Greetings from Long Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Saturday, March 28, 2009.
When reading these weekly journal entries, some people must skip over the paragraphs that focus on volleyball. In the midst of college men’s volleyball season, I am not getting complaints. But I do limit updates to every three weeks or so and here is the next one.
The UC Irvine team had back-to-back matches against the University of Hawaii on Thursday & Friday. On the first night I already had plans for another event but I was there the next evening. The second match was a repeat of the first with the Anteaters sweeping the Warriors 3-0 games. With these two wins, the team’s record becomes 19-3 for the season. Additionally UC Irvine now has the #1 position in the national rankings. Go Eaters!
I do watch other sports. In fact a friend invited me to see the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 45th Congressional Cup competition. It’s actually a series of races but I must confess to missing most of it. On the previous night I stayed up late doing my annual income tax forms, then overslept. I arrived in the midst of the final race right at the moment when the two competing sailboats both maneuvered unbelievably close to the pier where we were watching. You could have stretched out a hand and touched the mast of either boat.
This week’s photo shows both boats in mid-race with wind filling their sails and Island Freeman filling the background. The slender palm trees complement the outline of this harbor isle, adding scale that would have been lost with a water-only backdrop. The victor was Berntsson, a Swede (with the Catalina Adventure Tours sail), over Bruni, an Italian (with the Oceanaut sail). Go Sweden!
I included a second shot. Actually it is the same picture, just unedited. Compare the two and you see that by cropping (trimming) the image, I tightened the focus solely on the two boats and the island. Meanwhile the color adjustment brightened both the red (sails) and the blue (sails again, water and sky). These two steps brought out the potential in an average picture.
Post-race my friend and I walked to and through 2nd Street in the upscale Belmont Shores neighborhood of Long Beach. It has a merry mix of restaurants and gift shops, from the ubiquitous Starbucks to the unique Fern’s Garden. It also has a bohemian vibe. The parking meters cast “fake shadows”, silhouettes in shapes such as a carousel horse on a pole or a scarecrow. Also the walkways have fish-shaped posts that are bike racks, I think. Whatever. They’re cool. Go fish!
Angelo
