Photos shared during UCSD PhIG monthly meetings
John shared some King Tide images from Del Mar’s dog beach taken in 2019-2020 where the King Tides obviously affected beach access. But he returned to the same spot this last King Tide Jan 3rd to try photographing a third image. But the addition of 750k of sand in Carlsbad had transported down the coast and changed the Del Mar’s beach topography. So trying to continue the King Tide series will have to wait till, hopefully, the longshore current flattens Dog Beach.
Jim returned from a recent 5-day trip to Death Valley. He was lucky to visit during a fair weather window between rain storms. Much of Death Valley was unusually green and Badwater Basin was temporarily transformed into pluvial Lake Manly. Jim had one clear night to try out the Seestar S50 smart telescope he got for Christmas. This single image is actually a stacked mosaic of 180 20sec exposures. The Seestar iPhone app (also available on Android) makes often complicated astrophotography very easy. The app will stack the images, and denoise them automatically, creating a jpg. But the telescope can also save every (20sec) exposure for post-processing. Jim imported the 180 images into Siril, a free astrophotography image stacker & editor. Although the jpg produced automatically is good, processing the images in Siril can greatly improve the results. This photo is a 1 hour stacked image of the Orion Nebula (M42), a popular beginner’s target since it’s easy to find and visible on-screen after just a couple exposures. The Seestar was configured to track the nebula so stars are not elongated.
After returning to San Diego, he photographed the King Tide Jan 4th at La Jolla’s Children’s Cove. A mainly overcast morning had some sun break through, creating a favorable backlight.
Sharon shared more witty images which she has a real talent of catching in photos. The “no pets” and “T-Rex crossing” photos are easy to miss for most of us but she seems to have a knack of seeing these moments. Her oceanscape images were taken on an unusually uncrowded Hotel Del Coronado beach in Dec 2025.
Barbara continues to practice with her new Nikon Zf with 40mm f2 lens. Coming from micro-four thirds Olympus/OM Systems and a variety of lenses, the larger Nikon full frame camera is quite a change. Barbara hope the full frame dynamic range and sharpness is worth carrying the extra bulk. She shared a group of images from a vintage car gathering at Liberty Station, and a colorful hummingbird photo.
Jim was unable to get out in December so most of the images he shared this month were photos from the Nov 27 2025 Oceanside Annual Thanksgiving Holiday Turkey Trot . This is a tradition in Oceanside on Thanksgiving morning. This year’s course was 5k starting by the Oceanside Library and ending at the beach south of the pier. Thousands participated, groups, families, young & old. There are staggered starts (“heats”?) often separated by speed or group characteristics like strollers or walkers (non-runners). The 4 and under kids have a shorter course (1/5mi) down by the beach. Their enthusiasm was wonderful to capture.
The other holiday image was from a 2019/2020 trip to Italy at New Years he hadn’t processed. His single b&w portrait was a homage to photographer Diane Arbus’s “Child with a toy grenade in NYC Central Park“.
I always enjoy seeing how Sharon interprets the themes each month. There is often humor or a wittiness to her interpretation of the themes. Its hard to view her images without them making you smile.
Here are her festive holiday images:
Mikky visits India frequently and his portraits capture the warmth of his subjects & the culture. One of the motivations for the Portraits theme this month was his excellent “passion-project” portfolio of portraits from Jan 2025. But the majority of this month’s photos were black & white seascapes (SIO “ScrippsHenge”) & Bryce Canyon landscapes. A style of photography he hasn’t shared before so the group may be influencing his photography. I know the shared photos have inspired mine.
Heather loves her compact (micro-four-thirds) Panasonic GX85 and never ceases to amaze us with the quality of her images. She has a great eye and timing especially with people photos. Her Do Dah Parade portrait is particularly strong and we think worthy of submission to the SD Fair. She proposes a Pasadena meetup in Nov 2026 for the parade. Her other portrait was from our Dios de los Muertos meetup Nov 1st. Other images were weather-themed and had great depth. Her backup camera is an iPhone proving the best camera is the one you have handy.
Gary shared a recent moonrise photo taken earlier this month on his latest trip to Yosemite. Planning his shot using Photopills, he captured the moon rising in Yosemite Valley. He also shared some portraits from our Nov meetup at Old Town for Dios de los Muertos. Gary had some spectacular surf crashing against the coast from November’s King Tides event. Big waves combined with King Tides are the optimal conditions for showing the power of this event. Gary uses a Nikon Z7 with his favorite 100-400mm lens, plus a 24-70mm for people, and an iPhone when kayaking.
Cathy gets inspiration from multiple sources and is continually challenging herself. She’s been sharing images from her recent photography trip to Arizona & Utah. This month she shared an amazing double-rainbow taken over AZ’s Horseshoe Bend during a rain storm. An iphone is perfect for when it’s raining and you want to protect your bigger camera. She uses a Canon R6m2 mirrorless camera, Canon Rebel APS-C and an iPhone. A long exposure Christmas-themed ocean & pier shot at blue hour was a particular favorite. Plus a Christmas tree ICM (intentional camera movement) photo shows her creativity.
