This is from a new part of the Chinese Garden I hadn’t seen before.

One of several Tea Houses in the Chinese Gardens at the Huntington Library. I was taken by the many reflections in the glass.

This is a close-up of one of the trolls from Thomas Dambo’s exhibit at the South Coast Botanic Gardens. This guy is big, but he has a friendly look.

Usually I share the pictures I’m proud of; this one’s a failure, and I decided I wanted to say a few things about it.

There’s a lot I like about this picture—the white water at the bottom, the surfers all intently focused on the next wave coming in, the glinting of the sun on the water. Everything, really, but the composition.

What I really want is to have pointed my camera about a third of a frame to the right, so that there’s open space between the surfers and the right edge of the frame. Yes, there’s something coming; no, we can’t see it yet (and maybe the surfers can’t either); but there’s going to be another wave coming, and they are ready for it.

As it is, they all look like they are swimming out of the frame. Can’t win them all, alas.

Just another perfect day on the beach.

This seagull was not more than six feet from me. Utterly fearless.