Check out your photos from the 2nd Annual SoCal Wine Country Half Marathon and 5K in our GALLERY.

Go to Off Road Pursuits to see your race results.

This actually has a lot of people frustrated at Adobe. I am not one of them. The frustration goes something like this. If you are a design studio and buy every version of every product when it comes out then the CC way of licensing will lower you overall costs and spread them out. However if you are an occasional user of these products then you will end up paying more then you did before. In addition, even though archived versions of Creative Cloud releases are available to install, by paying a monthly fee, you are in essence paying for the newest upgrade whether you want it or not.

However, I am not tied in a knot like the rest of the Internet seems to be. I can see myself paying around $80 to licenses the entire CC suite (equivalent to the old CS Master Collection) for one month, and then not paying it for three or four months. In the meantime, as long as I save down my files, I can still open up CS5 of Photoshop and work on small edits as needed. For me, its not a big deal. In addition, it opens up all the rest of the applications I couldn’t justify before like Illustrator, InDesign and Muse.

Hopefully Jamie and I will be posting more photography soon. In the meantime, enjoy this flower I drew using the shape builder tool, perspective tool, ellipse tool, and pen tool in Illustrator.

Photos are up!

It was 37 degrees out when the inaugural San Diego 50 and San Diego Trail Marathon put on by Off Road Pursuits got its start. Still it was a beautiful clear day for a run. Jamie and I took many photos of the participants which will be finished uploading in the next day or so. I took the occasion of the event to dust off my mountain bike which has held up very well for me neglecting it for more than a year. Check back here often for updates on the upload and in the meantime enjoy some shots of the scenery and of course Orion.

The trusty hardtail has held up well over the years.

It was cold when this was taken. Jamie made sure I knew that.

Twig & Berries: not that kind

The friendliest dog ever

Check out the full GALLERY of Thoroughbred Lane.

Make sure you look out for us on the trail. We will be wearing our new tan colored hats featuring our logo on the front and “Official Photographer” on the back. As always we will be photographing in full resolution so your photos will look just as good blown up on your wall as they are printed on a 4 x 6.

I’ve heard that some of you may be in costume for the event. This always makes it more fun. Be sure to check back on this post after the race for updates and for a link to your photos.

28 October 2012 Update: It was a great event. We took many great photos and they will be posted in the coming days. A quick shout out to Paul Jesse for putting on the event as well as the many volunteers. Also a shout out goes to the women who volunteered for the “Old Women can do it too” brochure. Check back here more more updates soon.

31 October 2012 Update: PHOTOS ARE UP! Check out the GALLERY to see all your race photos. Also click on the links below for individual course galleries.

5K Course Gallery: http://shezphoto.zenfolio.com/p973888984

15K and 50K Course Gallery: http://shezphoto.zenfolio.com/p999389648

Finish Line Gallery: http://shezphoto.zenfolio.com/p1015306275

Kids Fun Run Gallery: http://shezphoto.zenfolio.com/p893600105

Then once you make 5 posts simply email Bryan@shezphoto.com for your coupon code. The code will be good until the end of the year so if you don’t see a photo you want yet then you can use it for a future event. So go on, strike up a conversation and save some money.

View from Glacier Point. In the background you can Half Dome, Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls

Jamie and I recently went on a trip with some other family and friends to Yosemite National Park. It took eight hours including one stop to make it to the park. After an entire travel day we arrived in our cabin located within the park in Yosemite West. This is located well after Wawona and just before the turn off to Glacier point on highway 41. We stayed in a two story cabin with three bedrooms and another room that can convert the couch into a bed. Groceries were put away and we settled in to get some rest before setting out to explore the next day.

Bridalveil Fall

On the first day it was decided to go to the Valley and get a general feeling of Yosemite and visit some of the requisite locations such as the visitor center and the lower Yosemite Falls. The Valley is along Highway 41 and access by way of a long tunnel. There is also a second way in by way of El Portal road which eventually joins up to Highway 120. We did not explore any further north than the Valley however. When you exit the tunnel, you get a pretty good view of the valley. We also explored Bridalveil fall on the way into the Valley. It was on this first stop that we realized just how crowded Yosemite is this time of year. Hundreds of people scurried over the rocks where the path ended to get a closer look at the falls. The way past the end of the path was treacherous and even marked as such and not something that should be attempted while carrying a heavy DSLR. The path up to that point by contrast was paved and nearly flat.

Yosemite Falls

After we did all these things we went back to the Minivan and had lunch. We spent the rest of the day in the Valley looking for ice cream. Again we were reminded of the crowds. There is a shuttle system in the valley and each shuttle was so packed that every inch of the isle had someone holding on to the hand railings and standing. A vast percentage of the visitors were from foreign countries.

Sentinel Rock

Bridalveil Falls next to the Three Brothers

The last thing we did on our first day exploring was drive up to Glacier Point. There is also a path to this point but it is extremely strenuous and takes most of a day to do. At the top we found a crowded parking lot. Once we walked about a quarter mile though we saw the most amazing views. You are able to see everything from El Capitan to Half Dome to Cathedral Peak in the distance. Also visible are many of the falls including Upper and Lower Yosemite, Vernal, and Nevada. If you have Vertigo, you should stay well back from the railing. You can also see almost straight down into the Valley from here.

