Afternoon (Coast Camp)

Coyote Bush, Hills - Point Reyes  2021

Grass - Point Reyes  2021

Walking around the campground as the sun was moving to the west.

Monday Song Sparrow Blogging

 

Song Sparrow - Point Reyes  2021

Perched on a coyote bush next to my tent.

Evening Eucalyptus

 

Eucalyptus, Evening Clouds, Ocean - Point Reyes  2021

Eucalyptus - Point Reyes  2021

The famous eucalyptus tree at Coast Camp. It's always nice to camp overnight here and be able to view the evening light.

Fritos & Beer

 

Fritos & Beer, Olympus Camera - Point Reyes  2021

Tent, Morning Cloud - Point Reyes  2021

Everybody wants campsite number one (good view of the ocean), but I prefer campsite number two (more secluded, but still has easy access to the ocean). 

Thank goodness I got to use my pricey Big Agnes tent at least once during these past two years.

Finally, a Fritos & Beer photo op! It's been way too long. Yes, there's been quite a few of those posts over the years.

Tent, Table, Ocean - Point Reyes  2021

Trail to Coast Camp

 

Vetch - Point Reyes  2021

Alders - Point Reyes  2021

Scenes from the hike to Coast Camp. (You can view a video of my 2017 hike.) 

Thanksgiving

 

Turkey (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Taken last May up towards the end of our street. I used a Canon G5XII.

Waves

 

Waves from Above - Point Reyes  2021

Waves, Cliffs - Point Reyes  2021

Top photo taken from an unofficial pull off on the road to Pierce Ranch. Bottom ones taken from McClures Beach. The waves were pretty spectacular!

Waves, Two Poles - Point Reyes  2021

Pierce Ranch - 2

 

Sun Through Cracks - Point Reyes  2021

White Buildings - Point Reyes  2021

Two more taken with the Olympus.

Monday Pelican Blogging

 

Pelicans - Point Reyes  2021

Taken during a camping trip in Point Reyes. The birds weren't that far from the beach, so I could zoom in for some action. I used an Olympus E-M1II with a 14-150mm zoom lens.

Pierce Ranch - 1

 

Ranch Building, Bathtub - Point Reyes  2021

Ranch Building, Open Entry - Point Reyes  2021

Some September, 2021 photos. I had a reservation for a campsite at Coast Camp, made long in advance, and drove out to these ranch buildings before going to the trailhead.

Rain - 2

 

Blackberries, Buckeye, Rain - Marin County  2021

Buckeye, Rain - Marin County  2021

Most of the rain photos were taken with an Olympus E-M1II and a 25mm lens, with a rubber lens hood.

Rain - 1

 

Coyote Bush, Fence, Rain - Marin County  2021

Fire Road, Rain - Marin County  2021

There was a big "atmospheric river" event last month . . . unusual for that amount of rain to fall so early in the season. All major fires have been fully contained now. 

Prospects for winter rain don't look that good though. We'll see.

The rain was so heavy that it caused some major erosion on the upper fire road:

Fire Road Erosion - Marin County  2021

Madrone

 

Madrone - Marin County  2021

Madrone - Marin County  2021

Fall berries. Apparently they're edible. Below, another photo taken in the same place, but this time it was very foggy.

Madrone, Fog - Marin County  2021

7-11 / The Mat

 

7-11 (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

The Mat (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Two more morning photos. Taken before the recent time change, so it was very dark.

Plymouth

 

Plymouth (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Plymouth (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

As seen on a recent early morning walk. 

I used to drive my father's used 1953 Plymouth to L.A. State College from my home in Hollywood. My route: Melrose Avenue to the Hollywood Freeway on-ramp, thence through the "Stack" to the San Bernardino Freeway and then the school. All this through eyeball-searing, throat-choking smog.

1953 Plymouth

Monday Cat Blogging

 

Cloudy - Berkeley  2021

Cloudy has been seen before on the blog. In 2017 and 2019.

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge (New Section) - San Francisco  2021

 

Bay Bridge (Old Section) - San Francisco  2021

I had thought to bypass construction on San Francisco's 19th Avenue by instead taking the Bay Bridge over to the East Bay . . . 

Alas, there had been an accident on the bridge (not uncommon, I think) so traffic was really quite slow.

Driving over the new section of the bridge is like driving through an immense art installation. Too bad you have to pay attention to the traffic.

Below, the new section under construction in 2012, photo taken from the Larkspur Ferry.

Bay Bridge (New Section) - San Francisco  2012

Monterey Bay AM

 

Bay - Monterey County  2021

Early morning drive over to the bay for another in the series of photos taken here. Note pelicans in the distance . . . one wonders if they'd be recognizable in a print.

Then over to Plumes for coffee and a muffin. Then the drive home.

Monterey Plaza Sightems

 

Wooden Door - Monterey County  2021

Pot, Bench, Window - Monterey County  2021

Top photo variations taken in 2019 and in 2018.

Pepper Tree

 

Pepper Tree - Monterey County  2018

I took the above photo of a pepper tree a few years ago using an Olympus camera. I thought it would be interesting to return and see what I could do with a larger Nikon. But just in the few years between visits they had decided to prop the tree up with a large piece of wood!

Pepper Tree - Monterey County  2021

I've tried removing the prop using Photoshop's Content Aware feature, with decidedly mixed results:

Pepper Tree - Monterey County  2021

Pacific Grove Cemetery

Cemetery (Pacific Grove) - Monterey County  2021

I had to resort to Google Maps to find this place. No fog this time, as there was when I took the photo below in 1987.

Cemetery (Pacific Grove) - Monterey County  1987

Carmel

 

Art Gallery (Carmel) - Monterey County  2021

Photorealist Painting (Carmel) - Monterey County  2021

I wandered around Carmel (actually, Carmel-By-The-Sea) for a short time, too early for the galleries to be open. 

I'm always interested in photorealist paintings, as in the above depiction of a grocery store's flower display (as seen through a bunch of reflections). Paintings of mundane scenes seem to be more accepted than would photos of the same scenes.

Monday Night Heron Blogging

Night Heron (Monterey) - Monterey County  2021

I was going to go to the end of the walkway, but this individual persuaded me to stop right where I was. I took some photos with an Olympus 75-300 lens, but for some reason I had set the shutter speed way too high. Those photos didn't work out - too much noise.

This photos was taken with a Nikon Z5 and a 24-200 lens. Had to be cropped a bunch, but overall much nicer.

Carmel Mission - 4

 

Carmel Mission Courtyard - Monterey County  2021

Agave - Monterey County  2021

I've been inside the Santa Barbara Mission courtyard, but not the one in Carmel. I was able to get a peek from outside this time though. I saw the agave in front of a private residence in the vicinity.

Carmel Mission - 3

Window - Monterey County  2021

Palm, Tile Roof - Monterey County  2021

Peeking over the mission wall, trying to take some photos without construction equipment in them.