The Virtual Christmas Fireplace

For those cold nights when your local air quality board says " No!" to burning anything in your fireplace,
an image to warm your heart and kindle memories of warm feet.
Merry Christmas, everyone!

Totality, Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse 2010

Clouds darted in front of the moon all evening long shortly after this shot was taken, I called it quits as there was no much hope of seeing the emergence from totality. I feel lucky getting the shots I did!

Nearing Totality-Solstice Lunar Eclipse 2010

The awful weather predicted for today moved south and we were spared. Not so lucky those in Southern CA. Still, we had cloud cover for a chunk of the celestial event of the season, but was lucky to get a few shots in.

Emergence From Totality, 2008

"Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun. "
John Lennon

Lunar Eclipse, 2008

This eclipse was in February, 2008. Hope to get lucky again on 12/21/2001 but our wet, overcast weather may spoil it.

Powell Street, December, 2010

At the cable car turn table near Market Street in San Francisco. This taken while on my way to BART following the SFAMA's Toys For Tots  toy drive. Part of an on-going series.

November Vines

After a family portrait session in one of Livermore's wineries, a capture of the fall color on the vine.... and later in the evening, lightning and thunder, oh my!

November Sky Quartet #1

A storm is due to arrive tomorrow.
Last gasp of fair weather for a few days.
Let your mind wander in the wonder of the natural world.

San Francisco Ferry Building, Night

Heading toward the Embarcadero BART station after an event hosted by the Full Circle Fund with remarks by John Morgridge, the Ferry Building in all its evening splendor at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco. Hand held with a 50mm f1.4 lens.

Pyracantha Berries

Following a fairly good soaking, colors seem to be more saturated and intense, not to mention giving a bit of gloss from the clinging rain drops.

More Michiana Color

Another image from the series along S.R. 2 entoute to Midway Airport

Impressions From S.R. 2

Another from the S.R.2 quartet of intentionally blurred images.

Along State Route 2, Northwest Indiana

On the bus, headed from Notre Dame, Indiana, to Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 2010, following a visit to my aging Dad...
It had been a warm, windy weekend and on the 26th, a cold front passed through Wisconsin, Illinois, & Indiana bringing thunderstorms, high winds, and a few tornadoes. O'Hare International was closed for an hour or so due to the severity of the storms creating havoc for some travelers. This created something of an opportunity for me, since the backside of these weather fronts usually means a few hours of lingering clouds and maybe some lingering showers, but mostly much clearer air, even if it's a touch windy. In October, with longer shadows and the colors of the remaining leaves on the deciduous trees still changing, it's a real opportunity to have some fun with all the possibilities. As things turned out, the weather cleared shortly after I boarded the bus and as we rumbled along S.R.2 through La Porte County, I thought I'd try and capture some of the tumult and turmoil of the morning's weather and its aftermath along with a taste of the season photographically. By using a slow shutter speed 1/10 of a second or so and riding on the bus bus doing 50 mph, I knew that most everything would be blurred, with objects in the foreground being more blurred than those in the distance, creating am Impressionistic sense of motion. What also makes it lots of fun is you're never sure what you'll get, so it's something of Chaos Theory thrown in for good measure. More to come anon.

Autumn skies, looking up...

Getting up early has its advantages: you get to see some lovely skies and blue hues, especially in October.

Fall Composition

Combining four separate images of the same subject - playing with the abstract forms and colors of autumn found in the backyard.

Looking Up, part three...

In the atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian, the concentric rings of the upper galleries and the cupola resemble the orbits of planets around the sun or a beehive, and possibly,  an exotic wheel cover.
Very fitting, in any event.

Looking up, continued...

Enroute from viewing a magnificent photo exhibition at Pier 24 back to BART recently, my fellow photographers and I cut through the lobby of Spear Tower. Off to one side of the atrium was this towering lattice-like structure. And looking up, was rewarded with this kaleidoscopic image.

Looking Up

Remember when you were wee small and had to look up all the time? Here's a strong visual reminder that it can provide you with a fresh perspective on objects and scenes you may not be inclined to view that way and make a strong graphic image, too. This is the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. taken on a lovely spring day. More to come soon!

Raygun Gothic Rocketship

Now boarding at Pier 14 along San Francisco's Embarcadero for inter-planetary destinations. Spotted enroute to the magnificent photography exhibition at Pier 24 this morning. If you haven't been yet, it's a must see for any photography afficianado.

Alas, original plans to have visitors aboard the Raygun Gothic Rocketship fell through due to ADA issues, but it's still a fun addition to the waterfront, IMO. It will be up until October, 2011. It's the product of a consortium of 70 Bay Area artists led  by by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor and David Shulman.

"Sweet" Light, continued

As pointed out on the previous post, by being open to the world as it presents itself to us, we can find beauty in everyday occurrences. The hours just before sunset and after sunrise flood us with golden warm light and bathe our environment with the potential for memorable moments or simple reflection. Here, the long diffuse rays of light strike the bookcase at a very sharp angle creating a dramatic study of some well worn and read books that otherwise would have been quite dull.

Fiber Up!

