Monday Flamingo Blogging

Flamingo (San Francisco Zoo) - San Francisco  2015

Taken at the San Francisco Zoo.

Leaves, Sky (P.M.)

Leaves, Sky (P.M.) - Marin County  2015

I used the Olympus 25mm lens for this photograph. Severe purple fringing! . . . taken care of in Photoshop.

L-Taraval

L-Taraval - San Francisco  2015

You can catch the L-Taraval in downtown San Francisco, ride it to the end, get off and walk to the zoo.

Pumpkin in Japan

Pumpkin (Kyoto) - Japan  2008

In front of Negiya, a high-end restaurant in Kyoto.

Trip Advisor has reviews.

And, it was the subject of the very first Japan Culinary Adventure!

I took this photo with a Canon G9 . . . makes a nice-looking print.

Pumpkins in the Redwoods

Pumpkins - Marin County  2015

In the San Geronimo Valley. Just like last year!

Fatburger

Fatburger - Los Angeles  1998

Gloomy day in Los Angeles. Fatburger never took off like (the vastly overrated) In-'N-Out.

And of course, neither should be mentioned in the same breath as the incomparable Bartel's.

Klamath Trading Post

Smoked Salmon - Del Norte County  1997

Another in the continuing series of 1990's photos. Some look better when converted to B&W, but some don't. Most likely taken with a Minolta SLR.

Monday Raccoon Blogging

Five Raccoons (Lake Merced) - San Francisco  2015

Wow. I was really taken aback at the sight of a group of raccoons walking across the road near Lake Merced in broad daylight. [Update: Or should I say, a gaze of raccoons?]

Yikes!

Lots of raccoons in San Francisco, certainly.

Two Raccoons (Lake Merced) - San Francisco  2015

Runner, Scooter

Runner (Brannan St.) - San Francisco  2015

Scooter (Brannan St.) - San Francisco  2015

Both photos taken with the Olympus EM-10/25mm combo discussed yesterday.

Olympus EM-10 & Olympus 25mm Lens

Olympus EM-10, 25mm Lens - Marin County  2015

I've been employing this combo more and more recently. I guess that it reminds me of the days when I was using my Nikon F and a 50mm lens.

What's interesting is that, although the camera is very small and light, it's still very large when compared to the most common camera in use today - the iPhone. I've heard references to my "humongous" camera.

. . . from the archives #89: Foxtail Pine, Snow - Sierra Nevada, 1974

Foxtail Pine, Snow - Sierra Nevada  1974

That year I had been taking the Sierra Club’s mountaineering course and one of their talking points was that backpacking in the snow was great fun as long as you were adequately prepared.

So in order to practice our skills we took a group trip up to the Eastern Sierra, camped overnight at Onion Valley and then headed up towards Kearsarge Pass. I remember one incident in which one of my boots sunk a little bit more than I had expected into the snow and, as if in slow motion, I inexorably twisted and fell—backwards, my backpack squished in the snow as I struggled, turtle-like, to get back up.

At one point the snow started coming down pretty heavily. We set up camp well short of the pass, amidst foxtail pines. I shared a tent with Pat Brown—her husband, Rick, was unable to make it that weekend. I assume that that’s her in the photo below. Photos were taken using a Nikon F with a 50mm lens.

Tent, Snow - Sierra Nevada  1974

Limantour Beach

Breaking Wave - Point Reyes  2015

Shadow, Beach, Moon - Point Reyes  2015

As usual, no one else was there. Waves were very powerful.

Dune Grass

Dune Grass - Point Reyes  2015

Taken with a wide-angle lens.

Trees, Fog

Trees, Fog - Point Reyes  2015

Pulled the car over, got out and walked around on the side of the road going to Limantour Beach.

Monday Gull Blogging

Gull, Breaking Wave - Point Reyes  2015

Taken during a recent short visit to Limantour Beach at Point Reyes.

Houses

Houses - San Francisco  2015

In San Francisco. Look at all those million dollar properties!

Carlos III

Carlos III, Gull (Lake Merced) - San Francisco  2015

Statue near Lake Merced.

According to the plaque, he "directed Colonel Don Juan Bautista de Anza to establish a presidio, a mission and a city in San Francisco in the year 1776."

Cannot get Google to confirm this nice story.

Stickers

Truck (Lake Merced) - San Francisco  2015

He said that as he drives down the freeway people give him a "thumbs up."

Right.

San Francisco Sightems

Glaze Donut - San Francisco  2015

Java Beach - San Francisco  2015

Driving around the city October 23rd.

Ocean Beach

Fisherman (Ocean Beach) - San Francisco  2015

. . . near the San Francisco Zoo. Like I said, overcast, as usual. A little Andrew Wyeth-ey.

Fisherman (Ocean Beach) - San Francisco  2015

Sports Photography

Soccer Field - San Francisco  2015

Softball - San Francisco  2015

Mike now and then likes dabbling in Sports Photography.

For example, this 2012 shot.

Monday Crow Blogging

Crows - Marin County  2015

Oaks, redwoods and crows in the mist.

Road, Clouds, Brawley Peaks

Road, Clouds, Brawley Peaks - Sierra Nevada  2015

Last August, taken from the Green Creek road looking east (i.e., away from the Sierra crest). I spent some time trying to identify the mountains in the distance; the best I could come up with is "Brawley Peaks." Maybe.

Might make a nice print, but it would have to be printed big.

Yellow Pole

Yellow Pole - San Rafael  2015

I took this using an Olympus E-PL5 and a 25mm lens. I really could have used an eye-level viewfinder, 'cause the LCD monitor was (almost) completely washed-out by the sun.

Alas, my eye-level viewfinder was lost last spring in Yosemite. Those things are expensive!

San Francisco Sightems

Plastic Banners - San Francisco  2015

H - San Francisco  2015

Taken earlier this month. The "H" is adjacent to the "P" seen earlier. Of course.

Guelder Rose

Guelder Rose (artist unknown)

GUELDER ROSE

Los Angeles went by quickly

Only odd parts of it stick in my mind

Quiltcover parking lots

and the Guelder roses on the north side

which Proust describes as

White as annunciating angels

and breathing a fragrance of lemons

What remains is partial but real

stubborn as those Dutch still lives

It has a berry

used only in Siberia for making wine

Should your extremities grow numb

this is the flower for you

I thought of this often

in those real streets

with the too real traffic 

***

I've had this -  a very nice letterpress illustration accompanied by the above poem - for a long time but have never been able to find out the name of the author/artist. Alas, in this instance, Google has not been my friend. Below, a photo of the original piece:

Guelder Rose, Art & Poem (artist unknown)

Motel

Motel - San Francisco  2015

Another one from the Ocean Beach trip. Car has North Dakota plates.

Picket Fence

Picket Fence - San Francisco  2015

Walking around the Ocean Beach area near the SF Zoo. Overcast, of course.

Monday Pelican Blogging

Pelicans - Marin County  2015

White pelicans. San Rafael-Richmond Bridge in the background.

. . . from the archives #88 : Yuccas, Rocks - Joshua Tree National Park, 1999

Yuccas, Rocks - Joshua Tree National Park 1999

Taken with my Toyo view camera (see below). Another in a series of 1990's photos.

I remember taking a rock climbing class with the Sierra Club here in the 1970s when it was still a National Monument.

Tie that bowline! On belay! For some reason I never experienced that adrenaline-fueled rush upon attaining the summit, so I didn't persevere in any rock climbing activities.

View Camera - Joshua Tree National Park  1999