Fernando Ramirez

The barn owl is one of the many species of predatory birds exhibited at the Chula Vista Nature Center. The barn owl shown in these photographs is named Tyto, derived from her species’ scientific name, Tyto alba. Tyto was rescued as a chick and is now approximately 3 months old.

Tyto at 2 weeks

Since barn owls consume more rodents than possibly any other creature and subsequently eliminate pests, these adept hunters are considered to be one of the most economically valuable wildlife animals.

Tyto at 3 months

To view more photos visit the gallery below.

Gallery: Young Barn Owl

My prints for the 2010 San Diego County Fair Exhibition of Photography arrived today. It’s an international juried exhibition of black & white and color photographs, photojournalism and digital arts.

The competition is definitely fierce but the whole process is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to any photographer out there. I have been participating every year since 2007. The 2009 photo show had 3678 entries, of which only 1273 were accepted and hung on the walls during the fair. Prizes range from $200 for first place to $125 for fourth place

The fair runs from June 11th through July 5th in Del Mar, California.

Last Monday the Chula Vista Nature Center welcomed four green sea turtles to its menagerie of native California sea creatures. The sea turtles were captive hatched at SeaWorld here in San Diego approximately six months ago. On Friday I had an opportunity to take some up close and personal photos with three of the four turtles.

If you’re interested in learning more about green sea turtles the Nature Center is having a turtle talk on Earth day.

Nature Center Earth Day Turtle Talk
Chula Vista Nature Center webpage

See more photos in the Gallery below.

Gallery: Baby Green Sea Turtles

Here are eight of my favorite photos I took in 2009 and some information about them.

The Milky Way – I drove up to Mount Laguna with John, Gabe and Samantha to watch the Perseid shower in August. Conditions were great, the sky was crystal clear, a little windy but not too cold and the milky way was visible to my naked eye. I decided to take the long way home shortly after moon popped up and dimmed the night sky. As I was passing by Lake Cuyamaca I felt the urge to pull over and take some more photos right behind the lake. This was one of the result.

US/Mexico Border – After spending the day at the top of Otay Mountain with the same group of friends the sun had begun to set and the US Border Patrol had stepped up patrols on the single dirt road we had used to get up the mountain. We were warned that we shouldn’t be up on the mountain after dark due to the extra traffic and possible smugglers and had decided to cooperate. The Otay Mountain Truck Trail has quite a few narrow choke points where you have to pull over to let others by. We were being escorted down the mountain by the Border Patrol and had to stop at one such location. I didn’t have time to jump out and set up my tripod so I bumped up the ISO on my camera and braced myself against the steering wheel. The lights in the top left half of the photo are from the city of Tijuana and the darkness is the US side of the border.

Reuben E Lee and downtown San Diego – I was killing some time near the San Diego airport and I went over to a location I had visited once a few years ago and decided to retake an old photo. Click here to see the same photo I took back in 2005!

Ken – I met Ken while walking around taking photos for the second annual Worldwide Photo Walk. I watched many photographers ahead of me pass by him without even a glance but I had already decided that I was going to photograph him. Now I don’t know normally take portraits but something about Ken made me stop and chat. He had a great sense of humor and was constantly laughing.

Kelp Rockfish – I took this photo while scuba diving with Gabe, Ben and Wendy at New Hope Rock. According to my dive log, visibility was about 15 feet and the photo was taken around 40 ft of salt water. The Point Loma kelp forest is one of the largest kelp forests in California.

Bay Blvd Fire – I was at the Chula Vista Nature Center doing a water change on the trout tank when I noticed a plume of black smoke coming from an area nearby the Nature Center parking lot. I grabbed my camera and went for a walk along Bay Blvd. The fire was already under control by the time I got close but the extra smoke led to some interesting photos. I later learned that the fire was caused by a spark in the power lines but I had heard a few stories of a homeless man who had started a similar fire a couple years ago when he tried to grill some hot dogs in the thick brush.

Otay Mountain Fog – I took this photo while on second trip up Otay Mountain. While driving up the mountain in the early afternoon I was able to see all the way to La Jolla, which is about 30 miles away. Once again I was heading down the mountain around sunset only this time I looked out the window and down the side of the cliff to see a huge blanket of fog rolling in. I stopped in the middle of the dirt road and grabbed my camera and managed to take a few photos before the visibility dropped to less than 20 feet as the fog rolled in. The lack of visibility made for an interesting trip down the mountain.

American Kestrel at the Chula Vista Nature Center – All of the birds at the Chula Vista Nature Center are non releasable due to injuries or human imprint, etc. Mikey the Kestrel was out with his handler and I was able to get a few shots with the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge blurred in the background.