Photographers like to talk about the quality of light or "sweet" light in their photographs. For most landscape and architectural photographers, it generally occurs in that period of time from dawn to three hours after sunrise or from three hours before sunset to dusk. These are the times of day when the length of the shadows cast by objects are most dramatic as the sun rises or sets. Its light is also passing through denser layers of earth's atmosphere, so it's warmer or more golden then when it's more overhead during the mid day hours. Of course, we don't always get to choose the time of day when we are on assignment or when we will be at a particular location when enroute to one place or another and sometimes we do. Sometimes we just get lucky staying open to the possibilities that surround us daily. Like morning light on a bowl of unadorned cereal. An "all natural" photo- i.e. no fill cards or additional lighting, no special filters on the lens, no programmed effects, AKA a "straight'' photo with minimal contrast adjustment. And now, I'm hungry.

Marlo & Conrad

I met Marlo in 1986 or so when we both occupied studio spaces in North Oakland on 61st Street. I was immersed in commercial photography and she was a painter. Her passion was painting- and birds. Conrad is a green headed Amazon parrot, a female as it turns out, a fact not learned for some time after she was given to her by a friend. Conrad, or Lady Conrad as she came to be called, did not like men, a fact I learned first hand when Marlo would venture up to Washington to visit family and I was tasked with her care. Conrad also didn't like her cage very much and was a pretty good escape artist. I never ventured into Marlo's studio without some sort of protection, which was usually a baseball bat.

Marlo passed away in her studio on August 21, 2010. The world is one gifted artist short now and I've lost a friend I always thought I would see again.

Mendenhall Lake

The view 180 degrees from the glacier itself. Big ice cubes!

Mendenhall Glacier

The last time Barbara & I were in Juneau together 32 years ago, there was more of it. In fact, I do believe it covered all the gray rocky areas to either side, so it definitely is receding and is not quite as impressive as it once was.

Surfacing Humpbacks

And there, off the port bow, Big Mama pokes her head out of the water, checking us out while her calves follow. Space is illusional here, as it was photographed with a 200mm telephoto and the frame is enlarged from the original.

Wine Tasting Whale Watching Cruise

So, while up in Juneau, we managed to go on a wine tasting/whale watching cruise aboard a twin-hulled tour boat to benefit a local dance group. Typical of weather in Southeast Alaska, it was chilly, damp and windy. Unfortunately, the wine ran out fairly early in the cruise, so we were forced to look for whales. This is of the boats' skipper in the cockpit, talking on her cell phone. Please don't tell Oprah!

Wall of Fame

Momentos and posters from previous gigs adorn the walls of Bob's office in his workshop on Douglas Island. And his stringed instruments, too.

Bob's Work Bench

Bob Banghart's latest restoration in progress: a four string banjo. An accomplished musician, luthier, craftsman, tinkerer, he's also Chief Curator at the Alaska State Museum in Junea. Probably the most worthy person I know personally of the moniker, "Renaissance Man."

North To Alaska!

Been away from the blog for awhile.

Here's an image from "the beach" on  the northern end of Douglas Island, AK, looking back towards the mainland.

"Cupid's Span"

Public art sculpture by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen on the San Francisco Bay waterfront, rumored to be the place where Tony Bennet " left his heart". For me, it's just the place where Cupid's bow fell, but from this angle, looks more like a tamed sea serpent anxious to return to its deep blue home.

Ubaldo Jimenez

Shuts out the SF Giants on 5/31/2010.

Flagomania

Smaller flags for sale at a floral shop in Oakland, CA for Memorial Day

Lest We Forget...

Amidst all the sales and the sporting events and other diversions this extended weekend represents, that this Memorial Day is about honoring our fellow citizens who gave the "last full measure of devotion" that we should have the luxury and the privilege of the freedoms we enjoy at the expense of their blood, their unfulfilled dreams and expectations, in order for us to pursue ours.

Afternoon Hike

At the Lafayette Reservoir, West Rim Trail... our first lovely day after some unseasonably cool, windy, and wet weather. A view of Mt Diablo.

Northern Exposure

East bound, lower deck of the Bay Bridge...fun with longer exposures & unsafe driving practices.

Chinatown, San Francisco

Waverly Place at night.

Old Oakland

Victorians....

Box of assorted lost sea shells

found at Black Swan books in Oakland, CA!

B String Tuning Peg

On a CRI Musical Instruments "Velvet Touch" Strat

The Twelfth Fret

Mother of Pearl dots on a Strat...

What's not to like?

Floor detail from the National Archives

While standing in line waiting to view the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence and our Bill of Rights, you pass over an elaborate engraved brass floor plate, worn smooth by the shoes of thousands and thousands of visitors. Kind of a metaphor for the nation today...

Breakfast at L'Enfant

A crepe with a raspberry sauce. Yum!

The Red Fence

Resplendent with poppies & geraniums. I've passed it many times but every time I had my camera hoping to shoot them, the poppies had decided to call it a day and were all closed up. Not today, May 18.

The Seduction of Color & Chardonnay

A blue LED is reflected in a wine glass whose outer surface  is covered with condensation...cheers!

San Francisco Blues

And grays and clouds...Bay to Breakers was today, Marika was in it. I slept in. Next year, maybe.

BAARC's 26th Annual Bash

what I covered yesterday

Sliced, not diced...

and soaking for a dish called, "Fusilli Ai Porri E Saliccia" or "Fusilli with Sausage & Leeks" a very quick and easy and delightful meal.

EEK! Leeks!

But so good for you... been away from the blogger desk for a few days so this will b a make-up session...

Pistile Opulence

or orgiastic orchids...

Bubble Wrap Abstract

Inspired by current events with BP...