As a break from the usual informative posts everyone else makes here, I offer the following bit of California humor:

M6 TTL w/ 35mm Summicron, shutter speed of 1/30 while shaking the camera violently (an act for which I hope I don't get tarred and feathered).

For those not familiar with Parkfield, it sits atop the San Andreas fault, and boasts the title of "Earthquake Capitol of the World" with magnitude 6 or higher quakes about every 22 years. The USGS actively monitors the area with some 200 seismic instruments.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), January 05, 2002

Answers

Pretty shaky.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), January 05, 2002.

not funny.

-- Dexter Legaspi (dalegaspi@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.

...or very funny - depending on your point of view. I like it, though where I live (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) we've never had an earthquake and hopefully never will.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), January 05, 2002.

"For those not familiar with Parkfield, it sits atop the San Andreas fault, and boasts the title of "Earthquake Capitol of the World" with magnitude 6 or higher quakes about every 22 years. The USGS actively monitors the area with some 200 seismic instruments. "

All well and good, but not in any way indicated by the photograph itself. Without the background info, it's just a shaky photo of a street sign. Does the picture work without the caption? IMO, no.

-- Robert Schneider (rolopix@yahoo.com), January 05, 2002.

'Tain't funny, McGhee. Try it again with the sign that says, "Earthquake center..."

-- (bmitch@home.com), January 05, 2002.

I thought it was a hoot....but otoh I knew what the name "Parkfield" meant before reading the text.

-- John Hicks (jhicks31@bellsouth.net), January 05, 2002.

Interesting picture and funny history, although I am a survivor of 1985 City of Mexico earthquake.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.

It looks like a blurry picture to me. In the 1964 Earthquake, the ground had waves just like the ocean, about 1 foot in height. To me an earthquake picture would have some point of focus, with other parts imparting motion.

Nice try. B for effort, D for content.

-- M.A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.net), January 05, 2002.

Thanks to everyone for the comments.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), January 05, 2002.

Typical California humor - funny only to them!

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), January 06, 2002.