Saturday, February 28, 2015

Chinatown - 3

Building "1920" - San Francisco  2015

Brooklyn End - San Francisco  2015

OK, so I had brought along a 45 mm "prime" lens to shoot with, but somehow I never got around to taking off the 14-150 mm "superzoom" lens that I had been using on the ferry. Just very versatile and flexible. Both lenses are by Olympus.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Chinatown - 2

Clothes Drying - San Francisco  2015

Discount Fabric - San Francisco  2015

Whenever I'm in Chinatown I always try and get at least one clothes-hanging photo.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Chinatown - 1

Bread of Life - San Francisco  2015

Chinatown Restaurant - San Francisco  2015

San Francisco's Chinatown is a very short distance from the Financial District.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Post Office

Post Office - San Francisco  2015

. . . in the Financial District. Think I was standing in the street for this very symmetrical photo.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Transamerica Pyramid



Transamerica Pyramid - San Francisco  2015

Transamerica Pyramid, Shadow - San Francisco  2015

I found a nice place for an unobstructed view of the Transamerica Pyramid. (Cropped to a square after perspective correction in Photoshop.) Afterwards I walked around the base of the structure taking a photo of its shadow against light fog; and then I turned around to notice a pyramid reflection in the opposite building's windows.

Transamerica Pyramid Reflection - San Francisco  2015

Monday, February 23, 2015

Monday Horse Blogging

Tuffy - Marin County  2014

Tuffy, Waiting Patiently for His Feed - Marin County  2014

Tuffy pix.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Tulips

Tulips, Backlit - Marin County  2015

Tulips, Drooping - Marin County  2015

From Safeway and Trader Joe's.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Cold San Francisco Winter

Cocktails - San Francisco  2015

. . . ha. "Cold San Francisco Winter" never happened.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Yellow Streetcar


Yellow Streetcar - San Francisco  2015

I left the Ferry Building and decided to cut through the Financial District over to Chinatown. I was meeting Marilyn for lunch near Powell and Market and I had enough time for a nice little hike.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Bay Bridge, Sun

Bay Bridge, Sun - San Francisco  2015

A shot from the ferry of the Bay Bridge with the fog starting to burn off.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Larkspur Ferry Terminal

Ferry Terminal, Overcast - Marin County  2015

Ferry Terminal, Fog - Marin County  2015

As seen recently, in overcast and fog. The last time I took the ferry it was very foggy in Marin, but starting to clear up in San Francisco.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Spring, Marin County 2015

Mt. Tamalpais, Reflections - Marin County  2015

Buckeye Leaves - Marin County  2015

Temperatures are in the 70s. Buckeyes are leafing out. Yes, Spring is here thanks to Mr. Climate Change!

(Yes, yes, I know. Climate is not weather.)

Wonder if folks in the East could send us some snow via UPS.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Monday Egret Blogging

Egret, Storm Clouds - Monterey County  2014

Monterey Bay. Actually, I didn't realize that there was an egret there until I opened the photo up in Adobe Camera Raw.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

"You've Only Got Five Minutes Left!"

Ferries, Sunrise - Marin County  2015

As I was jogging with my camera to this vantage point, a woman shouted "You've only got five minutes left!" She was right!

Yes, just a little bit over the top. A wee tad.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Lovetacular . . .

Lovetacular (Target) - San Rafael  2015

. . . if you know what I mean, and I think that you do know what I mean.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Roy's Redwoods Hike #2

Fern - Marin County  2015

Fungus - Marin County  2015

Forest details seen along the trail.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Roy's Redwoods Hike #1

Tree, A.M. - Marin County  2015

Hali and I hiked the Roy's Redwoods Loop trail recently. Not really that cold, but cold enough that Mike's index fingers went "vascular" on him.

Huh, before writing this post I hadn't heard about "Cold Hands Syndrome." That's what I have!

I'm heading for Chicago.

**

Above shot taken at ISO 3200, Olympus 45mm lens, Olympus E-PL5 camera. Not bad!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Working on the Railroad

RR Track Sections - San Rafael  2015

CAT - San Rafael  2015

Taken in San Rafael. Construction continues on the SMART train.

It was interesting to see that each section of track had its own label.

