Harmful Native Plants at San Elijo

San Elijo Lagoon has some fascinating forms of plants and wildlife in this lagoon, but some of the plants can be dangerous so here are just 3 plants that can cause some adverse effects if ingested or touched.

Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium) is a low growing plant that is native to this island but actually came from Mexico but somehow became a native plant. This is a dangerous plant as if you consume it can cause some hallucinogenic effect that can wreak havoc on your nervous system. This plant is also very toxic to pets as well. The name Datura comes from the name Dhatura in Arabic. This plant contains tropanes, such as atrophine. The name Jimson weed is noted when British soldiers ate this plant and acted like insane people.

Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca).

Tree Tobacco is a shrub that goes up to 20′ long but is not actually native to the San Elijo Lagoon. The nectar also provides a nice treat for hummingbirds. This plant is popular with the native indians who like to smoke it and use to treat sore throats, however it should not be consumed raw.

Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum).

This is a very famous thing that you should avoid. If you touch this plant, you will most likely get a rash. This is a California native plant which grows in Riparian habitats. If you get a rash from this plant, you can easily use soap and water ASAP to try and get rid of it, but the local pharmacies also carry some cream that should be carried in order to help with the rash. Some transition zones have this plant. Poison Oak can even give you some issues if its burning.

These are just some of the dangerous plants or plants in general in the San Elijo Lagoon.

Lake Hodges Shoot

I went out hiking and decided to go to Lake Hodges. I believe this part I have not really seen before, though I did not go to the bridge which I have not been to yet. I hope to go to there again and get the bridge. The shoot went well, but I should have gotten a tripod, but I took these photos yesterday, and the weather was gorgeous but rather warm. It did take a bit out of me, but I was fine doing that. Though this is what I have now and I think I am ready for Elfin Forest. A lot of the photos are in Black and White as I seem to enjoy editing in B&W rather than in color as Color is a great look, but sometimes I feel like the landscape is better in B&W. I also tried to experiment laying down but that did not turn out too well, I guess I can reshoot that somewhere else. I think the look I was going for in B&W was Ansel Adams, but I think I did a good job. I should have stayed longer and gotten the Magic Hour, but I already got that, so I think I am set. I think I learned that sometimes it is good to hike around and survey for a good photograph and to experiment with new trails. I also went there as it is relatively close to my house as well. In the end I had a good photoshoot.

lake hodges 1

mountain

ditch

waterfowl

Horgan_12MAR17_LakeHodges_014

landscape

water landscape

not sure if I should have taken this photo

tree

My sad attempt at MOPA

I did not realize that Mopa was not open on the 13th, however I did get some good shots of Balboa park. I plan to go back tomorrow and take some more photos of this wonderful place and get a sweet selfie for this blog as well as my Social media platforms. 😛 I am had a lot of fun regardless, and still made it early for class and I really want to thank Deborah Small for offering this, but I need to not screw up and go when it is closed. Despite this, I googled the exhibition and found that my inspiration for this shoot is John Gossange as his black and white landscapes serve as in inspiration for all but one that I also kept in Color. I feel that Landscapes are an interesting form of photography as you can just be one with the camera and whatever you are shooting

. I find Black and white landscaping to be rather fascinating. Some of the photos that I saw on Google from him are all in Black and white, so I felt that editing in B&W is a tribue or a nod to him. Despite this, I should have photographed MOPA and gotten a Selfie of that, but tomorrow is another day. I hope to get a Part 2 of this blog post with my actual reactions and perhaps a Reshoot of the photos with my favorite artist from that exhibit. In the end, I enjoyed doing this assignment. Sorry, for not having anything from the get go.

Bird

What is this bird thinking about infront of the Westerdam! Westerdam of course is a cruise liner operated by Holland America Line.

Top 10 Photos

These are just some top 10 photos that I have mostly taken in VSAR 302, but I have also taken some at the Photo archive project at the U-hour screening of Short Shorts by Jason Eberwein. I really think these are some of the top 10 best photos I have taken and it was not easy choosing them, and I hope you would enjoy them.

My Adventures in Downtown SD

My Adventures in Downtown San Diego by Michael Horgan | Make Your Own Book

 

Here is my book, and I had a lot of fun making it. I am still new at making nice books, but I hope to use Blurb more in the future to make even better books. Making this book was a lot of fun, as I could take some photos and turn them into black and white to make them even more powerful and add some basic text. I try to describe each photo with a basic description and I think I did a great job. I found the Blurb interface in Id (Indesign CC 2017) to be very easy and I am glad that they supported the 2017 version (latest version) on my laptop so I did not have to worry about compatibility. I do eventually want to publish even more books and maybe use even better paper. I really ought to thank Nancy my professor for letting me be creative and making this wonderful book, as without her, I could not have made it.

What I liked about it is the ease of making a book, and that I have used Id before so it is not an issue for me. Blurb has so many options in regards to size and even paper, but I chose the cheapest option so I could save some money, but next time I want to use even better paper and push myself some more.

I did not have any real dislikes in this project, other than getting all the photos in design to work right, but I got around it. Some of my photos could have been taken better, but I should have probably spent more time and not forgotten my memory card the first time I started to make my project.

I got out a lot of this project in making this book. I got to learn more about blurb and how to make books. I feel satisfied and confident that I can make books going forward to maybe even make money and possibly sell them on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Perhaps, I have found my niche (though that is for me to find out and debate about it). In the end I had fun in this book.