My 'Best of 2011' Collection

RED TIDE- Billions of plankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum cause bioluminescence at Black's Beach, California on Oct. 1, 2011. More commonly referred to as “red tide,” the algae bloom wash ashore during late summer and have been seen to cause a neon blue glow rising from the waves like fire at night.

I hope to be launching my website by the end of this month and to compliment it I started a blog. As a photojournalist, I continue to push forward in my efforts to document that which is true and real in my surrounding environment. Each day, for me, represents a different opportunity to capture extraordinary moments and tell compelling stories. These are some of my favorite moments of 2011.
-Misael Virgen


WALK OUT- California State University, Northridge Students take over Manzanita Hall shouting "Wake up, walk out!" inviting students to come out of their classrooms to join the statewide protest against tuition hikes on March 2, 2011.



BRAZIL FEST- Brazilian dancers dance the night away in their traditional Carnaval costumes made of feathers and beads at the 11th Annual Brazilian Carnaval Exotica at Club Nokia from Saturday into Sunday morning.



FARM DAYS- Antolin Mendoza, 30, and his fellow farm workers ride in the back of a pick-up truck making their way around Underwood Family Farms in Moor Park to harvest vegetables.



ANGELES AT DAWN- Venus and the moon welcome the first day of March across the snow covered Angeles National Forest at dawn.



WATCH BIRD- A rock wren watches over Otay Lake in Chula Vista on the first Sunday of August.



DREAMS OF STARDOM- Contestants make their way inside Petco Park to audition for season 11 of American Idol in San Diego.



MATCHING SHADES- Rahul Deshpande, one of three judges at the 6th Annual Dog Days of Summer Canine Festival and Contest at Cardiff and German Shepard, Sherif, greet one another in the best looking big dog competition.



BORDER CONSTRUCTION- A look at construction of the San Ysidro port of entry from the newly constructed pedestrian bridge at the United States / Mexico border Aug. 19, 2011. A few weeks later on Sept. 14 a section of scaffold installed to protect cars from overhead construction collapsed injuring 17 people.





OCEANSIDE OUTRIGGERS- The Oceanside Outriggers, practice just off shore the Oceanside harbor to prepare for the 43 mile race, Na Wahine O Ke Kai, in Hawaii on Sept. 25, 2011.



A STATE OF THE ART MEDICAL FACILITY- Dr. Cade Lawrence looks closely at a mock operation at the surgery-simulation lab inside the new Medical Education and Telemedicine Building at UCSD. The $100 million facility made its grand opening Sept. 16 and incorporates high-tech simulators and other state of the art equipment to give doctors hands-on experience.



DASH- Cross country runners dash up hill as they finish their final lap in the No.1 boys varsity race at the 30th Annual Southern California Cross Country Invitational at Guajome Park on Oct. 15, 2011.



QB MAKES A RUN FOR THE WIN- With only two minuets left in the clock, Tofi Paopao races down the sideline en route for a touchdown and come-from-behind victory against Ramona 21-17 on October 21.



KABOOM- A simulated explosion goes off during an Operational Medical Symposium at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego where Navy corpsmen took part in exercises to prepare them for real life scenarios when deployed to Afghanistan.



THE HAWK GAZE- A red shouldered hawk gazes into the newly restored San Dieguito Wetlands in Del Mar.



CATCHING UP- Spectators watch as Vista’s Courtney Corradetti passes Rancho Buena Vista’s Rebeckah St Laurent stealing 5th place in the final stretch of the CIF San Diego Section finals at Morley Field in San Diego.



SWEET VICTORY- Fallbrook warriors celebrate their victory goal at the CIF San Diego Section Division I finals against Scripps Ranch.



SETTING SAIL FOR SUNSET- A sailboat sails at the distance as the sun breaks through the clouds Aug. 17, 2011 at Sunset Cliffs, Cali.



SOARING SAN DIEGO- Flying over the San Vicente Reservoir.



BLACKOUT- The Imperial Beach sheriff and lifeguard station at 9:55pm on Sept. 8, 2011 during a San Diego County wide power outage where people were left in the dark Thursday afternoon in San Diego County and beyond.



POWER BACK- The Imperial Beach sheriff and lifeguard station just seconds after the power returned to Imperial Beach at 9:56pm. 5 million people where left in the dark Thursday afternoon in San Diego County. Other areas affected by the outage included all Baja California, Orange County and Arizona where the power outage was said to have initiated by SDGE officials.