Monterey Bay Aquarium: PART 1- Pictures of a Life Aquatic

Last weekend we took the two hour journey south to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. It was well worth the trip. There is no Jaguar Shark exhibit, however, I imagine that even the great Steve Zissou would admit that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a great way to view aquatic wildlife. The aquarium building is not massive, but maximizes its space with numerous types of oceanic life forms. The highlight for me was the jellyfish exhibit (as will be evidenced by the large number of images of them to follow). Everything was great and well worth the time and money. We were at the aquarium for a little over 3 hours which honestly felt more like 30 minutes. In fact, I think there were a few exhibits that I did not even see. There are also numerous interactive displays and a cafe on property.

If you are interested in taking pictures I would offer these few tips:

1. Go early because it gets very busy. We went on a Saturday in the summer which I assume is probably one of the busiest days. If possible, a weekday visit would afford better photographic opportunities.
2. Turn up the ISO. In my opinion, a little noise is well worth the faster shutter speed.
3. Bring a fast lens. I think a zoom with a very low fixed aperture would be ideal.
4. Don't use flash. I am sure that there are people much more knowledgeable than me that can use off camera flash in an aquarium. However, if you are not one of those people, don't use your flash.
5. Shoot a lot of images. It is a bit chaotic and you might not have much time to set up each shot, so the best solution seems to be to dial in the settings correctly and then shoot away!

In conclusion, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best and you should visit if you get the chance. Below are a sampling of images from my visit, not including the jellyfish. The jellyfish commanded most of my lens time and I will follow this with a separate post dedicated to nothing but jellyfish. Thank you for stopping by and take care!

I found it impossible to get a good focus on any of the seahorses. It might have something to do with the curvature of the glass or it might be that seahorses are just jerks and refuse to pose for a good picture.

Rachel with an aquatic admirer.

This is my favorite fish in the whole aquarium. I love how his habitat looks so surreal and his face looks so familiar and grumpy.

I added this as a reminder of what a truly horrific place the ocean can be. As evidenced by this fish with a missing eyeball.  Mitch Hedberg was right "if fish could scream the ocean would be loud as shit!".

Week in Review: More Olympics, Churrascaria, and Pictures

The last week saw the end of the 2012 London Olympics, my first trip to a churrascaria, and a few pictures (including finding my namesake on a particularly seedy looking motel).

2012 London Olympics- I watched more of the Olympics this summer than I have ever before. Below are 15 observations, thoughts, and opinions about the Games of the XXX Olympiad...

1. The summer Olympics truly is a great event if for no other reason than to remind us how big the world is and how many countries exist that aren't usually recognized.
2. I would gladly live in any city with Boris Johnson as the Mayor.
3. Usain Bolt is really, really, fast and has a true superstar persona.
4. Misty May and Kerri Walsh seem like two of the most likable big time athletes.
5. The US women's soccer team is considerably less likable.
6. I would give NBC's coverage a C, no one likes tape delays for sporting events.
7. It was great to watch the US men's basketball team and I am happy they won gold, but now I can go back to cheering against Lebron.
8. The uneven bars in women's gymnastics is the single most incredible event.
9. I enjoyed water polo and volleyball more than I ever thought I would have...
10. ...but basketball and soccer are still my favorite team sports to watch.
11. Anything inside the velodrome is terrible.
12. Nobody is happier with a bronze metal than the South Korean men's soccer team that in turn are excused from mandatory military service.
13. The second best Olympian name is Hulk (Brazil soccer) the best name... Dong Dong (Chinese gymnastics).
14. I enjoyed watching the swimming, but once every four years is just about right.
15. I was surprised at the initial negative reviews for the closing ceremonies. They were upbeat and full of easily recognizable songs and faces, and most importantly everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Churrascaria- This past weekend included a trip to Espetus Churrascaria in San Mateo. We went with the same friends that joined us a few weeks ago at the House of Prime Rib. After eating at HOP it was decided that we should go somewhere offering even more absurd amounts of meat. As I have previously stated, I do not eat a lot of meat, but looked forward to trying a Brazilian Steak House. It did not disappoint. The 14 kinds of skewered meat we tried were delicious and included Filet, Sirloin, and Shrimp. The meal was further amplified by the salad bar that included marinated eggplant, scalloped potatoes, and prosciutto. Although, my favorite thing was probably the fried plantains that are brought to the table. My least favorite thing was definitely the bite of chicken heart that I tried. Chicken hearts aren't for me, but my boy Chris loved them and ate about 20. Truly making him the bad guy from Temple of Doom if the Indians were chickens.

Pictures of the Week-

I was out exploring and ended up right by the SF Zoo. I did not pay to go into the zoo because it was a free day for SF residents (living in Burlingame is apparently not close enough) and therefore it was a mass of humanity. However, there is a section at the front entrance where you can see zebras and giraffes before you have to show a ticket. I hung out there for a few minutes and took this image of a photogenic giraffe and his friend.

