Lake Jennings

When I visited California in December 2012, I decided to travel light and take only my 35mm film camera, because it is more compact than the equivalent digital gear. I visited Lake Jennings, surrounded by a regional park in Lakeside, California. These were taken with my last roll of Kodak Ektachrome  E100S 35mm slide film. I like the way this film renders colors and textures, especially for trees and foliage, but it is no longer manufactured. These were taken using the Canon FTb SLR I purchased in Hong Kong in 1971. It of course is completely manually operated. I chose shutter speed, then set aperture using the camera's built in light meter (with a match needle system in the viewfinder) and focused using the focusing grid in the viewfinder. Adjusting focus quickly while panning to follow a moving bird is challenging, but the shutter on this mechanical camera responds instantly, while every digital SLR I have tried has a slight but noticeable delay.

Please scroll down to see all the photos in this set.

A view of the lake and some rugged hills in the background.

A pelican gliding serenely.

Four cormorants were fishing off this dock.

A pelican and two ducks.

Two pelicans swimming on the lake.

A pelican coming in for a landing.

A pelican on the wing.

An osprey perched on a sign on the road circling the lake.

Pagoda

Pagoda of the Korean Friendship Bell, San Pedro, California

Los Angeles

The United States Post Office in Los Angeles, California.

Torrance at Night

Police activity in Torrance, California

Wild Animal Park

Affectionate birds at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

Wild Animal Park, California

An alert meerkat at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2010, Point Loma Military Cemetery, San Diego, California

The Mojave River

The Mojave River at Mojave Narrows Regional Park in San Bernadino County, California. The Mojave River flows from the San Bernadino Mountains across the desert to the western edge of the Mojave National Preserve. It's flow is mostly underground. This park is at one of the few places in the desert where the river appears on the surface.