http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog Photography field reports by Richard Wong. Richard's work has been published in magazines, books, advertising, and offers fine art prints of his work. Images may be licensed as rights-managed stock photos by contacting Richard directly at Richard@rwongphoto.com or (626) 422-6151. California stock photography, fine art prints, photo blog: www.rwongphoto.com Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_3054" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Downtown Decorah, Iowa"][/caption] The empty streets of downtown Decorah reminded me of an old movie set. When I've traveled outside of the west, the difference is noticeable particularly on the weekends. Almost everyone literally has the weekend off whereas in the west it seems like a non-stop ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/main-street-usa/ [caption id="attachment_3068" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Vernal Pools at Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, Riverside County, California"][/caption] "Our experiences can be so much more peaceful if it weren’t for having to deal with our own kind sometimes." - Mark Graf. Particularly when you have overly-chatty park docents talking everyone's ears off. There were a ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/santa-rosa-plateau-ecological-reserve/ [caption id="attachment_3065" align="aligncenter" width="267" caption="2010 Lake Elsinore Wildflowers"][/caption] I was headed to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve yesterday afternoon so I stopped in Lake Elsinore briefly to see if there were any flowers. The hillsides look green from I-15 but not a lot of other color so I didn't expect ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/2010-southern-california-wildflowers/ [caption id="attachment_3048" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Tulips and White Picket Fence, Pella Historical Village, Pella, Iowa"][/caption] Most photographers that shoot nature and travel probably have dreams of traveling the world to all sorts of exotic locations nine months of the year becoming the next Art Wolfe. I think Art Wolfe is an ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/the-american-dream/ [caption id="attachment_3041" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mammoth Lakes Scenic Vista"][/caption] I've had this and another unprocessed photo sitting on my computer for six months now because I haven't been able to track down the name of this location. This scenic vista was taken from the waterfall bridge on the Mammoth Lakes Loop. I ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/mammoth-lakes-scenic-vista-needed/ [caption id="attachment_3032" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Owens Valley Sunflowers"][/caption] Travel photography is not about F-stops, HDR or the size of camera-sensor pixels. Travel photography is about the experience. My first visit to the Eastern Sierra region was in the summer of 2004 when my friend and I took a three-day camping trip to ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/journey-destination/ [caption id="attachment_3027" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Waterfowl, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, California"][/caption] One of the most amazing places in California is not even located in a pretty location. However, during the winter months, the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge comes alive with hundreds of thousands of migrating Pacific Flyway birds. I visited on a ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/sacramento-national-wildlife-refuge/ [caption id="attachment_3014" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago, Illinois"][/caption] Chicago is one of the more interesting cities in this country in my opinion. I'm really big into historical places and the Prohibition Era is really intriguing to me. This street scene looking toward the Chicago Board of Trade reminded me ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/chicago-board-trade/ [caption id="attachment_3021" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mount Baldy Water Reflection in San Gabriel River, Los Angeles County, California"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/wade-water/ [caption id="attachment_3008" align="aligncenter" width="263" caption="Bridalveil Fall Double Rainbow, Yosemite National Park, California"][/caption] Excuse the lack of blog posts lately as I have been tied up with optimizing the photos in my web galleries for faster load times. Some of the web galleries get bogged down because I was lazy when I ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/bridalveil-fall-double-rainbow/ If you are in the L.A. area and have an interest in the arts then I would definitely recommend attending the Iris Nights Lecture Series at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City. They start on Thursday nights around 6:30 p.m. Tickets are free but you should reserve them ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/annenberg-space-photography-iris-nights-lecture-series/ [caption id="attachment_2990" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Canada Place Convention Centre with Living Roof of Grass, Vancouver, BC"][/caption] A bit of shameless self-promotion but this photo of Canada Place is currently on display at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I think it is probably displayed at Canada Place since it is the main press center ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/2010-vancouver-winter-olympics/ [caption id="attachment_2980" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Green Heron Ruffling Feathers"][/caption] I've had luck in the past with birds at the Fullerton Arboretum so I took the gargantuan 500mm lens out for another test run. A quick run through of the ponds revealed nothing more than common ducks and American coots until I was ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/green-heron/ [caption id="attachment_2973" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mandarin Duck"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/mandarin-duck/ [caption id="attachment_2966" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Wood Duck"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/wood-duck/ [caption id="attachment_2948" align="alignleft" width="267" caption="San Francisco Seal Rocks"][/caption] I took this photo not long after moving to San Francisco in 2002, which was also the year that I started to take photography seriously. Digital photography wasn't that advanced back then so I was primarily shooting with Fuji Velvia. I have to ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/film-photography-in-the-digital-age/ [caption id="attachment_2934" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Foggy Evening, Pacifica, California"][/caption] As with the Point Reyes National Seashore post, I'm going to be posting some older images in the coming days. I didn't have a blog back then so it should be fun to take a trip down memory lane. Anyway... This photo was taken ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/foggy-pacifica/ [caption id="attachment_2930" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Point Reyes National Seashore, California"][/caption] There was a point in my development as a photographer that I realized how lucky we are in this country to be able to pursue our passions such as landscape photography. That moment for me came to me one weekday morning at ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/point-reyes-national-seashore/ [caption id="attachment_2923" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mulholland Drive Scenic Overlook, Los Angeles, California"][/caption] If you are the "hustle & bustle" type then L.A. is probably perfect for you. As I was turning left onto Cahuenga, I intended to stop inside of the gas station but noticed this Mercedes following way too close to ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/mulholland-drive/ [caption id="attachment_2916" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Cross on Cahuenga and Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, California"][/caption] As I was driving down from the Santa Monica Mountains with Patty Griffin's fantastic new album, Downtown Church, playing on my car stereo, I spotted this large cross overlooking downtown L.A. so I immediately pulled over into ... http://www.rwongphoto.com/blog/downtown-church/