Sun, Still-Life, and San Diego

Okay, enough with the robots. For now. It's hard to believe that it's already practically July. JULY. Where is the summer going? Between work and the weather (rainy and gray for most of the last couple of weeks), I have to remind myself that there can be a summertime that is shiny and sunny and which exists outdoors. I keep thinking about my recent trip to San Diego. Never mind that I went in April - the weather there was so relentlessly gorgeous and bright that it just had to be seen as summery. We just don't get sunshine quite like that in NYC.

Cabrillo Park

While I was out there, I spent a lot of time with a family friend who has become very involved in photography. His specialty: photographing flowers. As a result, I learned three things: 1. I seriously need a new camera. My previous one died a sad and soggy death involving drum corps and a tornado, and my loaner camera (a Sony pocket Cybershot) just isn't cutting it. 2. A disproportionately large amount of my time in San Diego would be spent in and around gardens.

Botanical Gardens at Balboa Park Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens

3. California has some of the wildest plant life I have ever seen.

An Alien Plant?

Since I was spending so much time at the gardens, I decided to try my hand at some still-life flora-based photography. I've not done much of this before - my subjects are usually people, typically people running around a football field with flags and large noisy instruments. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the results.

And here's a picture from the trip which has absolutely nothing to do with flowers:

Children's Beach, La Jolla

Why? Because seals are awesome.

The Writing on the Walls

Up until it met its sad and somewhat soggy demise, my camera nearly never left my side. Yes, I was that girl, taking pictures of everything and nothing, just because I could or because something somehow caught my interest.

Among my favorite things to photograph were (and still are) graffiti and street art.

I’m not entirely sure why I find these things so fascinating – I think there’s just something fun about finding unexpected bits of color as I go about my daily routine. I don’t think too much on whether they count as art or defacement; I simply see them as part of the landscape.

Sometimes I like to puzzle over messages carefully scribbled or sprayed on walls and doorways.

Sometimes I’m stopped in my tracks by bold or striking imagery.

And sometimes, it’s just fun to share a laugh or a moment of silliness with the universe.

It makes my walks so much more interesting.

Photographing graffiti becomes a game, like looking for Easter eggs or playing “Pokémon Snap” - hunting City strangeness instead of anime critters.

Clearly, I am not alone in this interest: www.picturesofwalls.com.

What written weirdness have you encountered?