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| Quad Pod |
It was back in April I think when I started hauling the DLSR down to the beach again. I got lucky and saw some fins the first day. Sadly... I didn't see any more fins until yesterday. Well, umm, that's not entirely true. There were a few occasions where I didn't have the Camera due to one of the following reasons. 1. Too windy (Auto focus loves those white caps) 2. Surf too big (Dolphins swim too far out and I'm in a too much of a hurry to get out there myself) 3. Picking up seaglass (Too much sand. Sand, seaglass, and camera lens, are not a great combo) 4. Too heavy! (Seriously. It digs into my shoulder big time, while that iPhone slips nicely into my back pocket) A backpack would probably be more comfy, but with the
Sling Styled Tamrac Velocity 9, I can have my camera out the pack and shooting in 6 seconds flat. And believe me thats the kind of speed you need when it comes to dolphin fin notch photography...
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| New Fins.. 090 & 091aka Micro |
I do haul it that thing down there quite a bit, but the dolphins clearly knowing what I'm up too, just wait until later to come by. So I was stoked yesterday to actually have the camera, and simultaneously spot a small pod of four dolphins just a couple hundred yards north of me. Now, if the dolphins are just cruising, I would gage their speed somewhere near a brisk walk. That means, if they are a couple hundred yards ahead of you... You will need to get running. So I did. Like I said there were only four of them but I got two new legit ID shots, with the other two being no-notchers. (Having no-notches) Anyway job well done. Thank you.
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| Haven't see S'ha in a while but he showed up today. |
So this morning at exactly 6:47am, with Riley and Wilson bouncing off the walls, the bed, and the couch, I pondered the idea of dolphins showing up two days in a row. "Not likely," I told Riley, but I grabbed the ball and chain and threw it over my shoulder anyway (Canon 50D EF 100-400mm L Lens) As soon as we emerged from the tunnel, there they were, straight out the back. Six seconds later I had my camera in hand and was shooting away at five frames per second. Seventeen frames later the battery died. Yes, as a matter of fact I have learned this lesson a few times, and I still don't have a back-up battery. These lessons never end do they? I do have extra memory cards at least. So a few weeks ago when I took what I thought was a ridiculous 700 pictures at Kelsy's wedding I was fairly satisfied, only to find out later that Sammi's photography team took over 3000 at her wedding. Yep.. The lessons never end. Dead battery. Just like the dead battery on my e-bike that conked out on the way back from Ventura yesterday. Dead battery. Just like that day
La Conchita's Beach Break was solid eight foot and doing a very persuasive job of looking like Puerto Escondito, with only Bobby and Tarik in the line up. Dead battery. Bummer too because there were at least a dozen dolphins out there today, probably more. Fin 090 from yesterday was there, along with S'ha who I hadn't seen since
Callie Bowdish got a shot of him/her of Sands back in January of 2012. Those were the only two I could make out. 17 photos does not tell the whole story. Dead battery. Lesson learned.
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| Happy Fourth! |
Now, if I didn't spend my last forty bucks* on a fuel injector for the Syncro sitting idly in the nearby driveway, I'd probably buy an extra battery today. Why do I hang on to the that thing anyway? Oh yeah it's just the best vehicle every made, and
Tom Hanks just paid $114K for one, so I'm told. Ok well.. That's the report from just south of Rincon today. Happy Fourth! Well.. Maybe not for my dogs.
*does not include money previously allocated to semi-mainstream-hoppy-craft beers
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