Tulips

Tulips - Sausalito  2014

. . . for New Year's Eve.

Taken in Jane's studio in Sausalito.

Sausalito Sightems

Number One - Sausalito  2014

Southern Marin Fire - Sausalito  2014

Taken during the overcast weather we've been having this Fall.

Both photos taken with Olympus m43 lenses: top photo taken with a 12-50mm zoom at 50mm (100mm equiv.), bottom taken with a 45mm "prime" lens.

Monday Horse Blogging

Chula, Fog - Marin County  2014

Chula, Coyote Bush - Marin County  2014

Chula. Seen before. (Six years ago!)

Top photo taken using an Olympus 45mm lens. Bottom using a Panasonic Lumix 20mm lens.

Richmond Bridge

Richmond Bridge - Marin County  2014

Dock and Bridge - Marin County  2014

Raining. Photos taken using an Olympus E-PL5 and a 12-50mm Olympus zoom lens.

Top photo at 50mm (35mm equiv. 100mm.)

Bottom photo: 12mm (35mm equiv. 24mm.)

Note the difference between the two photos due to slightly different white balance selections in Adobe Camera Raw.

S.F. Giants

Giants Playoff - San Rafael  2014

San Rafael sports bar (Flatiron) tableau taken last October during the Giants playoff series.

Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic 20mm lens: 1/60th second, f 1.7, ISO 2000.

Rain

Mercedes in Rain - San Rafael  2014

Self Portrait, Rain - San Rafael  2014

Lots of rain here recently. I've been using the Panasonic 20mm prime lens with a rubber lens hood that protects it nicely from rain drops.

Decorations

Decorations (San Anselmo) - Marin County  2009

Seen in San Anselmo, 2009.

Earlier Seasonal Photos

Toyon - Marin County  2010

Nandina Leaves - Marin County  2013

Top photo taken with a Nikon D90 using a 16-85mm zoom lens in November, 2010.

Bottom photo taken with an Olympus E-M1 using a 45mm prime lens in December, 2013.

Xmas Tree / Nail Pretty

Xmas Tree, Nail Pretty - San Francisco  2014

On Sacramento Street, earlier this month.

Monday Pelican & Gull Blogging

Pelicans - Monterey County  2014

Gull - Monterey County  2014

There was a line of porpoises off in the distance as well! Alas, too far off for my lens.

Back to my motel, some waffles, then the drive home.

Monterey Bay A.M.

Monterey Bay, Storm Clouds - Monterey County  2014

Sunlight, Receding Wave - Monterey County  2014

Down by the bay early in the morning . . . remaining storm clouds high overhead with some sun to the east.

Marilyn

Marilyn (Karuizawa) - Japan  2014

Storefront in Karuizawa. I guess that there must be a market in Japan for old U.S. license plates.

Monterey Rain

Fuchsias, Rain - Monterey  2014

Self Portrait, Rain - Monterey  2014

Back at my motel, the rain really coming down. Finally . . . Monterey in the rain!

I donned my parka, rain pants and Gore-Tex boots, affixed a Panasonic 20mm lens (with a rubber lens hood for rain protection) to my Olympus E-PL5 (tucked inside the parka and pulled out as needed) and ventured out and about.

Actually, I didn't get any spectacular results. But the experience was cool.

Point Lobos Rain

Grass, Ocean, Rain - Point Lobos  2014

Forest, Rain - Point Lobos  2014

I had always wanted to visit Point Lobos when it was raining, so, here I was. Interesting. It was one of those things where the experience is neat but the photos taken don't quite reflect the experience.

Coast South of Monterey

Rocks and Ocean - Monterey County  2014

Fence and Ocean - Monterey County  2014

After reaching Bixby Bridge I elected to putter around some more, with photographs of the coast, a fence in back of which cows were grazing (cow pix didn't turn out) and a fellow photographer.

The sky to the north looked to be getting darker and eventually drops started to hit the windshield. I decided to pay a visit to Point Lobos in the rain.

Photographer - Monterey County  2014

Bixby Bridge

Bixby Bridge - Monterey County  2014

Bixby Bridge, Ocean, Clouds - Monterey County  2014

I've often driven by without stopping, but not this time. Nice-looking bridge!

Wikipedia article.

Monday Gull Blogging

Gulls - Monterey County  2014

Gulls - Monterey County  2014

Early morning at Monterey Bay. Gulls sampling some rainwater from the previous night's storm.

Point Lobos A.M.

Cypress - Point Lobos  2014

Weston Beach - Point Lobos  2014

I got up fairly early, had my motel waffle, then headed south to Point Lobos State Park. Rain was forecast for the afternoon, so the cloud cover made for nice diffuse light.

Earlier shot of the same tree, but with green grass.

Hanna's Birthday!

