Monday Seal Blogging

Seals - Monterey County  2013

Seals - Monterey County  2013

Another Monday seal post, this time featuring harbor seals in a protected area near the Monterey Aquarium.

As a side note: I spent quite a bit of time trying to find sea otters to photograph, but somehow never managed the task.

Blog Note

For some reason I'm unable to update the "Banner Photo" text block. I can change the photo, but not the description. So I had to delete the text block. Tried putting in a new one, but it still doesn't work.

So, no text in the right-hand column that says Banner Photo: Buildings—Bodie, 2013.

Hmm.

Pacific Grove Afternoon

Cypress & Buildings - Monterey County  2013

Buildings in Overcast - Monterey County  2013

. . . fog coming in overhead, obscuring the sun.

Tessuti Zoo

Store Interior - Monterey County  2013

That's the name of this very eclectic store in Pacific Grove.

Minimal web site.

Yelp reviews.

Weston Beach

Wave - Point Lobos  2013

Weston Beach - Point Lobos  2013

I've been here when the surf was really acting up, but not today. Placid waves washing up onto the scenery.

Also: some shots from 2011.

Cypresses, Point Lobos

Cypresses - Point Lobos  2013

Cypress - Point Lobos  2013

Hali and Mike spent some time exploring the cypress loop in Point Lobos State Park, then wandered on down towards the surf area.

Monterey Flowers

 

Bougainvillia - Monterey County  2013

Orange Flowers - Monterey County  2013

Top: Bougainvillea on trellis, perspective correction done in Photoshop.

Bottom: Orange flowers near the aquarium. Never did find out what they were.

Monterey Evening

 

Flag, PM - Monterey  2013

China Garden - Monterey  2013

Seen as we walked to and from 1833, a really nice restaurant in Monterey.

No photo of 1833, alas. Instead, pix of a Chinese restaurant. (?)

Monday Seal Blogging

Seal on Tire - Monterey County  2013

Very large seal seen in Monterey Bay from the Fisherman's Wharf area . . . an elephant seal?

At night you could hear seals (and gulls) from our motel room.

Candy Stores

 

Frozen Banana - Monterey County  2013

Carousel Candies - Monterey County  2013

Seen on Fishermans Wharf in Monterey. Candy stores are somehow always ubiquitous in tourist areas.

Yellow Lamborghini

Lamborghini - San Francisco  2013

Lamborghini (Dolby Reflection) - San Francisco  2013

Seen in the Dolby parking lot on Brannan St., underneath the freeway overpass with its homeless encampment.

Pacific Grove

Street Corner, Pacific Grove - Monterey County  2013

Wouldn't it be nice to live in Pacific Grove? Great weather, no smog, nice little downtown, and streets with very pleasant views of Monterey Bay.

Yes, it would be nice.

Uh-Oh #2

Panasonic GX7

Nice looking new m43s camera from Panasonic! Tilting screen and tilting EVF (electronic viewfinder). Dual control wheels! 0-60 in 5 seconds!

Yow!

Monterey Light

 

General Merchandise - Monterey  2013

Bakery - Monterey  2013

The Monterey Peninsula always seems to have light of a very nice, very particular clarity.

Undoubtedly due to the ocean breezes I expect.

Elevator Door

Elevator Door Shut - Monterey  2013

Elevator Door Open - Monterey  2013

Top: elevator door shut. (Reminiscent of "Red.")

Bottom: elevator door open.

At the Best Western in Monterey. Yes, every afternoon at 5:00 PM we could hear "To the Color" in the distance.

Monday Avocet Blogging

Avocet - Monterey County  2013

Avocet - Monterey County  2013

At the Monterey Aquarium, in a special shorebirds exhibit. All the birds are rescue birds and are remarkably unconcerned by the noise and clamor of the visitors. They're almost close enough to touch.

Earlier avocet post: in December, 2009.

Also: finally have got a new hard drive installed, loaded Windows 7 onto it and connected to the internet. Whoa!

