I took this picture of this blooming flower in macro view.  I made the background soft and out of focus and the it made the detail in the flower really stand out.  It was the perfect time to go to the gardens because everything was in bloom.  Their were so many plants that seemed to be at their peak.

I didn’t think this picture was that interesting at first.  After all, it is just a green native weed, but I added some flair and vignetting to it and I think it is pretty good.  The brightness and sharpness of the edges really stood out and created a great composition.

I passed by this massive tree and noticed that its roots were reaching far beyond the normal length.  Instead of capturing the tree, I took a picture of it’s roots, they are just as important in my opinion.

Mostly I stayed away from looking at the cati because I had taken so many pictures at the Wild Animal Park, I choose to focus on the little things.  Like the small flower below.

Their was a wasp stalking this flower but it never stayed still enough for a picture.  I still like this simple picture of the flower by its self though, it looks like it could be anywhere, in the water, in a huge tree.  But in reality it was on a ordinary bush.

I enjoyed my time at the garden, it is huge there are so many things to look at.  The native plants are only a small portion of what this garden has to offer.

It was a short drive this week, just minutes from my house and blocks from my childhood; as we went to Vista’s Indian Rock. The irony of Indian Rock being surrounded by this track of suburban houses in the middle of the barrio of Vista was pretty intriguing. The fact that they were able to preserve seems to be a never ending battle.

The Vista Home Boys seem to also want this patch of land to call their own. What once used to be a sacred rock used for a womens right of passage ceromony now has tagging all over it. From a distance, there is nothing special about this place. However the 10 foot fence and the barbed wire would tell a different story.

Inside you must look very carful and you can see remnents of history, of native wild life, of a destroyed culture. The view from the rock was pretty breath taking. I could see two of my old schools, my childhood house, and the water shed. From that distance it made Vista look kinda nice, suprisingly.

The wild cucumber was pretty cool to look at, I had never seen it before and I wanted to cut it open to see what it looked like inside. I spent most of my time trying to capture and encapsulate the whole feeling of the space.

I spent a good portion of my time trying to catch a shot of the numerous lizards, but it was pretty hard, they are quick.

The best part of the day was the food. I am not sure why we deserved such an awsome array of food, but it was most appreciated. I could tell that they were a community, and worked together to treat us.

It was nice to just talk with friends and mingle with the other class. I found that it brought us together in a much needed collaborative meeting. It was a nice way to kick off spring break.

It was my turn to lead the Carpool, I wished I had waited for Indian Rock. The drive was long, I can’t believe that my sister who works at Harrah’s embarks on this drive 4 times a week

It wasn’t too hard to find, but I did have to make some adjustments, a uturn or two. I had brought two shovels and a pick, not knowing that they had plenty of supplies at the garden. It was hard to visulize what it might look like in 5 years. To me it just looked like sand and weeds, but we are a dessert after all.

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The section that I planted was the dessert portion of the circle, I think we had it easy comparitivly. We were done pretty quickly and then were able to help others. I planted a cupple oak trees.

After we planted them we scavanged for rocks to place around the plants. I created a complete circle around my little oak tree, in hopes that people would notice not to step one it.

The nature walk that preceeded was less than eventfull. The stream that we went to see was nothing but rocks, a reminder that a stream was once there.

The Lucisno Band of Indians were also very congenial. They brought water, doughnuts, and complimentary mugs. It was nice to help make a difference. I wish that I could have taken more pictures though.

A candid moment

Amanda, Zane, Kai, Matt, and myself, embarked on our journey to Pechanga fully squashed. And of coarse, I was in the middle seat. When we finally arrived to the gas station I was relived I could stretch my legs out, only to share a seat on the bus that we transferred too. I wasn’t sure where it was taking us, for a while I thought we were going to the golf coarse; but then we pulled off to the side of the dirt road to look at a tree. It wasn’t just any tree though, it was a extremly old and sacred oak tree.

It was a pretty cool tree, aparantly it passed its own survival rate and continues to grow in and out of the dirt. Its limbs spread up and wide and back down into the earth, creating its very own canopy effect. As we were taking pictures, many of us just wanted to climb it, including me. I really couldn’t take the kind of pictures I wanted because their were so many people. I would have had a completely different experience, had their not been 30 plus people around.

As the day progressed it got colder and windy, my fingers began to numb as we went to our next destination, the lake. It wasn’t a big lake, more like a pond really, but it had significance because the scouts built it. Next to the pond were rocks that had both carvings and paintings. I liked focusing in on the different views of things, and what most people were not paying attention too.

We all went up a trail to look at the Dwellings the scouts made to preserve the culture that once lived there. They were pretty amazing, and the fact that they tried to use only what the Native people would have had was respectable.

After the journey we headed to their nursery where they had a variety of native plants. The plants were all in pots and they weren’t too different than the ones I had already taken pictures of. I tried instead, to take pictures of the rubish and activity that was going on around us. The row of bottle caps were pretty interesting to me, all of them empty, all in a box.

We were all ready to leave, it was so cold and the gas station was in sight. I felt that I got some really cool pictures from their, even though they may have not been the Native plants we were out to find.

I came with my family and I was lucky enough to leave my son with my mom at the elephants.  He sure thought they were cool.  I am glad I did because cati was abundant and close to the trail.  I enjoyed taking my time walking around and enjoying the quiet.  I tried to take as many close ups as I could because I really liked the texture on many of the plants.

Just the variety of points was amazing to look at.  From the thick strong point to the small pointy dangerous ones.  I liked looking at the variety of colors, I thought that this cactus had a very vibrant tone that captured my attention.Nature is amazing in the way that it structures things.  From first look at the cactus, you may asume that the needles are just a randomly sticking out, but a closer look shows a very organized pattern.  It is the same for the flowers below.  They are in the bunching pattern.  I almost want to go back to see what the flowers would look like in bloom.

I was hoping to see a snake because of the numerous warning signs around the park, but unfortunatly, I was left with bees.  I tried taking the best quality macro picture, but I was intimidated that the bee might get offended and come after me.  I saw a hornet and thought that would be an awsome picture but quickly decided that one was not worth the risk.I tried to capture things that people may take for granted or not even notice.  I wanted to stay away from full shots of plants because that seemed more informational instead of artistic.

Honestly their were 1000′s of different catus that I had never seen before.  Like the one above that twist around its self.  It was really cool.  Looking at these plants it was funny because I could totaly see sifi artist getting their inspiration from them.

It was definatly worth visiting once.  The walk, the silence, and the view, made it an exsperience.   It seemed like the perfect place to meditate and relax.  The Wild Animal Park understands that protecting the plants is just as important as protecting the animals.  Both need eachother and the balance it important to conserve and maintain.