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Category Archives: photography

photography

Witness on the Edge

Look at this picture. To take it, we had to get up at 4am and drive the 35 miles to the trail head of the Zion Canyon overlook so that we could get a parking space and hike up the 1.5 miles before everyone else took up all the choice spots along the edge. There were no stars. It was cold and overcast. We were the first in the parking lot, the first on the trail, and the first to the canyon overview. The clouds filled the sky. No one else bothered, realizing that there would be no blue sky this morning.

Zion Canyon Overview

Zion Canyon Overview

And then, on the horizon, a break in the clouds allowed this beautiful sunrise with a stormy back drop. The light show lasted 10 minutes. Then it was gone, having shown for only the two of us. Life is being there hoping…

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Where ever you go.. there you are

We come up here to Sea Ranch once a year.

bright sunlit waves break over rock on a calm day

waves on a gentle day

Every year since 1988, except one year, when we went to Hawaii and could not afford both trips.  The kids now come home so that we can do our yearly sojourn up here.  We have friends here that live in Gualala, just 5 miles up the coast.  For their vacation, they go down to Martinez in the S.F. Bay Area.  Yes, that Martinez, with the refinery in its back year.

Man, Meadow, Sea as backdrop

Witnessing

Yet they are excited as they prepare to go down there… to get away from the quiet.

Thank goodness for photography.  I take pictures where ever I am.  I find beauty there.  I find beauty here.  So the pictures are a reminder that you find beauty wherever you are.  “.. the eye of the beholder.”  I know that.  You know that.

But every once in a while, we need a reminder:

Beauty is everywhere.. just remember to look…

Beautiful sunset with streaks of clouds

Light Display at Day’s End

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Irish Tour Eye Opening

I was fortunate enough to be sent to Dublin Ireland for work.  I added a Saturday at the end of the work to do some sightseeing.  Ireland is a tourist destination, and they have very good sightseeing trips.  I booked a tour bus trip up to the north end of the island to see Belfast and the Giants Causeway, two popular tourist destinations.

The day could not have been more perfect, blue sunny skies that are rare with big billowy clouds.

Stairway to heaven

Ireland North Ireland

The scenic sights were great.

What was just as memorable though was the bus driver.  He had spent 7 years in British jails without a trial as a suspected IRA sympathizer.
Continue reading “Irish Tour Eye Opening” »

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Hotdogs, Books, and the Rock

Our annual sojourn to Morro Bay is in progress.  We got down here at about 1:30 just before the streets were blocked off for the Saturday Farmer’s Market.  First stop is “Hot Dogs on the Harbor” on Main Street.  Now they have great hotdogs and chili, but the real reason is that in June of 2011, on the way back from a conference in Newport Beach, we stopped there on Gregorio‘s first day of business.SLO (1 of 11)  He had his cousin I think, helping him this first day/weekend/week.  A minimum overhead operation.  He took orders for about 3 groups, then went away and food appeared.  When this group was fed, he would move to the window for the next set of customers.  Everybody seemed to know the drill.  Everyone waited patiently.  Everyone was smiling as they ate.

We also went to “our” book store, Coalesce Book Store [ www.coalescebookstore.com ]MorroBay (1 of 16) where I took this picture last year.  It is a “real” book store and almost worth the drive from the SF Bay Area by itself.  I usually find one book there that I live in for a while.  I think I found one this time:  Gift of the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  The first of the book is:

The beach is not a place to work, to read, write or think.  I should have remembered that from other years.  Too warm, too damp, too soft for any real mental discipline or sharp flights of spirit.  One never learns.  Hopefully, one carries down the faded straw bag, lumpy with books, clean paper, long over-due unanswered letters, freshly sharpened pencils, lists and good intentions.  The books remain unread, the pencils break their points and the pads rest smooth and unblemished as the cloudless sky.  No reading, no writing, no thoughts even – at least, not at first.

Yes, that is the beach.  That is the sea.  And I hope Anne Morrow, that it is okay that I quoted so much..  from a flier such as yourself.. as Charles.

We then walked to theSLO (7 of 11) Rock, here seen at sunset from the docs. Seemed a bit closer than last year.  I think we were a bit more rested this time around.  You can walk around to the other side of the rock, back against the rock, facing an unforgiving sea.  Today the sea was nice, forgiving.