Grillin'

Grillin' BBQ - San Rafael  2013

Seen while wandering through the local Toys R Us. Alas, it's a toy gas grill, not charcoal. One wonders if the "realistic play food" has authentic grill marks.

Bentley

 

Bentley - Alameda County  2013

Bentley - Alameda County  2013

Seen while walking to retrieve my truck after the Farmers Market closing time.

So: walk to truck, drive back to booth site, find out that it's blocked by other trucks, then drive around until entry is possible.

Then load all the stuff into the truck, including the 70-pound canopy.

Then drive from Oakland back to Marin, navigating the hideous 80 / 580 / 24 merge.

Booth with Carpet

Booth with Carpet - Alameda County  2013

Loading Truck - Alameda County  2013

Hm. Still no internet access, so I'm using Hali's computer to post these Oakland Farmers Market pix.

Top: booth with exquisite carpet purchased at Home Depot . . . to protect the grass, of course. BTW, I sold the two framed photos in the upper right hand corner (of Yosemite and Point Lobos) . . . unfortunately a completely random event, in my experience.

Bottom: loading up truck after event. Involves not just a little bit of hassle!

Hard Drive Failure

Frozen CHKDSK Screen - Marin County  2013

Yikes! Mike's hard drive failed upon his return from Monterey  County.

So he installed a new one.

But then he had to reinstall Windows 7.

So he reinstalled Windows 7.

But then he couldn't get an internet connection.

So . . .  (issue hasn't been resolved yet.)

Pacific Grove Sightems

Golf Balls - Monterey County  2013

Baby's Head Smell - Monterey County  2013

Things seen as Hali and I wandered around the Monterey Peninsula town of Pacific Grove during a recent trip.

Uh-Oh

Olympus is getting set to announce a new high-end m43 camera, the E-M1.

Will be pricey.

But it looks really cool.

(Image from 43 Rumors)

Monday Quail Blogging

Quail on Fence - Marin County  2013

Quail Family - Marin County  2013

A family of quail was wandering around our house in late July and August. The male was quite unconcerned about being approached by the photographer.

Forbidden Fruit

Asparagus - San Rafael  2013

Tomatos - San Rafael  2013

. . . actually, vegetables, I guess. Taken surreptitiously at the Whole Foods in San Rafael, where I had earlier gotten a stern warning for trying to take photos using my Olympus C-8080.

But using an iPhone is much more discreet 'n undetectable.

San Francisco Sightems

Trash Bags - San Francisco  2013

Henry's Hunan Restaurant - San Francisco  2013

In the SOMA: south of Market area.

Mist, San Francisco A.M.

Brannon Street - San Francisco  2013

Zynga Interior A.M. - San Francisco  2013

Walking over to Starbucks in the pre-dawn darkness. Heavy fog that morning had resulted in a rain-like mist with puddles and reflections.

Owens Valley 1973

White Mountains - Owens Valley  1973

Mt. Whitney from Alabama Hills - Owens Valley  1973

Driving to, or coming back from Death Valley usually involved driving through Owens Valley. Which was always a treat due to the spectacular views of the Sierra crest to the west and the White Mountains to the east.

Other shots of Owens Valley:

March, 2008

November, 2009

June, 2010

Sand Dunes, 1973 #2

Sand Dunes - Death Valley  1973

Sand Dunes (vertical) - Death Valley  1973

Two more 1974 sand dune photos from Death Valley. Quite good, I think! Unfortunately, I've never been able to sell desert photographs . . . not at my particular venues at least.

One of Adams' iconic photos was taken here in 1948.

Looking at Ansel Adams, by Andrea Stillman

Sand Dunes, 1973 #1

Dead Plant, Sand Dunes - Death Valley  1973

For a long time this was my favorite Death Valley photograph. Most likely taken in the early morning: we had long known that that was the best time to avoid footprints left from the day before.

To be honest, looking at it now, it still is one of my favorite Death Valley photographs, film or digital.

Monday Cow Blogging

Cows - Point Reyes  2013

Taken from the truck near the J Ranch . . . very little traffic: I was able to stop in the middle of the road.