When going to SFO becomes a vacation

After being in stay at home mode for six months, we (read San) really wanted to go somewhere for a drive. So two weekends ago we decided to drive towards Santa Cruz on Labor day Sunday to at least wet our feet in the beach. What we didn't know was that the beaches were open only on Saturday and they closed it for Sunday and Monday. So after a 45 minute drive towards Santa Cruz, we drove back without ever getting out of the car. 

There were fires burning then but it was clear that morning. Still no chance to realize the get out of the car and walk around goal.

This weekend we decided to go visit Stow lake in Golden Gate Park as one of our friends posted some amazing pictures. We have visited this park many times in the past, mostly to go to California Academy of sciences. The first time was in 2002 when San was pregnant with Jr. It was the first place we took my MIL to visit. At that time we walked near this place and went to a Japanese tea garden.. but missed the lake and boating area!

By the time we went there the boat rental was closed, but we did go for a nice walk around the lake and enjoyed some fresh air. The lawns were extremely crowded with families sitting on blankets and kids walking the dogs, but the walking paths were relatively people free. 90% of the folks wore masks with the exception being a few runners. We stayed clear of them. We removed our masks only to take a few selfies when no one was around. 

The selfie camera in iPHone is not as capable as the actual camera as you can tell from the rest of the photos..

The colors in this place are so vibrant the photos came out great..on the iPhone. Was editing the photos on snapseed and fell in love with this frame that seems to work for nature photos.. 

Loved this frame..and the bridge that was erected in 1893! 

then the birds in the lake gave us a few more chances to take a break and take pictures..

an evening well spent.. now that we have had one visit, we plan to start going to other places on short drives where we don't have to step out anywhere, use public restrooms or come in contact with strangers.. 

The daily walks around the neighborhood and stay at home / Parking lot yoga is still on.. The air has also cleared up nicely so far. It almost feels like life came back closer to normal.

Conservatory of Flowers - Photoblog

The pictures say it all, the carefully designed park with its nice ponds, rock settings, people, dogs, the conservatory with its amazing displays, the amazing exotic flowers which are being saved from extinction, not to mention Jr.'s new fashion statement of wearing sleeveless Salwar tops with black pants..

A day well spent. Strongly recommended for a half day or full day trip with kids.

Note:

1. Botanical gardens is free. The conservatory of flowers is 7$ for adults, 2$ for kids 5 to 11. Good news is they accept cards. It is totally worth it. Please note, it is like a sauna in there with a water mist automatically coming in every 3-4 minutes from the roof. Keep your lenses covered. Don't wear jackets inside.

2. Parking is very hard to find. For around 10$ you can park in the underground parking below the California Academy of Sciences and walk 10-15 minutes to the Conservatory.

3. There are three restrooms which are free. One next to the conservatory, one behind the amphitheater structure (between the Academy of sciences and the botanical gardens) and one near the entrance to the Botanical Gardens.

Note to self : Next trip..take a frisbee and show the kids how to play frisbee. The breeze was just right for frisbee throwing... well, next time!

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Lens envy

While we were at the Queen Wilhemia Tulip garden yesterday, there was a big crowd and a photo session happening in front of us.

We did not know if the marriage was happening in front of us or it was just a post wedding photography session, but was amazing to watch the way people took their time to pose, get the group dynamic going and the photographer trying to arrange this group shot!

Having tried to assemble 40+ relatives for a family shoot at my Grandparents anniversary ceremony, the difficulty of orchestrating something like this dawned on me again and was in awe at the way this photographer was "conducting" the group.

While the families (us and the cousins) were mostly looking at the wedding dresses, trying to figure out who the groom was, etc. etc. (the kids constantly kept screaming.. who IS she marrying in there?), yours truly was all focussed on the photographer lady's gear.

She had diffusers on her camera that looked like giant cups, a lens that would make my lens look less endowed and a battery pack that was part of the camera and visible almost 80 feet away!

She would run back and forth to the crowd, simply because here instructions would not carry in the noise of the ocean. Yes, this place is a block from the beach, right next to the SFO zoo entrance. Every now and then she would go on a clicking spree and her flash would be so faithful to her.

My 50mm lens was dropped on the ground (after two bounces) and the lens popped out of the housing during our Sacramento zoo trip, the day after thanksgiving. While trying to exchange lenses to enable zooming on a snow leopard that had suddenly decided to give darshan to its waiting devotees, I dropped the lens because it looked up and growled at me.

Not used to being growled at by snow leopards and having a camera and two lenses in my hand, the 50 mm just jumped up and fell some 8 feet away and was in two pieces. It was pushed back in and held with some crazy glue and found to be still functional, but with some caveats.

a. Manual focusing only
b. The lens had to be held against the body at all times (or it would pop out)

After seeing the photographer do her magic, told myself that the 50 mm would be used as much as possible and still get decent pictures. Well, 20% came out good, but that 20% was still worth sharing...

Here are four more photos...

Sometimes old and damaged equipment can still give you good results.. if you are pissed off enough to take it up as a challenge!

I know this is counter productive to justifying my getting a new lens... but the truth is, as they say, the truth!

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Jump fun..

The photo school assignment was "Jump!"

Here is my entry:

Here are other photos that were also considered today (you are allowed to post only one photo per assignment)..

It was a great day for going outdoors today and the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was vibrant with colors. The greens looked green, the blues were vibrant blues, the air was so clear it was a great day to take pictures.. especially when the kids were all so co-operative for the assignment.

More photos from the half day trip tomorrow.

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And the Academy award goes to....

The California Academy of Sciences !!!

For engaging and educating Jr. and the little one for an entire afternoon.

For now will leave you with these photos. Very busy at work and will possibly spend 15-20 mins every night to update this one post..

Will be lucky if it is done by Friday.

In the heart of San Francisco, there is Golden Gate Park
In the heart of that park is the California Academy of Sciences
In the heart of that is a swampland exhibit
In the heart of that exhibit lies....

see you later..

Albino alligator!

ps. Reader does not do justice to these photos.. please see them with the intended background here...
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