Butano (Part 2) - 06-19-2005

Here is another shot from my sunday adventures. This is from Butano State park.

Pescadero State Beach 06-19-2005

For Father's Day, we went out to the coast along Highway 1. Here is a view along Pescadero State beach. Days like today make me really love living here in the San Francisco bay area even with all the congestion.

Butano 06-19-2005

Three of us went along Hwy 1 for Father's Day. It was a beautiful day and we stopped at Pigeon Point lighthouse first. Lucky for us, there was a mother and calf humpback whales offshore. They were flapping their flukes and breaching. Next, we stopped at Butano to let Bill see the redwoods. There we decided to recreate the famous "Angry Gnome" photo. Since the exposure was 13 seconds, we had fun playing with the ghosting effect.

Sunol - 06-18-2005

Went out with Chip for a short trip to Sunol. The creek was in shadow so I pulled out my new Infrared Digital Rebel. I waded into the creek for this shot and needed a 20 sec exposure (times 4 shots). I thought it was shallow enough not to swamped my hiking boots but nope. Had wet feet for the ride home.

Sunol 06-17-2005

Chip and I took a quick trip out to Sunol. He was hoping to see the Little Blue Heron. Fortunately, it went zipping past us just after we left the parking lot. Then, we walked down along the creek behind the campgrounds. This is the trail. Chip insisted on 'swanning' around in the shot but the shutter time was 20 seconds and he disappeared.

Sunol (Part 2) - 06-14-2005

Color version of previous shot. For this case, I think color works better.

As for the mysterious heron, it showed up again and did a little fishing in front of me. It is small like a night heron but it is all blue except for its head which looked charcoal gray. When I returned home, I looked it up in my birding book. I think it is a Little Blue Heron. They are a causal visitor to norther California. Fron the description, I saw a non-breeding adult.

Sunol 06-14-2005

Good news tonite. After a long wait, my infrared converted Digital Rebel arrived. Even though I was tired, had to go out to Sunol and try it out. Megapixels really do matter. After working with my 3mp D30 infrared camera, the 6 mp of the Digital Rebel are really noticeable.

Sunol 06-12-2005

Went out to Sunol. The light lately has been fantastic and even though I am very tired. I have to go out and get the shots while the magic is here. This is not my favorite but the best shot of the evening. I had on short sleeves and the mosquitoes covered me like a blanket and I fled home. This scene is from directly behind the Visitor's center. I think it needs some people but even though I could hear folks around no one wandered into the shot.

Sunol 06-11-2005

Chip pried me out of bed after a collapse from a long work week. We were hoping for more sighting of the fawns. However, the only wildlife was mosquitoes.

Sunol 06-09-2005

Worked this small little area of Alameda Creek. Almost dumped my camera in to the creek during setup and a little gardening. This is a 'regular' black and white not an infrared.

Sunol (Part 3) - 06-08-2005

One more shot in color as compared to the infrared.

Sunol (Part 2) - 06-08-2005

Here is an infrared from Sunol's visit that turned into the wild kingdom. It took a few days to process because this weekend has been very busy. I had to get 4 prints ready for the Alameda county fair and drop them off on Saturday. I will hear later this week if they 'hang' and maybe place. This is my first experience with the county fair so my fingers are crossed.

As a follow-on to the Wild Kingdom outing, I talked with the ranger out in Sunol. He says that the park has many bobcat and it is not uncommon to see them (except for me apparently). The mysterious blue heron was probably a kingfisher. He wondered if the dead deer was a cougar kill. Hmmm, hard to believe there is a cougar there even though there are warning signs.

Sunol 06-08-2005

Tonite, I wanted to shake off the effects of a bad work day. Chip had to work late so I went out to Sunol alone. There has been light rain all day and it was getting foggy. Good weather for photography.

The entire outing should be "Wild Kingdom"...

Sunol - Little Yosemite (Part 2)

Here is one more photo from yesterday's hike. Last nite, I was too tired to finish processing. I think this is a weaker image than yesterday's but still worth posting.

Sunol - Little Yosemite 06-06-2005

Tonite after work, Chip and I took a quick hike out to Little Yosemite. We went just past the main falls and explored along the banks of Alameda Creek.

Stable Road 06-05-2005

Went out today for a photo adventure to the coast with Aphra. I had been out last Sunday and picked up nice shots and a wicked case of poison oak. I have been laid low all week and Saturday. I was hoping to go out today and gather a few more nice shots. However, plans are different than results. Instead, we ended up threading our way through the start of the Aids for Life, a 585 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA. The day was beautiful with bright blue skies. Unfortunately, not good weather for photographers. Stable Road veers off Hwy 1 about 15 miles south of Half Moon Bay. It is very scenic, beautiful and has little towns that feel they are in a time warp from about 80 years ago.

Sunol - Little Yoesemite 06-03-2005

Did a quick trip out to Little Yosemite in Sunol. Chip and I were rushed for time. I did not check that my lens was on auto-focus and so lost most of my shots. Doh!