Hands - Marin County  2012

Photo taken December, 2012.

50 Years Ago Today #2

Barracks Cleanliness (Okinawa) - Japan  1964

Who among us can say, with any certainty, exactly what they were doing on this date 50 years ago?

Well, maybe some can. You've probably been able to guess that Mike can, anyway.

Yes, 50 years ago today (that is, Saturday, December 12, 1964) Mike had observed this notice posted on the barracks bulletin board, retrieved his camera and snapped this pix for posterity. (Click for larger view.)

Apparently the area assigned the 4th Platoon (located near Naha, Okinawa) was a real PIG STY (capitalized and underlined) with a number of troops having dirty butt plates. And below, what had particularly caught his attention, was the ominous message: "Pfc Mundy - Not prepared. (See me 14 Dec 64)."

The interesting thing is that - try as hard as he can - Mike simply can't remember what transpired during that fateful clarification session on the following Monday. But he expects that he, Mike Military, and Staff Sergeant Clark came to an agreeable meeting of the minds and that all was well thereafter.

(Of note: the larger organization of which the 4th Platoon was a tiny fragment was the US Army, Ryukyu Islands, otherwise known as USARYIS, sometimes pronounced "You Sorry Ass.")

Also, please recall Mike's Fort Ord 50-year post.

[Update: Sorry for the photo quality. We're talking about a 50 year old negative here.]

Monterey Afternoon

Bougainvillea - Monterey  2014

Passageway - Monterey  2014

After checking in I got out the Olympus E-PL5 along with the 12-50mm lens and went for my usual little walk through Monterey . . . the area in the vicinity of the motel, anyway. Didn't make it down to the Monterey Fishermans Wharf.

The bottom photo was shot using the 12mm (wide) focal length resulting in pretty severe chromatic aberration and purple fringing in the upper tree branches. I was able to fix it using Adobe Camera Raw, however.

Highway 101 North

Red Car, Highway 101 - Santa Barbara County  2014

The drive from Hollywood to Monterey takes slightly over 5 hours, or so says Google.

Of course, I take much longer. Photo stop at the mission, lunch, and . . . I'm not really driving that fast. By the time I pull into the motel (on Munras) I've pretty much had it for the day.

Santa Barbara Mission - 4

Agaves - Santa Barbara  2014

Courtyard Plants - Santa Barbara  2014

Last Santa Barbara Mission post this year.

Also, please check out this earlier Santa Barbara shot taken in the rain which I rather like.

Monday Monkey Blogging

Monkey on Roof (Arashiyama) - Japan  2014

Another photo taken at the Arashiyama monkey park near Kyoto.

Santa Barbara Mission - 3

Roses - Santa Barbara  2014

Plants on Steps - Santa Barbara  2014

Of course, the mission courtyard in October didn't have that many colorful plants. Some roses, though.

You Know The Truth / After You Die

You Know The Truth - San Rafael  2014

After You Die - Los Angeles  2014

Verrrry interesting assertions. Earlier one here.

Santa Barbara Mission - 2

Santa Barbara Mission - Santa Barbara  2014

Front view of the mission, converted to black and white and perspective corrected in Photoshop. Don't know if I like it . . . original image below:

Santa Barbara Mission - Santa Barbara  2014

Santa Barbara Mission - 1

Santa Barbara Mission, Fountain - Santa Barbara  2014

So, instead of traveling through the Mojave Desert, I was headed up highway 101. As usual, I took the opportunity to stop off at the famous Santa Barbara Mission.

For interesting comparative purposes, here's a link to some earlier Santa Barbara photos.

Hollywood Freeway On-Ramp

Hollywood Freeway On-Ramp - Los Angeles  2014

My plans had changed. I had originally thought to drive to L.A., visit, then drive up towards Owens Valley and camp out. Then, head through Yosemite over Tioga Pass and camp in Yosemite Valley. I was even able to get some valley reservations!

Alas, the weather intervened, with some serious rainy weather predicted for Northern California, which would translate to snow in the mountains. I changed my plans, cancelling my camping reservation and routing myself instead through Monterey - my usual route anyway. (It did end up snowing in the mountains, closing Tioga Pass.)

This photo shows my usual route out of Los Angeles, driving past Hollywood Bowl onto the Hollywood Freeway / Highway 101 north.

L.A. City Hall

City Hall - Los Angeles  2014

Taken from Joe's Scion. One of my favorite movie scenes is City Hall getting blasted by aliens in War of the Worlds.

Monday Duck Blogging

Duck (San Francisco Zoo) - San Francisco  2014

Well . . . an exotic duck, photo taken at the San Francisco Zoo. I can't remember the name, although I do recall that the duck was described as "fast moving." I did a Google search for "fast moving duck," but what came up didn't quite fit.