Fluid Flow

Point Lobos Magazine - Fall 2009

Picture Perfect: Phony wildlife photography in magazines, books, calendars, and posters is giving people a warped view of nature. By Ted Williams

(Via Incite: Audubon Magazine.)

When I first saw the image of a mountain lion at Point Lobos, I was in awe. I know that there are big cats in the area and the photographer who took the shot spends enough time there to get great wildlife shots.

But cats are so elusive that getting a shot like that is like winning the lottery. I was extremely lucky to get my bobcat shots at Point Lobos a few years back.

How do you get a shot of a mountain lion on the beach?

You hire the mountain lion. In this case the mountain lion, named Kona, was brought to the Reserve to film part of a National Geographic production called “The Secret Big Sur”.

You can read more about the shoot and other movies that have used Point Lobos as a location in Point Lobos Magazine - Fall 2009 (pdf 17 Mb)

In light of the Incite article, I am not certain that it is a good idea to use our State Parks in this manner. I don’t know how or whether the resulting DVD will fully disclose that they are using a captive animal.

Without full disclosure you may generate a false impression of what wildlife is like or as is in this case what our State Parks and Reserves are like.

For example, story has it that a visitor to the Reserve saw a copy of the magazine with the mountain lion on the cover and immediately got in their car and left the Reserve.

Thanks to G. Dan Mitchell Photography for the link.

That is how I described my first memory upgrade on my Mac SE, 21 years ago.

I don’t recall how much of an upgrade it was, it was probably doubling the memory from 1 to 2 megabytes. But it required cracking the case, removing the motherboard, and a stiff drink.

It was an ordeal. Mostly because I had never done it before and, while I was somewhat fearless, I was mucking with the most expensive thing I had ever owned.

Flash forward.

Today, I doubled the memory on my Macbook Pro, from 2 to 4 gigabytes. It was a two minute outpatient procedure. The installation took less time than finding the necessary screwdriver.

I think we have made strides here.