Nevada Falls (top) and Vernal Falls (bottom) as seen from Glacier Point

Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point

The next day we had breakfast at The Ahwahnee Hotel dining room. From there, Jamie and I went on our own hike and the rest of the group stayed around and explored the hotel. We went to hike Mist Trail. This is the trail which ends at Half Dome although we just took it to the Top of Vernal Falls. This is still a one and a half mile hike with one thousand feet of elevation gain. For most of this hike the trail is also called the “John Muir Trail” until just past the first spot you can see Vernal Falls and then the John Muir cuts right up some steep switchbacks. Mist trail continues along the water path and quickly becomes a path of makeshift stairs. Fortunately Jamie and I brought trekking poles which we put to good use on this section. The path brings you up to a section where the path is literally cut into the side of the mountain with a railing on one side and barely wide enough for two people to pass but only if they are touching. Once on top you can see Emerald Pool. This is a pool of water which sits pretty close to the edge of the falls although not immediately next to it. For this reason the signs say “no swimming” which the throngs of people who visited immediately disregarded.

View of Vernal Falls on the way up

Once at the top of Vernal, Jamie and I took a much needed rest and I put in a call to let people know where we were in the hike. Cell phone reception in the valley is pretty non-existent and this is one of the only places I could make a call from. We ate some snacks and finally started down. By this time of course our legs were like mush so the trekking poles came in handy yet again. For the decent we extended them about three inches and then took one step at a time until finally we got down to the shuttle again.

At the top of Vernal Falls

Emerald pool

The last day our group had to explore Yosemite was spent in Mariposa Grove. There is a shuttle in Wawona which will take people over there during times when the parking lot is full. From the shuttle stop it is about one mile to reach two of the more interesting trees including the “Grizzly Giant” and the “California Tunnel Tree”. These trees are in the lower grove and if you continue on you can find many more interesting trees in the upper grove. The trees in the grove are diverse but the ones people come to see are the giant sequoia. The Grizzly is by far the widest tree I had seen before and the tunnel tree is cut out so  you can walk right through it. Most of these trees have lived through at least one fire and you can see where the trunk is burnt and then covered over with new bark.

California Tunnel Tree

Finally our trip was at an end and we packed up and headed back. Somehow the trip back only took six hours so we got in plenty early to get some rest before work the next day.

To see more photos from our trip to Yosemite visit our GALLERY.

Check out or GALLERY to see all your event photos. http://shezphoto.zenfolio.com/p429852868

For result info go to http://socalwinecountryhalf.com/

 This weekend Jamie and I went to Santa Catalina Island on the Catalina Flyer out of Newport/Balboa. It was a packed boat and we were near the front of the line so I claimed a couple seats near the front on the second deck. Note to self, do not make that mistake again. The whole front of the ship seems to cantilever with the fulcrum being near the back. Therefore the front of the boat bobs up and down the most. To make matters worse, the front windows are useless unless standing so needless to say this is where most people start at who end up with motion sickness. I actually survived pretty well and didn’t have to move but Jamie had to take a trip to the open part of the deck for fresh air.

 Once we arrived, we had our first activity planned out pretty well. We huffed it to the other side of Avalon Bay and into Descanso Bay where we rented the “Not so early Bird Special” of a two person Kayak, wet suits, snorkel gear and flippers, a soft cooler, and a large dry bag. We quickly donned our wetsuits and headed out into the water but not before double bagging the T2i and my cell phones and single bagging the rest of our clothes and stuff. We went east and slowly warmed up to the work of paddling in the open water.

We went around a couple of points on the island and found a nice little cove which is only accessible via the water. I pulled the kayak up out of the water and sat down to eat some lunch. Kayaking is tiring work and I was super hungry and so was Jamie. Then after a short wait we put on our flippers and snorkels and headed into the cold sea. The boulders made the first couple of feet pretty difficult and we both fell over multiple times. Eventually I got in far enough to float and swam out a little. Our cove had a pretty dense kelp forest right next to it. This threw Jamie off for a moment until I mentioned that you can just float over it.

 So we went out into the water until we reached the edge of the kelp. This ended up being the perfect place to be since this is where all the fish hang out. We saw schools of tiny fish I haven’t identified and we saw a lot of the Garibaldi fish. These fish whose scientific name is Hypsypops rubicundus are also the official state fish of California. They are bright orange and quite easy to spot. Once we got the hang of snorkeling, we tracked several groups of these fish who like to dart in and out of hiding.

 Content with our snorkeling fun, we packed back up and set out in the Kayak again. We had plenty of time left in our four hour rental so we went further around the island. We spotted a couple more fish in the clear waters and snapped some more photos from within the Kayak. When we turned around we also saw a Seal although it vanished under water as soon as we spotted it.

 It turns out that on the way back, Jamie had enough of this paddling thing and let me provide all the energy to move the kayak while she took in the scenery. I at least settled into a nice rhythm and was able to get us back easily enough. We got back almost an hour early which was fine since we did what we wanted.

Since Ocean Kayaking sapped so much energy from the both of us, we decided that we should eat again. Descanso Beach has a bar and grill right on the waterfront. We ate there and then made our way back to the center of town. On the way back what did we do? We ate some more. This time coffee Gelato and chocolate cheesecake. Finally it was time to go and we got back in line for the Flyer. This time, we sat on the back and enjoyed the panorama of the island as it grew ever smaller and eventually disappeared from view.

(Update 22JAN2012) Thanks to everybody who braved the rain and showed up to race. We have thousands of great shots and will be posting them shortly.

(Update24JAN2012) The majority of the photos have been posted. Check out the GALLERY to see your race photos and keep coming back to see more as we continue to upload.