Adapting to the Elements
I came to Laguna Niguel Regional Park to try and get some nice “mirror” effects off of the 44-acre lake. However, as you can see from the ripples in the water, it was pretty windy, which I was not anticipating. The lake was so beautiful though, and there were a few species of native birds hanging out. In fact, the last photograph in this post is one of my favorites I have ever taken, and I recently entered it into the Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2017-2018.
Just A Little Bit of Luck…
Anyone else like My Fair Lady? It’s one of my all time favorite musicals – my sister and I used to watch it all the time.
The sun was setting, and I was getting ready to give up on the reflection shot when I saw a lone American Coot. The water turbulence gave a Monet effect, and this bird was dipping quite often and making some nice splashes. With no other birds around, I thought it would make a nice shot. However, I had no idea how much I would like the shot until looking through the viewfinder. After framing the shot and waiting for the right moment, I caught the bird just as it surfaced. As a bonus, I captured the bubbles close to it, which is an element I absolutely love! The ripples moving away from the bird adds to the solitary tone and keeps the bird as the main subject.
Lesson: even if conditions aren’t ideal, sometimes luck can play a role in getting a really nice shot!
A Bit of History of Laguna Niguel Regional Park
The Laguna Niguel Regional Park used to be part of Rancho Niguel, named after a local Native American Village called “Niguil”. The ranch eventually comprised 21,000 acres. Eventually, the Laguna Niguel Corporation purchased portions of the ranch. The Moulton family, after which Moulton Parkway was named, still owns 9,000 acres.
In 1964, the 44-acre lake was created as an overflow basin for Sulphur Creek. Six years later, another 154 acres were added for park use and three years later the park was developed and opened to the public. In 1981, 20 additional acres were added to the park, bringing the total acreage to the current value of 174, and added paved parking, restrooms, and picnic areas to the park. Three years after that, most of the rest of the park was developed, including planting of over 2,000 trees and adding more bike trails, picnic areas, fishing piers, and recreational areas. The lake is stocked with catfish and bass yearly, and trout during winter months – good luck competing with the birds!
Every year, fireworks are launched from this park on the Fourth of July – I’ll have to check it out one of these years!
Comments, conversations, feedback, and messages are always welcome!
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