Petco, Red Tide, Fireworks, and La Jolla Cove underwater

On the 1st Anna, Rodene, Bean, and myself went to a night game at Petco Park. (Photos here) I’ve lived near downtown for almost 3 years, but this was my first time at a game. Not much of a ball fan to be honest. It is about the most boring sport out there for me. Going to the park for a game is a fun experience though.

The 2nd we drove up to Encinitas to watch the red tide. It was fairly bright, but was moving further out because of the tide and was elusive to photograph. Red tide is always fun, stamp your feet, kick sand, and watch the show.

On the 4th we celebrated up north with Anna’s family, then headed back home to watch the fireworks. We were watching Spike, Bill‘s cat, so he said we could use his balcony. He was a great view, so it was nice to just sit back and be able to watch fireworks from Coronado, 2 on the bay, and Ocean Beach.

Yesterday Anna and I went for our first snorkel to the cove in a long time. The surf line (221 8824) said the visibility was 15f, so we were really excited. Unfortunately, by the time we got there the water was pretty churned up and there was a lot of surge. But, we were already there, so we hopped in.

I brought my WP-FX701 (my notes here) to take some under water photos. I’ve been pretty impressed with the case so far. Easy to use, all of the buttons are available, and it seems alright at resisting fog. The only gripe I have is that it is slightly uncomfortable to take photos with my index finger, as the case is too wide for a standard grip. But if I switch my standard grip and use my middle finger it is alright.

There was a lot of stuff in the water, and I was fighting the surge most of the time, so photography was a bit frustrating. Photos with scuba gear would be much easier, since you aren’t on a time restraint to stay still. You also don’t have to move around as much since you are buoyancy neutral. I will definitely have to work on my breath capacity for snorkel photos. I found that you need around 20 seconds of not moving much at 10 feet for the fish to not be freaked out by you. At that point you can get closer to them for better photos. Needless to say, this was not easy when fighting the surge as a lot of my oxygen had been used up by the time a good photo op presented itself. I still managed to get a few photos worth keeping and a fun movie of me chasing some fish around. I can’t wait to try it out on a clear day.