Berkeley Sightems

Bicyclist & Cat - Berkeley  2012

Sitting on Wall - Berkeley  2012

At the Berkeley Farmers Market. Bicyclist is carrying a cat. Little girl is slightly apprehensive about being up there on that wall.

Berkeley High School

Berkeley High (AM) - Berkeley  2012

Berkeley High (PM) - Berkeley  2012

I had signed up for three December Saturdays for a booth at the Berkeley Farmers Market. Alas, I was only able to attend one of them, rain canceling the others. As usual, when I'm at my booth I always take along the Canon G12.

Lichen

Lichen - Marin County  2012

Taken in the San Geronimo Valley in November, 2012. I used the Olympus E-PL1 on a tripod with the Panasonic 20mm lens with a two-second exposure.

Earlier 2009 photo: Lace Lichen etc.

Monday Dog Blogging

Dog, Sleeping - Marin County  2012

Outside the Whole Foods in San Rafael.

Burbank Sightems

Warner Bros Billboard - Burbank  2012

Warner Bros Buildings, Self-Portrait - Burbank  2012

Mike stopped for a quick stroll along . . . Olive Avenue (?) in Burbank on his way back to the airport. Will have to go back there for a more thorough investigation.

Amtrak

Amtrak - Los Angeles  2012

From a close vantage point in the Glendale Costco parking lot. Neat!

Remeber

Remeber - Los Angeles  2012

Mystical admonition seen on Fairfax Avenue.

Evening Windows (Los Angeles)

Evening Windows - Los Angeles  2012

Taken with an Olympus E-PL1 with a Panasonic lens (20mm, 40mm equiv).

When a painter stands in front of a blank canvas, the issue is, what to put in.

When a photographer stands in front of a scene, the issue is, what to leave out.

The camera, by default, puts everything in. Even the most dedicated photorealist painter can't put everything in.

In the olden times, photographers had to "leave stuff out" by varying the field of view, changing the lens, moving the camera around or cropping after the fact.

With Photoshop, photographers have more freedom in  leaving stuff out. Each new iteration of Photoshop provides more sophisticated tools to accomplish this. Below, the original version of the above photo.

Evening Windows (Original) - Los Angeles  2012

Santa Monica & Robertson

Pillows - Los Angeles  2012

Man, Fence - Los Angeles  2012

Sightems near the art gallery area near Santa Monica & Robertson as Mike and Joe ventured forth to encounter the avant-garde. An overcast day helped nicely with the minimalist mood.

Most interesting: a fellow who appropriates images taken from Google Earth, prints them up, frames them, and then sells them for thousands of dollars. He's asking thousands of dollars, anyway.

Clearly he must spend a lot of time on Google Earth. Don't know if was this fellow or not.

Monday Cat Blogging

Stable Cat - Marin County  2012

One of the stable cats. Don't know his name, but I've posted pix before.

Melrose Avenue #39: Teach Us Too & Bringing Back the 80's

Teach Us Too - Los Angeles  2012

Bringing Back The 80's - Los Angeles  2012

Street art found near the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Ogden Drive.

Crossfit, AM & PM

Crossfit AM - Los Angeles  2012

Crossfit PM - Los Angeles  2012

These folks were going at it in the morning, as Mike returned from Starbucks; and in the evening, as Mike returned from a Umami Burger takeout dinner at Pat & Joe's.

Mannequins / Lana Del Rey

Mannequin, Self-Portrait -  Burbank  2012

Mannequins, Lana Del Rey - Los Angeles  2012

Top: Mannequin in store window near Porto's Bakery in Burbank. Mike had just picked up a tasty Cuban sandwich to eat in the airport.

Bottom: Mannequins, and . . . Lana Del Rey! Wow! Melrose Avenue.

Flying Into Burbank

Mountains (Burbank Approach) - Ventura County  2012

Mountains, Farmland - Ventura County  2012

Going from Oakland International to "Bob Hope." In this case, the airplane took us over some extremely rugged terrain, possibly the Sierra Madre Range. It's interesting that there's this uninhabited wilderness so close to Los Angeles. Ventura County as the photo location is strictly a guess.

