Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Went out Friday just to practice and hoping to get some wildflowers in the San Miguel hills. Woke up at 4am and left the house at 5. Then I drove south on Highway 101 for about 3 hours and headed east to look at what I thought would be hills covered in wildflowers. None, nada, zip... So at about 10:30 I headed west to Fort Hunter Liggett, an old Army Reserve base. I've been shooting there the past 5 or 6 years with no problem. I'd even gone off road following fresh tank tracks looking for venues. Steve Barbour has a photo of mine, Bass Lake, that was taken while off roading on the base. So I've been waiting for the oak fields to spring forth with wildflowers, I knew this was my year! Sure enough, there were glorious patches that would make fine photographs. So I parked on the side of the road, grabbed the Hassy and walked about 20 yards into the field. As I'm futzing and setting up the shot, I hear something that I thought was a bull frog, as the filed was a bit mushy. I looked around for the frog nearby and didn't see one, so I went back to my camera. Then louder, "SIR!" and I turn around. Parked on the road was a Police car with a trooper, in dark glasses of course, who then told me to come out of the field. Long story short, I was "detained" for about a half an hour at the main gate and told photos were never allowed at the fort. Rather than get in an argument with a heavily armed man (who had 3 as heavily armed men standing nearby), I chatted him up and asked if he know where, off base, there might be some wildflowers. The guy then proceeded to tell me every hill and dale within a 50 mile radius. Another 20 minutes has now passed. I thank the gentleman very much, and just head down the to the coast. I was fuming. Really sapped the joy right out of the day. I'd been dreaming about those flowers in the filed with the mountains and puffy clouds for years and finally the time had arrived. Not... So here are the pics from the day, and not many wild flowers. I did manage to grab a shot of the scene I was trying to shoot before I was "disciplined." Thanks for looking. C&C always appreciated, Bob www.rgaphoto.com/2011-04-22-DayTrip Bob Adler Palo Alto, CA http://www.rgaphoto.com