In the middle of October a Thornback Ray gave birth to 13 babies at The Chula Vista Nature Center. In the photos the babies are about 4 days old and maybe 3″ long.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

I’m a volunteer aquarist at the Chula Vista Nature Center. The aquarium deals only with native species and as such we sometimes do collection runs out in the bay. I wanted to join in on this so in January 2008 I signed up and became a certified open water scuba diver through PADI. It only took a couple of dives but I soon bought a PowerShot S60 and the accompanying underwater housing just so I could bring a camera along with me underwater.

San Diego is known for its great weather but that doesn’t always translate to great dive conditions for scuba divers. Due to the poor visibility, cold water, surge, waves, currents, etc. many scuba instructors here brag that if you can dive in San Diego you can dive anywhere in the world.

The best visibility I’ve seen would be about 30 ft but on most days it’s closer to 10 ft. Water temperature ranges from 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface to the mid 50s at depth. Full 7mm wetsuits with hood, gloves and boots are the standard here.
Most of the photos were taken between 20-100 ft. The deeper you go the more color is lost until everything is blue-green unless flash is used.

Me gearing up

My dive buddies

Descending, looking up

Female California Sheephead

Kelp Forest

Kelp Rockfish

The forward gun on the HMCS Yukon, a Canadian destroyer sunk about a mile off the coast in 100 ft of water. The Yukon sunk prematurely and now lays on her port side.

Garibaldi, the state fish of California

White-plumed anemone on the Yukon (Metridium farcimen)

Growth on the Yukon gun

On the surface above the Yukon. The Yukon has 4 buoys you can moor to and then follow straight down to the wreck. You can also see a charter boat in the background.

Looking through the hull of the Ruby E. The Ruby E is a 165′ Coast Guard cutter that was sunk in 1989. She now rests at about 85′ and is covered in strawberry anemones (not shown).

Juvenile California Moray Eel

Juvenile California Scorpionfish. Scorpionfish are edible but as the name implies they are venomous. The fin spines are venomous, painful but not fatal.

Navanax (Navanax inermis) A sea slug, grows to about 9″.

Hermissenda (Hermissenda crassicornis)

Gopher Rockfish

California Spiny Lobsters

Tube-dwelling anemone (Pachycerianthus fimbriatus)

Feather boa kelp

Warty Sea Cucumber

Spanish Shawl

Club tipped anemone

Kelp forest

Surfacing after a late afternoon dive.

Wednesday night I drove out into the mountains east of San Diego with some friends to watch the Perseid meteor shower. We ended up at a spot not far from Lake Cuyamaca called Kwaaymii Point with a nice view of the desert.

The sky was crystal clear and the milky way was visible to the naked eye as soon as it got dark. We were seeing a solid 30-40 meteors an hour. I even spotted a few satellites in between the stars. It was also incredibly windy but thankfully it was warm air from the desert below.

The moon popped up at about 11:00 PM and signaled that it was time to head home. On the drive home I saw some deer (including a fawn), a couple of owls, and I did not get stopped by the Border Patrol. It was a good night!

See more photos in the Gallery below.

Gallery: Perseid Meteor Shower 2009

On Saturday I went downtown to take some photos for Scott Kelby’s Second-Annual Worldwide Photo Walk. The group I signed up with was going meet at the USS Midway and then head towards Seaport Village.

I went off on my own in search of something interesting to photograph but it didn’t take long to find it. I think my favorite photos from the day had to be of this guy I met near The Fish Market named Ken.

I stopped to ask Ken if I could take his photo. His initial reaction was to burst out with laughter and then he asked why.

I explained what I was doing with the photo walk and then asked what his name was. He offered me a smoke from his pipe but I politely declined. Ken explained that he was waiting for a friend who had not yet shown up.

Throughout our conversation Ken was constantly laughing. I was wishing that I had brought my point & shoot with me so I could get it on video but I think this final photo can give you a pretty good idea. This is also the photo I submitted to the Photo Walk competition.

Click here to learn more about the worldwide photo walk

I revisited the first spot I ever photographed outside of my neighborhood while waiting for my brother to fly in from Seattle. I plan on shooting it again on a night when we have some nice clouds.

When I arrived at my location I quickly set up my tripod and adjusted my camera settings. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a tiny green glow coming from the water but it looked just like a glowstick you commonly see while fishing at night. I didn’t think twice about it until a lady walked up to me and asked, “Do you see them?” “See what?” I asked. “The Navy SEALs training in the water” she replied. I was so preoccupied that I didn’t even notice that the small green lights were from Navy SEALs training in the water right infront of me.

Click here to see the same photo I took back in 2005

I missed the fireworks on Saturday but I still had an exhibitors pass I wanted to use before the fair closed for the season.