Yosemite (October) - 6, El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks

El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks - Yosemite  2012

Taken from an easy-to-miss pull off, just before exiting the valley.

Last October, very muted.

Once again, I severely underexposed the image in order to retain detail in the clouds, but at the expense of creating noise in the shadow areas. Noticible in the lower left.

Yosemite (October) - 5, Half Dome

Half Dome, Meadow - Yosemite  2012

Half Dome, Clouds - Yosemite  2012

Clouds swirling around the face of Half Dome. You just have to take a photo.

Monday Deer Blogging

Deer - Yosemite  2012

Deer Family - Yosemite  2012

Photos of a small family group of deer as we strolled along a pathway near our room at Yosemite Lodge. They were on their right coming towards us, and we stayed on the right as we passed them. As I turned to take a going-away photo one of the younger ones gave out a plaintive bleat. Not sure what that was all about.

Note on Yosemite Lodge: Not recommended. (Infrastructure sorely lacking, yet overpriced.) Better, perhaps, to try staying at Buck Meadows or El Portal.

Yet it must be said that the ribeye steak at the Yosemite Lodge restaurant was excellent!

Yosemite (October) - 4, Viewpoint

Yosemite Valley - Yosemite  2012

Tour Group - Yosemite  2012

Very scenic. Lots of people, too.

In order not to overexpose the sky area, Mike went ahead and underexposed the whole scene, thus rendering the forest area way too dark. So that's a problem, fixed somewhat in Photoshop.

Mt Diablo

Mt. Diablo - Alameda County  2012

. . . from the air, with Oakland below. That's Lake Merritt, I guess.

Flying down to L.A.

Yosemite (October) - 3, Sequoias

Sequoia, Forest - Yosemite  2012

Hali, Sequoia - Yosemite  2012

We hiked from Highway 120 down an old dirt road to visit the Merced Grove of sequoia trees. Interesting how they don't form dense stands like redwoods, but are isolated here and there throughout the forest.

Yosemite (October) - 2, Pines

Pine Trees - Yosemite  2012

Pine Trees - Yosemite  2012

Pine trees, two different locations, both in shade.

Yosemite (October) - 1, Dogwoods

Dogwood & Pines - Yosemite  2012

Dogwood & Oak - Yosemite  2012

Hali and I visited Yosemite last October. Very nice dogwood color going on!

Downtown SF

Mint & Chronicle Building - San Francisco  2012

Self-Portrait - San Francisco  2012

Top: taken from the 5th & Mission parking garage in December, rain due the next day.

Bottom: standing underneath an escalator at the 5th & Market shopping center. Reminds me a little of the self-portrait seen here.

Monday Horse Blogging

Tuffy & Girl - Marin County  2012

Tuffy, of course. The young girl was concentrating on not stepping in the mud.

Below, the original version, pre-Photoshop.

Tuffy & Girl - Marin County  2012

Roy's Redwoods Hike

Alders - Marin County  2012

Coyote Brush - Marin County  2012

Hali & I went on the Roy's Redwoods hike last November. Interesting that the route doesn't really go through the redwoods, instead looping around past alders and coyote brush, foliage steaming as the sun hit it.

Union Square, Evening

Union Square - San Francisco  2012

Statue - San Francisco  2012

Ice skating in Union Square, statue for sale in art gallery on Geary. Don't know the asking price.

Mojave Sightems

Broken Promises - Mojave  2012

God Opposses - Mojave  2012

Once Mike reached Barstow he retraced his route for one last overnight stay in Mojave.

He saw a number of these enigmatic signs near the motel.

Highway 40 West

One Way - Arizona  2012

Continental Divide - New Mexico  2012

Follows, somewhat, in the footsteps of the legendary route 66.

Photos taken from the car, using a Canon G12, admirably suited for just that purpose.

Creature, Highway 40 - Arizona  2012