Track Label - San Rafael  2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Svea Stove

Svea Stove - Marin County  2014

"Every time I look at the stout bamboo I used on my 1958 walk up California . . . [it] still generates echoes of warm affection (or soggy sentimentality)."

--Colin Fletcher, The Complete Walker

This Svea backpacking stove has been sitting in an out-of-the-way shelf in the darkroom for, how long? It's really hard to say . . . I can't begin to remember the last time it was used, certainly some time in the last century. I don't know what brought it to my attention, but I got it down the other day.

The tank, once the "filler cap" was taken off, still smelled of gasoline! In fact, there was enough fuel to prompt me to try and light it (in the back yard by the barbeque). It worked! (I tried to take a photo but the flame didn't show up against the background.)

You could use it for actual cooking, not just boiling water like I currently do with my MSR PocketRocket. I guess I'll keep it. It might come in handy some day! Or maybe it's just, yes, soggy sentimentality.

(And, you can still buy one.)

Monday, February 9, 2015

Monday Turkey & Cow Blogging

Turkeys, Cows, Fog - Marin County  2014

A "rafter" of turkeys, they say. Hm.

In the fog.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Rain

Raindrops - Marin County  2015

Some rain this weekend! Not as much as they were saying, however. Very windy.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Softball

Softball Warmups - San Francisco  2015

Softball Meeting, Jogging in Background - San Francisco  2015

Monday afternoon in San Francisco: softball at the park.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Oakland Sightems

Kaiser (Oakland) - Alameda County  2015

Mortuary (Oakland) - Alameda County  2015

Top: Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland . . . new building. An iPhone photo.

Bottom: Albert Brown Mortuary (Olympus E-PL5):

Albert Brown Mortuary has two chapels available to fit your needs. The Main Chapel, with a capacity of 200, is the ideal setting for larger celebrations of life and includes state-of-the-art audio and video capabilities. A professional sound system and four flat-screen monitors allows families to share their loved ones life memories with a customized Life Tribute Video Memorial.

The more modest yet equally impressive Nick Nicolli Memorial Chapel is appropriate for more intimate remembrance events and seats 75. This chapel also includes a professional sound system and nine-foot projection system for sharing Life Tribute Video Memorials.

Wow.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

More Smog

Smog - Point Reyes  2015

Smog - Marin County  2015

OK, not real smog. Not the kind of throat-choking, gut-ripping smog I remember from my early days in Los Angeles. More like stagnant air, I guess.

Extremely aggravating, nonetheless. It's not enough that there hasn't been any rain this winter, oh no. We also have to get "Spare the Air" days and the worst visibility I've ever seen in Marin County.

Also of note, from the San Francisco Chronicle: 


Not one drop of measurable rain fell on city streets in January, the first time that’s happened in recorded weather history, which dates back to the Gold Rush.

[Update: Rain predicted for this weekend!]

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Hike Photos

Oak - Marin County  2015

Trail - Marin County  2015

More photos taken on the Barbara Beck Loop Trail in the Marin County Water District.

Also: a pileated woodpecker!! Wow!! Took this photo in extremely dim conditions, so I had to employ the Photoshop anti-shake filter with somewhat dubious results. Still.

Woodpecker - Marin County  2015

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

New Year's Hike

Trees, Sidelit - Marin County  2015

One of my first 2015 photos, from the Barbara Beck Loop Trail in the Marin County water district.

Here's a link to a post for the 2014 hike.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Monday Pigeon and Gull Blogging

Little Girl, Pigeons (Kyoto) - Japan  1966
Little Girl, Seagull - San Francisco  2015

Little Girl, Seagull - San Francisco  2015

. . . and little girls chasing them.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Boats, Reflections Okinawa 1966

Boat, Reflections (Okinawa) - Japan  1966

Boats, Reflections (Okinawa) - Japan  1966

Down by the harbor.

I recall one episode when the local longshoremen went on strike and members of the U.S. Army were ordered in to help unload the ships. I walked onto one of the boats, tiptoed over to a hold and peered down. Yikes! It was like looking into a bottomless black pit.

Needless to say I put my hands into my pockets, sauntered away then quickly hid. It worked!