Oak (Glen Drive)

An oak tree at the end of the street and down the fire road. One of my favorite subjects.

Photos: Oak Tree (Glen Drive Fire Road)—Marin County, 2006; Oak Tree (Glen Drive Fire Road)—Marin County, 2010

Nandina

More experimental pix with the Nikon D90. Following earlier mikereport Nandina photos:

October, 2008, First Rain

December, 2008, Nandina

Photos: Nandina Leaves—Marin County, 2010; Nandina—Marin County, 2010

Napa Excursion #2

A visit to the grounds of Domaine Chandon, maker of very pleasant sparkling wines. However, no tours in January! Place was still crowded, though.

Photos: Domaine Chandon Grounds—Napa Valley, 2010; Sparkling Wine & Self-Portrait—Napa Valley, 2010

Napa Excursion #1

Shawna and Maz and two sets of in-laws visited Napa a few Saturdays ago. Very nice!

Lunch was at Michael Chiarello's Bottega in Yountville. (Celebrity chef sightem: Michael Chiarello himself sitting on a bench outside talking on his cell phone. Wow!)

Rich, but extremely delicious.

Photos: Winter Vines—Napa Valley, 2010; Bottega Place Setting—Napa Valley, 2010

More Steelhead Weather

Steelhead Weather from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.

For earlier blog pix, see:

the fence

nandina

cascade (fish ladder)

Imogen Cunningham Plant

Wish I could remember the exact name of this plant. It's in Merryll's garden; she told me it was descended from an original owned by Imogen Cunningham. (UPDATE: Plant is an "aeonium.")

Photo: Aeonium (after Imogen Cunningham)—Berkeley, 2010

Monday Dog Blogging

Merryll's dog Max.

Photo: Max—Berkeley, 2010

Steelhead Weather

Chaotic weather happening throughout the state of California. Creeks are now full at long last.

Photos: Storm Clouds & Valley—Marin County, 2010; Redwoods & Creek—Marin County, 2010; Blackberries & Ferns—Marin County, 2010

Hon's Wun-Tun House Ltd. of Calif.

Shawna pointed this out to me. We especially like the "Ltd" designation.

Photo: Hon's Wun-Tun House Ltd. of Calif—San Francisco, 2006

Gil Mar

In back of Trader Joe's in San Rafael.

Photographs: Gil Mar—Marin County, 2008; Gil Mar—Marin County, 2010

Sacramento & The Delta

At the end of the day the overcast diminished somewhat and allowed some light from the setting sun to silhouette the roller skating rink next to our motel.

On the way back home we stopped at a roadside stand where Barbara and Hali purchased some Japanese yams. Note to self: must return to the delta area: lots of possibilities.

Photos: Roller Skating—Sacramento, 2010; Food Signs—Sacramento Valley, 2010

Cosumnes River Preserve

Overcast and damp day, walking among the oak trees near the Consumnes River.

Photos: Oak Leaves—Central California, 2010; Oak Trunk & Foliage—Central California, 2010

More Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.

Monday Sandhill Crane Blogging

There were quite a few sandhill cranes just off Woodbridge Road, and since we were probably the first birders through that day they were reasonably close in. Very interesting vocalizations and behavior. Leapings about, and flingings of plant material (with dirt attached.)

In any event, (and has been said before) Mike does not have an adequate telephoto lens . . . adequate, that is, for wildlife pix. So he has to rely on either heavy cropping of the original photo, or hope that he will find a statue of the birds.

Photos: Sandhill Cranes in Field—Central California, 2010; Sandhill Crane Statue (Cosumnes River Preserve)—Central California, 2010

Birding—January, 2010

The weekend was dank and foggy: great weather for birding. Hali, Barbara and Mike traveled first to the Yolo wildlife area just off Highway 80 past Davis, then early the next day to meet Dan at Cosumnes River Preserve. There was a great mass of tundra swans off the Highway 80 area, easily visible from the freeway. On the dirt road around the refuge we unlimbered Hali's new spotting scope, bringing the swans up close and personal. Mike's lens cannot reach that far, so he concentrated on reeds and water.

More: 2008 birding. 2009 birding.

Photos: Reeds & Water—San Joaquin Valley, 2010; Water—San Joaquin Valley, 2010

Evening Star

Fooling around in Photoshop: first a little posterization, then a little watercolor filter, then . . . voila!

Photo: Evening Star (self-portrait)—Sausalito, 2009

Valley Storm Clouds

Moody, yes. But a little too much noise in the darker areas. So . . .

