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San Diego Fair – Photography

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The San Diego Fair is a great venue to showcase your photography. The deadline for submissions was Apr 17 2023 at 11:59pm. This was open to everyone and had a variety of categories including cell phone photography. For more info go to:

There are two One-Day Photo Shootout Contests:

Same State and Local Rules apply

Carlsbad Flower Fields Are Blooming!

Posted on by jrwilkinson

It’s that time of year – visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields.

Activities Calendar through May 14th Mother’s Day

Ongoing Specials (Starting March 6th)

Mondays – With the purchase of one adult or one senior/military, you receive one child’s ticket free (ages 3-10)

Tuesdays & Wednesdays – Between 1:00pm-4:00pm, receive $2 off adults, seniors/military and children tickets

For more info & to buy an advanced ticket online: Buy a Timed Entry Ticket (click the link)

  • General adult admission: $23.00 (+ $3.08 Service Fee)
  • Seniors 60+/Military: $21.00 (+ $2.81 Service Fee)
  • Children 3-10yr: $12.00 (+ $1.61 Service Fee)

Photography Interest Group Interests Survey

Posted on by jrwilkinson

I joined the UCSD Photography Interest Group in 2019 when I retired from UCSD-SIO. When I first joined, we’d meet on campus but the pandemic changed everything. I put together this survey to find out what the members of the group are most interested in. We haven’t discussed much except day-to-day things like travel plans and sharing our photos. But I am curious if there is more we can do as a group, in addition to sharing our photos.

Meet-up Location Survey

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The pandemic changed the format of our monthly meetings and meet-ups. I am curious if people want to maintain the current monthly Zoom meeting format or are ready for more. For me, the Zoom meetings are a great way to get-together that doesn’t require I drive somewhere. But I enjoy our in-person get-togethers and want to plan some meet-ups and outings. Please review some ideas proposed below and rank them by dragging them in order of preference:

UCSD PhIG Meetup Survey – drag to reorder the outings preferred

HEIC to JPG Conversion

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The latest Apple iPhone camera format has a more efficient algorithm for storing image information in less space. Unfortunately, unless you work regularly in the Apple environment – MacBook, IPad, IPhone – the format may be unviewable. These are hopefully temporary growing-pain for this new efficient image format as more and more photography programs accept the new format. In the meantime, there are several workarounds to work with or convert HEIC to JPG:

  • HEIC to JPG (for Windows, free)      https://www.copytrans.net/copytransheic/
    I find converting the HEIC to JPG to be one of the easiest solutions and this free utility makes it pretty easy to convert multiple heic to jpg photos.
  • In Windows 10/11, you can convert a HEIC by viewing the photo in Windows Photo, usually accessed by double-clicking the heic file. You may need to install Microsoft Window’s free file extension:

then click the … in the upper right corner and ‘save as’

then select ‘jpg’. This is easy but if you are doing more than one photo, you’ll have to repeat the process for each image.

  • Microsoft Windows Store has a bunch of free and paid apps that will convert HEIC to JPG if you want more features:

Google ‘HEIC to JPG’ and there are plenty of articles that explain many ways to convert HEIC to JPG. I ended up changing my iPhone image format to JPG to eliminate the need to do the conversion since I post many photos online. Once HEIC works with WordPress and browsers, it will become my format of choice. But unitl then, the space savings of the new format are not compelling enough to add the inconvenience of the conversion step.

Googled “HEIC to JPG’ articles: How-To-Geek Article & Tom’s Guide Article

Mar 2023 Theme: Opportunistic

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The theme for March is Opportunistic.  Everyone wishing to participate can submit one photo that was an unplanned shot that worked out well. For instance, you are out shooting flowers in Borrego Springs a big horn sheep shows up or, you are driving down the road and a rainbow appears.  Basically, a photo opportunity that was unplanned. This month’s meeting is only an hour so members are asked to only share one image to fit the time frame. Additional photos can be posted here if you have more than one image you’d like to share.
Since I was not hosting, I did not receive the portfolio of shared images so this theme page only has mine.

Jim Wilkinson

Anza-Borrego Metal Sculptures in a sandstorm

21 Feb 2023: Anza-Borrego Wildflowers

Posted on by jrwilkinson

With the unusually wet winter in Southern California, the potential for an extra-special bloom of wildflowers in our local deserts is high. Wanting to try my Nikkor 105mm Macro lens, we spent a few days camping in Borrego Springs in Anza-Borrego State Park.
This is my first trip specifically to view wildflowers and I have no frame of reference to know how much is normal. But there were large patches, particularly of desert verbena, in several areas. Our main drive was on Di Giorgio Road till it ends into Coyote Canyon. We drove another mile up the dirt road before turning around. This area was very windy and the flowers were moving quite a bit. A fast shuttle speed was needed and I waited till there was a lull in the wind before pressing the trigger. Here are some of my favorites:

Free or Cheap State Park Passes

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Getting into state park is getting more expensive but if you plan ahead, you can get in for free.

  • California State Parks Library Pass Free – A new pilot collaboration between State Parks and California State Libraries will provide free passes to every public library throughout the state. Library patrons can check these out and use them for free vehicle day-use access to parks across the state. 
    If you don’t have a library card, visit your local library to get one. The library card and park pass are free! In partnership with the First Partner’s Office and the California State Library, State Parks is providing free vehicle day-use entry to over 200 participating state park units operated by State Parks for check out to library-card holders. The California State Library Parks Pass is valid for entry of one passenger vehicle with capacity of nine people or less or one highway licensed motorcycle.
  • California State Parks Adventure Pass Free – This new pass provides free entry for fourth graders and their families at 19 select state parks throughout the state.
  • California State Parks Limited Use Golden Bear Pass $20 – not quite free but cheap & valid for one year, this pass is for individuals 62 years or older and provides the pass holder and their spouse/domestic partner with free entry to many state parks during non-peak season (excludes Memorial Day till Labor Day – so get a library pass).
Carlsbad Flower Fields are in bloom! Apr 16th - Canon Photography Workshop: try out Canon cameras and lenses free with Flower Fields Admission

2023 Superbloom?

Posted on by jrwilkinson

This winter has been particularly rainy in California and Western USA. But did it happen too early in the season to create conditions necessary for a ‘superbloom’ event. The are websites watching and logging visits to Anza-Borrego and Death Valley, monitoring bloom events. Here are some of their links:

Anza-Borrego Wild Flowers Status Weblinks:

Death Valley