Buckeyes

 

Buckeye Leaves, Fog - Marin County  2022

Buckeye - Marin County  2022

Buckeye leaves usually turn brown early in the season, as we see here.

Trees, Wide Angle Lens

 

Tree - Marin County  2022

Oak Branches, Grass - Marin County  2022

Morning walk with an Olympus E-M1II and a 9-18mm zoom lens.

Monday Cat Blogging

 

Sadie - Los Angeles  2022

Sadie starts out being a little wary of strangers clomping around the house, but she gradually starts to loosen up. 

Especially around dinnertime.

L. A. Moon

 

Moon, Palm Tree (Ogden Drive) - Los Angeles  2022

Ethereal L.A. sunset: clouds, palm tree, and, of course, the moon. Photo taken with a Canon G5XII.

Interestingly enough, I've taken a photo of the same palm tree before, also with the moon! Wow.

Melrose Avenue Trompe-l'œil: Melrose Avenue #72

 

Puzzle Mural (Melrose Avenue) - Los Angeles  2022

Paul Smith Building (Melrose Avenue) - Los Angeles  2022

"Trompe-l'œil" is pronounced "Trump Loy." Means "fool the eye." Very clever!

Embrace Your Genius (#2): Melrose Avenue #71

 

Embrace Your Genius (Melrose Avenue) - Los Angeles  2022

First photographed by me in 2019.

Grapevine Sightems

Pet Area (Rest Stop) - Kern County  2022

Poles, Mountains - Kern County  2022

Top photo taken in a rest area just off highway five coming over the Grapevine.

Bottom photo taken from a Starbucks parking lot near the town of Grapevine.

"The village and grade are named for the canyon the trail passed through, after the wild grapes that grow along the original road. Its Spanish name is La Cañada de las Uvas, that is, Grapevine Ravine."

Harris Ranch Sightems

 

Bonsai - Fresno County  2022

G. Washington / ATM - Fresno County  2022

That bonsai stand has been there - across the highway from Harris Ranch - for a number of years. Guess that they must be doing OK.

Central Valley

 

Ranch Building - Stanislaus County  2022

We've made a few trips down to Los Angeles recently, once flying, two times driving. The driving trips took us down Highway Five, where it's fairly easy to become disoriented. Disoriented in the sense that although you know the direction that you're traveling (north or south) it's difficult to know exactly where you are in that featureless drive.

Monday Cat Blogging: Melrose Avenue #70

 

Cat in Cat Cafe - Los Angeles  2022

Cat Cafe ("Crumbs & Whiskers") - Los Angeles  2022

Just down the street from our hotel. We never actually made it into Crumbs & Whiskers . . . maybe next time.

Aston Martin

 

Aston Martin - Los Angeles  2022

Taken while walking down a random side street off of Fairfax Avenue just south of Third Street.

L.A. Sightems: Original Sin / Helicopter

 

Original Sin - Los Angeles  2022

Police Helicopter, Palm Tree - Los Angeles  2022

Top photo taken from inside the car.

Bottom photo of one of the ubiquitous police helicopters. They're extremely loud and somewhat unsettling. I can only assume that one tends to ignore them after a while. 

Melrose Avenue AM: Melrose Avenue #69

Melrose Avenue AM - Los Angeles  2022

 Walking across the street in front of our Melrose Avenue hotel, the marine layer overhead.

Fatburger

 

Fatburger - Los Angeles  2022

Fatburger Interior - Los Angeles  2022

There's a 2015 Fatburger blog post, but it's just an exterior shot. We had never actually had a Fatburger, until one of our recent Los Angeles visits. Finally . . . a Fatburger experience! 

Quite good, actually.

Burbank / L.A.

 

Ralphs Shadow - Los Angeles  2022

Hudson of Burbank - Burbank  2022

At the Ralphs market at Fountain and Highland. 

Walking through the airport towards the interminable walkways leading to the car rental area. Quite hot.

Walkway - Burbank  2022

Flight to L.A.

 

Passengers on Tarmac (Burbank) - Los Angeles  2022

Suburbs from Air - Los Angeles  2022

We made a quick trip down to L.A. last month for an overnight visit. I didn't have a window seat but luckily the person who did raised the window shade for some aerial views. Also: at the Burbank airport you still get to walk out onto the tarmac!

Monday Gull Blogging

 

Gull, Ocean - Point Reyes  2022

Gull - Point Reyes  2022

Might be the same bird. 

For these recent Coast Camp photos I used a Nikon Z5 with a 24-200mm zoom lens. That combo produced nice image quality, but, to be honest, it's just a little too heavy for backpacking use. 

Coast Camp / Hike Out

 

Trail, Fog - Point Reyes  2022

The fog was very thick during the night: I could hear water dripping off the tent fly into some puddles. The camp table that I was using to organize my stuff was completely wet.

Wet Table - Point Reyes  2022

I eventually got the sopping wet tent stowed away and the backpack ready to go. The hike out through the fog was pretty uneventful, except for some annoying gnats that kept landing on my glasses. Jeez.

Backpack - Point Reyes  2022

Alders

 

Alders - Point Reyes  2022

Alders - Point Reyes  2022

Alders in the dim light of creekside dense growth, alders in an open meadow near the trailhead.

Coast Camp Plants

 

Dune Grass - Point Reyes  2022

Creek Plants - Point Reyes  2022

Dune grass down at the beach, dense foliage by the nearby creek.

Eucalyptus

 

Eucalyptus - Point Reyes  2022

Eucalyptus - Point Reyes  2022

I've read that the tree was probably planted there when the area was part of a ranch.

Evening Ocean

 

Ocean - Point Reyes  2022

Wave - Point Reyes  2022

Although the overcast persisted throughout the day the light was very intense at times. This was in July, so the sun didn't set until well after 8:00 PM.

Beach

Beach, Fog - Point Reyes  2022

After setting up my tent I headed down to the beach. Nobody was there. 

The wet sand left by the previous night's high tide was clearly visible.

Monday Bunny Blogging

 

Bunny - Point Reyes  2022

Lots 'n lots of bunnies! That being so, you'd think that there would be an abundance of coyotes, bobcats, hawks etc. etc.

But no. Just bunnies.

Photo taken in the evening.

Arrival at Coast Camp / Fritos & Beer

 

Fritos & Beer - Point Reyes  2022

Tent - Point Reyes  2022

I got to the campsite a little after 12:00 PM. Just in time for some Fritos & Beer! That was the first order of business. Then, the putting up of the lightweight Big Agnes tent.

Note: the first Fritos & Beer photo was taken in 1994.

Hike to Coast Camp

 

Deer, Trail - Point Reyes  2022

Fog, Eucalyptus - Point Reyes  2022

Photos taken on the hike into Coast Camp. I've posted a video of my 2017 hike during much clearer weather. This time the fog obscured any view of the ocean, the iconic eucalyptus tree only gradually appearing through the mist.

Pierce Ranch - 2

 

Road, Ranch Buildings - Point Reyes  2022

Cypresses - Point Reyes  2022

It's kind of unusual, but I had anticipated, at the time of the exposure, that both of these photos would be converted to black and white. Especially the top photo, which seems to me to be a typical boring 4x5 view camera scene.

Pierce Ranch #1

 

Building, Fence, Quail - Point Reyes  2022

White Door, Grass - Point Reyes  2022

I had a backpacking reservation at Coast Camp for that day, but, as usual, I first drove over to Pierce Ranch for some photos.