NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

Many ways exist to enjoy nature, but one of the best is through the lens of a camera. Vic will snap a shot once in a while, but I’ve enjoyed capturing scenes and close-ups for several decades now.

Some of my favorite subjects include Bolsa Chica, the marine invertebrates of Crystal Cove, and anything growing, blooming or flying through my yard and garden.

I like patterns in nature and am fascinated by ridges in rocks, shadows on sandstone, and reflections in water. I would love to be a bird photographer, but I just don’t have a talent for it.

All I have to do is look at the lovely Bolsa Chica calendars put out by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust to know that there are many, many people out there who outshine me in the bird photo category.

But photography isn’t about competition. At least it doesn’t have to be. For me, it is about getting outdoors and appreciating nature. I enjoy finding subjects that will translate well into photos. I know it sounds odd, but I love photographing cows, decrepit buildings and historic doorknobs in addition to wildlife, landscapes and our darling granddaughters.

I had a really good chance to practice my landscape photography recently. This past week, I traveled to Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in Utah with the Photographic Society of Orange County. In the past year, this 15-year-old club has grown to about 100 members, 32 of whom went on this fabulous five-day trip.

Other attendees from Huntington Beach included Gregg and Lambria Soos, Charlie and Jean Breck, Jane Longfellow, and Mark Singer.

Unfortunately, Vic’s college teaching spring break schedule didn’t coincide with the trip dates, and he was unable to go. But I had a good time anyway. I found plenty of cows and doorknobs to photograph, in addition to some fabulous mountain and canyon scenery. I didn’t take one single bird photograph, but Mark was able to capture a shot of a golden eagle feeding on an antelope carcass, an unfortunate victim of roadkill.

I was able to get photos of pronghorn antelope on the grassy prairie outside of Bryce, and a family of bighorn sheep bounding up a steep red sandstone ridge at Zion. I also lucked upon two mountain short-horned lizards in the process of making baby lizards on the Paunsaugunt Plateau at Bryce Canyon.

A real treat for me was a 35-minute scenic airplane ride out of Bryce Canyon Airport. The pilot, Alex Cox, earned his pilot’s license when he was only 16, way back in 2004. His professionalism and skill put me at ease and I enjoyed the ride on the five-passenger plane immensely.

A scenic flight is a really great way to comprehend the geology of the canyons. From the air, it’s possible to visualize how the beautifully spooky hoodoos of Bryce Canyon are continuously eroding from the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

After two days at lovely Ruby’s Inn at Bryce Canyon, we drove to Zion, staying at a forgettable place in Hurricane. The weather was cold and cloudy at Zion, so I spent much of the day reading instead of taking pictures.

While in the tiny town of Tropic, Utah, Mark and I had found so many interesting things to photograph that I’m thinking of writing a book on the area, illustrated with Mark’s and my photos. We were amazed that people in town were so friendly. We even were invited into homes to take pictures, which was great for my doorknob collection.

Mark likes taking pictures of people, especially faces. He got several shots in Tropic, including a classic Americana photo of an elderly lady rocking on the front porch of an 1898 house, with a huge almond tree laden with pink blossoms framing the shot. He’s enjoying people photography so much that he has gone into a side business of portrait and sports photography in Huntington.

With so many people on the club trip, you’d think that we would have run into each other more often at photo stops. But we were in separate cars and got together as a group only once, the last night of the trip. That turned out to be Jane Longfellow’s birthday, so some thoughtful person brought her a bunch of helium balloons.

The celebration was marred only by the absence of 89-year-old club founder Leroy Hannon, who was ill with pneumonia. He was sorely missed, but we expect him to be on the next field trip. We are also hoping that he will attend the meeting at 7 p.m. May 21 when we show our photos from this trip.

On May 30, the club is going to Fullerton Arboretum, and on June 25, we’ll be taking photos of Huntington Beach Central Park. In July, we’ll be visiting the Orange County Fair, where a number of members will have photos in the competition.

This is a great group of people, a club in which photographers can further develop their skills in a supportive environment. Meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of every month, unless that day is a holiday. We meet in Fountain Valley at First United Methodist Church at 18225 Bushard St., between Talbert and Ellis avenues. Visit www.psoc.net for more information.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.