There is a line of these rocks called the nine sisters, with this one being the farthest west.  They are in almost a straight line stretching from Morro Bay to San Luis Obispo.  They are extinct volcanos about 21 million years in age!   http://www.morrobay.com/rock.htm

The city looks

SLO (4 of 11)

the same as last year, and the residence pretty much look the same too.   These two stopping for dinner probably don’t have reservations.  No reservations at all..  The two women in the car seemed perfectly content too.  Maybe dinner was indeed on the way.

 

A nice ending to a very nice sunny first day,

SLO (8 of 11)

just like last year.

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On a country road

If you look carefully right now, SFC (25 of 41)you’ll see rivers of colors flowing down the valleys of the eastern Sierras.  These rivers of color are the high altitude Aspen that change from forests of light green, through brilliant yellows, oranges and reds.

This picture was taken off of highway 395, just north of Mono Lake.  The dirt road you see winds up this incredible valley, following the Aspen trail.

This transition of fall happens every year around the second week of October.  It is there for those lucky enough to be passing by.   But the opportunity is brief.  The change happens quickly, with any one area making the transition within a week’s time.  We are very fortunate because the flow of change like the flow of the trees themselves, moves from higher altitudes to lower as the temperature drops.

Sometimes you are lucky enough and these wonderful SFC (14 of 41)ephemeral views lie just off of the road where you can stop and just stare.  This picture was taken on 395, just across from Mono Lake, late in the afternoon.  We are not that high up, and didn’t have to work hard for the view.  Just stepped on the brakes and opened the door.  There were a lot of cars slowing or stopping for this view.

I am sure that lots of those that are lucky enough to witness this change, decide to make it more than luck, and plan for this annual event.  They bring layers of warm clothes and their cameras, notebooks, paints, eyes, ears and hearts, SFC (23 of 41)and take those country roads, up into the mountains to be a part of this wonder.

 

 

I am most lucky to have had a friend invite me along on his Photography workshop, where he and 3 of his colleagues showed me where to look, when to look, and how to look.  They do this every year, just around now.  These pictures are fresh, less than a week old.  But these same trees, less than a week later, are probably leaf-less, having shed their bright coats.

To see more colors, and maybe join them next season, check out their site: Sierra Fall Colors [ sierrafallcolors.com ].

I want to thank Patrick, Rogan, Mary and Tim for the wonderful experience and Henry, a fellow participant with whom I got to share the wonderful journey.

Sometimes you are lucky enough to be at the right place, at the right time.. on some country road…

 

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Don’t Blink

“The angels have the phone box.”

Sorry. Just had to start with reference to my favorite Dr Who episode. Blink. Amazing how many people know that reference. But it is just the situation I wanted to relive in this note…

In the spring of 2012, we visited Scotland. Edinburgh to be exact since we spent the entirety of our trip there with the exception of 1 day, when we traveled to Berwick Upon Tweed.. but Berwick is fodder for another time. This was a time when I was rather a purist about pictures. My camera was always in single shot mode. No bursts for me. If I could not get it in one, I didn’t deserve it. Remember that was back in 2012. I was a lot more innocent back then.

We are generally very lucky in terms of weather when we travel. It was no exception with Edinburgh for the first 4 days. The temperature was in the 60s, and the skies brilliant blue with no sign of clouds. As with every day there, we had started walking about 9am, ending at about 8pm. We logged a lot of miles, and on this day, it led us to Edinburgh Castle.

We arrived there about 11 on this particular day, and were able to wander around till we heard that he canon would be fired at 1:00. Exactly at 1:00:

 

As stated: 1300 GDT .. exactly

As stated: 1300 GDT .. exactly

 

We asked a guard, why the canon?  Why 1:00?

 

Edinburgh is very far North.  55 Degrees North Latitude.  The Bay of Fundy, which is know for it’s spectacular tides is at 45 Degrees North.  The bottom of Hudson Bay is at 55 Degrees North.  The further North you go, the more tidal action there is.  So Edinburgh, being a Seafaring village, needed a way to let Captains on their ships know the exact time so that they could synchronize watches and know the tides for the following day.  The Edinburgh Castle canon was the audio queue, and a giant ball dropping from Nelson’s Tower was the visual cue.  If you couldn’t see, you heard.  If you couldn’t hear, you saw.  If you didn’t hear and didn’t see, you were so drunk, you probably weren’t sailing the next day anyway.

 

Why 1:00?  The guard we asked paused for a moment, then said:  You know Scots.. frugal.  Why pay for 12 shells when you could pay for 1?

 

Don’t BLINK, or you’ll miss a bit of life…

 

 

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