This is in a beat down and abandoned building across from the from entrance of the SF Zoo. I sincerely hope has never been used for its stated purpose.

Orange fungus covers a tree near the Pacific Ocean.

This dumpy motel must be owned by a distant cousin.

I have not figured out what kind of bird this is yet, but loved his colors and talkative nature.

I always like colorful houses against overcast skies.

South City.

Thank you for stopping by Dirty Thirty Photography and take care!

Week in Review: Olympics, Monday Night Raw, and Pictures

Headlines over the past week included the beginning of the London 2012 Olympics and the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw.  Dirty Thirty gives a quick take on these stories as well as other observations and a few pictures.

London 2012 Olympics- We missed the Opening ceremonies in prime time due to copious amounts of wine consumption with three good friends/house guests. Thankfully, someone invented OnDemand television and we were able to watch them the next day (while I nursed a top-5 worst hangover of my life). On a side note, this led me to think of a great quote which I am pretty sure I made up but could have accidentally plagiarized... "the best nights are always followed by the worst days." Anyway, I thought the opening ceremonies were very creative and kind of a complete mess. The visuals were fantastic, but the story seemed a little jumbled. Paul McCartney is showing his age, but he was still the highlight for me. As for the games, I have watched swimming, diving, gymnastics, and soccer. As a US citizen, it was, of course, great to see the American athletes medal in the individual events. However, the most exciting and unexpected sporting spectacle has to be watching the Honduras soccer team knock Spain out of contention with a 1-0 victory.

1000th Episode of Monday Night Raw- I was a wrestling fan when I was young, again when I was a teenager, and sporadically ever since. At this point I don't watch it often but couldn't miss the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw. It was definitely entertaining to see characters that I haven't thought about in years dress up their broken bodies and return to the ring. It was a special piece of nostalgia to see the original members of DX, even though for the most part they looked pretty rough. The 1-2-3 Kid especially looks like he is on borrowed time. This is a sentiment that I shared with my Uncle who reminded me that these guys have had hard lives and all look better than Scott Hall. However, I would still argue that even in Scott Hall's current state, X-pac does not look that much better that Razor Ramone.

Jack Sparrow- Lonely Island (featuring Michael Bolton)- I have listened to this song more times than I probably should admit over the past week. I know its a joke song with a thin premise, but in all sincerity I just really get into Michael Bolton's big sexy hook.

User comments following a Political Article- This is something I have been thinking about for a while since I read a fair amount of political articles online. Especially with the upcoming election there are more and more people wanting to share their opinions on politics and current affairs. Sharing opinions and having conversations is a good thing. In fact, deep in our wine binge on Friday I had a spirited political discussion with our friends. We disagreed on some things but it was alright because it was cordial (or as cordial as a discussion between drunk friends can be about politics at 2am). However, if you crave the complete opposite of cordial discussion and instead prefer hateful, racist, small minded, bigoted, hyperbole, then you need to look no further than the user comments following any political article currently on the web. Every time I say to myself, "don't read the the user comments," and every time I do--instantly depleting my faith in humanity.

Pictures of the Week- 

Thank you for stopping by Dirty Thirty Photography!

House of Prime Rib

Over the past few years I have started eating less and less beef. In fact, if I averaged my red meat intake over this time it would probably be about once per month. This began as a healthy eating choice, but truthfully is now more about habit and taste. When going to a restaurant I immediately look at the chicken, fish, or vegetarian meals without much of a thought about the red meat offerings.  The reason that I bring this up is because this past Saturday we dined at the legendary House of Prime Rib on Van Ness in San Francisco. Eating at a restaurant called the "House of Prime Rib" requires that one eats the prime rib, and as a semi-vegetarian who rarely eats red meat I can honestly say it was one of the best and most memorable meals I have had in recent memory.

Rachel and I eat out a lot and I love to eat, but I am far from a food critic. So without trying too hard to eloquently justify my opinion; I will give a very brief and hopefully helpful review of my experience at the House of Prime Rib.

Rachel made reservations two weeks ago for ourselves and our friends Chris and Kristy. We were seated promptly and the service was attentive. The feel of the place was classic and made me nostalgic, though I am not sure of what. The mixed drinks come in shakers which equal closer to two full drinks and there are a couple of nice bottled beers. The meal came with the following:

1) Sourdough Bread- great!
2) Salad with egg, beets, and house dressing- great!
3) Creamed Spinach, mashed potatoes and gravy, Yorkshire pudding- great!
4) English Cut Prime Rib with horseradish- really great!!!

I had a look on yelp before we visited and noticed that you could get seconds which I was happily obligated to accept. The only downside to the experience was how terrible I felt for about 20 minutes immediately following the meal due to the massive amount of food that I consumed. However, when the feeling of fullness passed I craved more prime rib.

Below are a few pictures of the evening.  Thank you for stopping by Dirty Thirty Photography and take care.

Before going to the House of Prime Rib we stopped at a couple bars including the Bigfoot Lodge. The following pictures were taken there and edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro 2...

 And the star of the show...