Photo: Valley Storm Clouds—Marin County, 2009

New Age Window

Taken down a side street in San Anselmo. Pine cones, sanskrit and a happy Chinese monk. Maybe a happy Chinese monk.

Photo: New Age Window—Marin County, 2009

Fenceposts

Interesting. If I could have gotten this kind of B&W photo, um . . . say . . . 15 years ago, then I would have been extremely happy. Now all it takes is one click for a black and white conversion, some fiddling with contrast, and there you have it.

Photo: Fenceposts—Marin County, 2009

Quonset Hut Banner

Taken during a overcast and gloomy day in San Rafael, back of Trader Joe's. I was trying out a Nikon D90 from Costco and took several pix, including a three-pix panorama. This shot was a single image, however.

After I had inserted "the mikereport" text into the sky area (using Centaur), I realized that with all the reflections going on, I could also have a reflection of the text by copying, pasting, flipping and blurring in a separate layer.

Photo: Quonset Hut (Banner)—Marin County, 2009

Monday Cat Blogging

No cat "category", though. Heh, as they say.

Photo: Cat & Hay—Marin County, 2009

Alders

Taken with the Olympus E-620 and the 12-60 lens. Actually, I like this particular photo well enough, but my "successes" tally has not been meeting my expectations with the E-620. Hm.

Oh, and another thing. This photo was taken hand-held. I eventually returned with a tripod (for depth-of-field considerations) but none of the pix matched this one (boring and static compositions, mainly). Point being that, for me, the percentage of keepers is greater with hand-held shots.

Photo: Alders—Marin County, 2009

Sausalito (December)

Walking around Sausalito. Mike's routine: he parks in a two-hour spot, then heads down to the boats, then perhaps over to the view of the SF skyline.

Then, a haircut.

Photos: Boats & Clouds—Sausalito, 2009; San Francisco Skyline—Sausalito, 2009

Self-Portrait & Parking Lot

Mike had his rear brake pads replaced at Japan Autos in the "industrial" section of San Rafael.

Walking around with coffee cup and camera, he came upon a) a reflective window across the street, with the sun peeking over the roof and hitting Mike's head, causing him to squint, and b) a recession-caused abandoned parking lot.

How come the photorealist people can get people to buy paintings of parking lots, but photographers can't? (More on the photorealist conundrum here.)

Photos: Self-Portrait—Marin County, 2009; Parking Lot—Marin County, 2009

Bail Bonds

Taken during the Berkeley Craft Fair. You had to drop all your stuff off at the venue, then drive down Martin Luther King Drive to try and find a parking spot. Which Mike, of course, did.

Walking back, he saw this cute bail bonds office, so he had to stop and dig his camera out of his daypack and try and take a picture. Which Mike, of course, did.

Photo: Bail Bonds—Berkeley, 2009

Spiritual Enrichment Center

It was raining.

Photo: Spiritual Enrichment Center—Marin County, 2009

Tuffy Goes for a Walk

The plan was to go for a hike & ride. However, when we arrived at the Bear Valley parking lot Hali discovered that a vital piece of equestrian equipment (girth) had gone missing. So we took Tuffy for a walk. We hiked the Mount Wittenberg trail . . . got almost to the trail junction, then headed on back.

Tuffy met a lot of new friends during the hike. He will have to open a Facebook account any day now.

Photos: Tuffy & Trailer—Point Reyes, 2009; Tuffy Walking—Point Reyes, 2009; Hali & Tuffy—Point Reyes, 2009

Monday Hermit Thrush Blogging

This fellow was sitting over our gate as if he had been glued there. And he wasn't going to move. We had a stare-off, then I reached into my daypack for the Canon G9. And he sat for several exposures and changes of ISO. I put the camera away, then turned back, and he was gone.

I say "he" but I guess it could be "she." I would look it up but that would be too tedious.

Photo: Hermit Thrush—Marin, 2009

Reference: Cornell Lab

Oak Revisited

That oak tree: atmospheric variations . . . sunny, overcast.

Photos: Oak (Sun)—Marin County, 2009; Oak (Overcast)—Marin County, 2009

Gull (Banner Experiment)

So, a different banner (posted below for future blog scanners).

Well?

Photos: Gull—San Francisco, 2009; Shiodome Rain Banner—Tokyo, 2008

Friday Gull Blogging

Happy New Year!

By the way, I've heard that the term "seagull" is redundant; "gull" is sufficient.

I'm going to publish the same photo tomorrow, but with a different banner. This will allow us to observe the relationship between the banner pix and the pix 'o the day. Today's banner posted below:

Photos: Gull—San Francisco, 2009; Fisherman Banner—San Francisco, 2009