California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
animalbirdcaliforniacondorsan diegozoo
From San Diego Zoo, 2010
![<span id="date">_05/06/10_</span> <span id="title">Albino Damselfly</span>
Not really, of course.
I took this shot in the botanical gardens and didn't find it terribly interesting on its own. So often you see selective coloration - I kind of like selective desaturation myself. It's like a fill-in-the-blank!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#530214255_Evqjg">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-rWdrbzm/3/db3921f2/Ti/2010-05-06%20Albino%20Damselfly-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_11/01/10_</span> <span id="title">Venice Dusk</span>
Happy November!
Today was the last full day my <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#749113464_xb6oq">sister</a> is in town, and I'd say we made the most of it. We grabbed coffee and danishes at <a href="http://www.labreabakery.com/">La Brea Bakery</a>, checked out the bubbling asphalt at the <a href="http://www.tarpits.org/">La Brea Tar Pits</a> and Page museum, did a little driving tour of Hollywood, ate lunch at <a href="http://www.pinkshollywood.com/">Pink's</a>, saw Mario Lopez taping Extra! at the Grove, bought far too much chocolate at the <a href="http://www.farmersmarketla.com/">Farmers Market</a>, toured the grounds of <a href="http://www.greystonemansion.org/">Greystone Mansion</a> and finally indulged in delicious garlic knots at <a href="http://www.cotrattoria.com/">C&O Trattoria</a> after catching the sunset on the Venice Pier, pictured here.
Woo!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#700364108_43RAc">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-9NZvLBP/2/87acc3d4/Ti/2010-11-01%20Venice%20Dusk-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_07/08/10_</span> <span id="title">Insect on Plant</span>
Sorry I don't have a more creative title for you, but at least it's accurate.
I used the camera at work (Canon S2 IS) to get this shot. I took five shots and it's the only one where the bug was in perfect focus. In Lightroom I modified the yellows to be more green, resulting in a uniform green. I also lowered the clarity on everything except the bug.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#586054509_yqCaZ">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-CKQTtLD/3/a2cd9f80/Ti/2010-07-08%20Insect%20on%20Plant-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__02/22/11__</span> <span id="title">Agave Flowers</span>
Them bees sure do love them some agave flowers this time of year. The last time I posted a photo from the botanical gardens was on <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#1182072599_oe7n6">2/8</a>, which was also my last full day of work. Thanks to the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Travel/NewOrleans2011/15869305_3pC5e">New Orleans trip</a> and being sick all last week, today was my first day back at work in almost 2 weeks. In other botanical garden-related news, the cherry tree is in full bloom! Stay tuned for an amazing bee-on-cherry-blossom photo that has become a yearly tradition.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#795073259_G2BtQ">[last year]</a> <em>one of my favorites...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-3j2Fvgd/2/0f18b832/Ti/2011-02-22%20Agave%20Flowers-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_10/03/10_</span> <span id="title">Bungeeing Birdman</span>
Today we made a quick trip to Sea World before an afternoon wedding. Congrats Tim and Crystal!
This shot is from the new dolphin show called Blue Horizons - it was under construction when we were here the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#833936366_b5W5Y">first time</a> of our 2-day pass. In addition to the dolphins and pilot whales, they had all sorts of performers dressed up like birds. There were divers, and aerialist, and two of these guys on bungee cords. It was pretty cool!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#669369090_r68z3">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-rHBNX5Q/3/073abd7e/Ti/2010-10-03%20Bungeeing%20Birdman-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_04/10/10_</span> <span id="title">Feed Me</span>
Today we went to Sea World! I took a lot of shots, but this was my favorite - a simple dolphin portrait. We had a great time feeding them, although $6 for three measly fish seems a bit much. We also enjoyed feeding the sting rays!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#509828485_PvPTS">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-P4xMQ4x/3/0fea22d0/Ti/2010-04-10%20Dolphin-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_11/28/10_</span> <span id="title">Turtle Head Die</span>
Despite American Airlines' best attempts to trigger a mental breakdown, we made it back home to LA after a fabulous week in Hawaii! We took a red eye and got into LAX around 5am. Shockingly, I've been wide awake most of the day.
Other than food we came back with very few souvenirs, but yesterday we stopped by a little art gallery and bought this ceramic die with various Hawaiian petroglyphs stamped on each side. My cousins gave us the cool wood turtle dish, and I felt like putting the two together would be a good photo. It's also a fitting post-trip photo, since one of the first things we saw in Hawaii were sea turtles hanging out on the beach.
In case you're curious, the other five petroglyphs represent a fish, running man, double canoe, spear man and rainbow figure.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Travel/Hawaii2010/14883306_hHp9Z">More Hawaii Photos!</a>
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#727157004_zCqZJ">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Animals/i-xjwMs3d/2/3300cea5/Ti/2010-11-28%20Turtle%20Head%20Die-Ti.jpg)