated our small town newspaper and my father was a local politician. I was raised to believe you “Can’t complain if you don’t get involved”, so it was a natural step for me to provide information that helped the community, try to get our elected officials to listen, and work on the campaigns of candidates I believe in.

As a community volunteer, I published a little paper called “Glendora Life” from 1998-2007. It was Glendora’s “alternative” source of information. We dug for facts and reported news that other local media chose to ignore. Over the past 12 years, I have gradually become more informed, more involved, and more committed to being the type of voice in city hall our citizens deserve.

In my life, I’ve held many different jobs including teacher, college administrator, and policy analyst, but none more fulfilling or rewarding than the work I do now as a Children’s Social Worker. Every day I am in touch with some of our most needy families and feel blessed to have an opportunity to try and answer those needs, whether its safety, emotional strength, food or housing.

I hold a masters degree in Public Administration. I am dedicated to public service, and I will bring my communications skills and broad experience as an administrator, educator and social worker to the Glendora city council.

What do city council members do?

At best, city council members are the most accessible face of government for the citizens. The council sets policy on everything from where you can walk your dog, to the number and size of your business signs. The council plays a huge role in land use and planning decisions that impact the future of communities. Councils make decisions that determine the amount of open space and parkland to protect, the policy on recycling, which congestion management and traffic calming efforts to fund. These are all policies the city council decides on.

Council members are expected to be responsible enough to research issues they

vote on. They should listen and give voice and consideration to the values, opinions, and preferences of their constituents as part of their decision process. Of course, there are competing interests to be considered, but council members should give them all fair consideration and seek solutions and build consensus for decisions that better the entire community, not simply appease their friends or those with the loudest voices.

Unfortunately, what council members do and what they are supposed to do are often not the same. We all know that far too many elected officials succumb to the pressure of repaying favors to those who financed their campaigns.

Kristin Parisi City Council Candidate Waving to Crowd, Glendora Christmas Parade, California

Why do you want to be a Glendora City Council member?

Again, I think the process should be inclusive. When planning to balance housing needs with sustainability, protection of open space and quality of life, for instance, the process yields better results when the process is inclusive. That balance only comes when there are independent voices on the council and a real debate about the huge changes proposed for our community, and the possible solutions.

Since I got involved locally more than a dozen years ago, I’ve shown my concern for every area of our city and the kinds of decisions that are made to protect and improve our neighborhoods by being actively involved, speaking out to the Planning Commission and the City Council, providing written comments to environmental impact reports, and challenging decisions when I thought they were made in error, like the decision to place a commercial nursery operation in a wilderness park.

I’m running for the Glendora City Council because I still believe that discussion, dialog and debate are healthy. I believe in democracy and that everyone should have a place at the table. When we listen and consider everyone’s opinions and have a real, authentic commitment to inclusion and planning, we arrive at better decisions.

Your name was brought to my attention due a blog post I made about commercial development within the Glendora South Hills. What are your views regarding past, present and future decisions regarding our local wilderness area?

Every week, I drive all over the county and there is no better argument for preservation and conservation than a tour of the Southland. We are indeed fortunate to live near the foothills, just one of California’s natural treasures.

The fact is that more could have been done to preserve our local wild areas. Those who made the decisions, however, were obviously motivated by the interests of landowners who supported development regardless of the elevation, regardless of the slope, regardless of the habitat in the area.

I’m pleased that the Glendora Community Conservancy, www.glendoraconservancy.org, with the support of California and Los Angeles County voters, have been able to preserve so many acres. We need more people like you and them, and we need local politicians who make preservation and conservation a priority.

Regarding the future, I think we need to grasp the concept that “when it’s gone, it’s gone”. Preservation should be part of the planning process – valued as much as any other factor in reaching the balance I talked about before. What we can preserve, we should, and we should be good stewards of it for future generations. There is absolutely no need for commercial developments in our South Hills, and the Glendora City Council should terminate the lease and use the land for the purpose for which it was intended.

Colorama Diesel Truck Driving Up Bonnie Cove Trail, Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park, California

Leased Private Property in Glendora South Hills

The Glendora City Manager wrote to me stating that the Glendora Wilderness Park is “zoned as open space and thus cannot be developed with houses or any commercial buildings.” Clearly this is not true because a commercial nursery operation is located smack dab right in the middle of it. Hikers have reported being harassed and run off the Bonnie Cove trail by renegade truck drivers that apparently weren’t even aware that it was originally intended to be a hiking trail. If elected to the city council, will you do what you can to preserve our remaining open spaces?

Like many other Glendorans, I disagree with the current city council’s decision to lease out publicly owned land in our South Hills Wilderness Park area to a commercial nursery. This decision was made hastily. It was a “consent calendar item” for the council, decided without public debate or thorough consideration of impacts on the public: such as public safety for citizens who visit the hills, spraying of toxic or hazardous chemicals, and damage to flora and fauna.

As a member of the council, I will work to terminate the commercial lease with minimal impact to the city’s financial resources. I am a member and supporter of the “Save the South Hills” effort and will continue to be. In addition, I will continue my efforts to protect the foothills and would like to see expanded grant writing activity to support our Conservancy’s efforts and those of other area conservancies. I hope to work with local schools and interested organizations to increase educational and recreational uses of the areas that are available to the public. Public land is a public trust. It’s time we started treating it that way here in Glendora.

Tell me some memorable experiences you have had along the Bonnie Cove trail in the South Hills.

What I love most is the sense of being somewhere away from life’s hustle, bustle and so close to nature. We are so blessed that this opportunity is so close to home. Seeing the baby hawks hatch in the hawk nest across from the Bonnie Cove trail is a wonderful site. It’s said the nest has been there since at least the 1960’s.

Sadly, one less than positive memory was the day we looked at the black walnut tree which held the old beehive, killed by a nursery employee. It was another thoughtless insult to the natural beauty and web of life, and an example of how these two land uses – commercial nursery in the middle of the public’s wilderness park are not compatible and needs to be resolved. I’m told nursery employees seem confused as to why there are hikers on the “road”. Actually, they’re driving their trucks and cars on a hiking trail! The business does not have the South Hills’ best interest in mind; it is useful in their effort to turn a profit. As I said, the uses are not compatible and the park should be returned to the public for public use.

Lupine and Mustard Wildflowers in Glendora South Hills Wilderness Park

Tell me about the Glendora Community Conservancy and your involvement with this organization.

The Conservancy and I are on the same page — preserve open space, and I am a fan and supporter of the Glendora Community Conservancy. The organization has successfully protected a significant number of acres in our foothills, although not as many as I would have hoped for. The Conservancy has a local office and website you may wish to explore.

Click on the link to learn more about the Glendora Community Conservancy and local environmental issues.

More pictures of environmental degradation.

It was quite foggy outside two hours ago. There is still some fog but mainly just overcast.

See more Glendora pictures.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Years on the East Coast and then the West Coast three hours from now! (Such a weird world we live in.)

I won’t be photographing the Rose Parade this year, but you can see pictures from the previous years in my Tournament of Roses Parade pictures gallery.

See more Rose Parade pictures.