March 19, 2021, Sonoma County Coast It is often my wont to have my way with nature. One of my favorite statements has been that what comes out of the camera is fodder for what happens later in the quiet of my office days, weeks, or years later. But not always. Sometimes it’s best to just stand aside and let Nature say it all. Whoopie! (Nikon D500, Tamron 100–400mm f/4.5–6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in […]
March 15, 2021 — Sonoma County Coast, California While the house was in the hands of the realtor being prepped for sale, we took off for the coast for a few days. Early one afternoon, clouds cast shadows on the sea. Perfect for intentional camera motion. That shot — one of many, because ICM is a numbers game — formed the basis for the completed picture, which doesn’t look anything at all like what was […]
April 20, 2021, Silicon Valley As of yesterday, our home for 24 years is now in the hands of its new owners. We spent the previous afternoon sitting on the back deck one last time, eating falafels and reminiscing. Emotions were felt. Many. I brought a camera in hopes of getting one last shot at a hummingbird feasting on echium. It’s in full bloom, so it’s prime time. And sure enough. But before that, the […]
July 13, 2018 — San Mateo County Coast I was asked to show the original shot from yesterday’s post. I thought I’d be able to update the post with a link to the original — but as it turns out there isn’t an original. So here, for the fist time, is my 2018 treatment of this shot. Discuss. (Canon G7X. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.0; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
July 13, 2018 — San Mateo County Coast; February 24, 2021 — My Office In exploring the essence of the essence, I reimagined a few old favorites. This was shot in the late afternoon/early evening as sunrays found their way through low clouds/high fog on the coast. The subject, really, is contrast, texture, and glow. The philosophy is adding by taking away. What isn’t the picture? Remove it or reduce it. Distill. (Canon G7X. RAW […]
March 22, 2021 — Sonoma County Coast. I’ve shot and I’ve processed a hundred new pictures I’ve formed and I’ve weathered scores of opinions I’ve kept and I’ve scrapped a thousand examples I’ve spent time away in the course of my journeys I’ve reflected so much and concluded the essence And it’s a soft, it’s a soft, it’s a soft, and it’s a soft It’s a soft rain of pictures gonna fall Yes, I […]
July 9, 2020 — San Mateo County, California. Feb 12, 2021 My Office. On February 9, we lost Chick Corea. A phenomenal composer, pianist, arranger, and producer. A mentor. A marvelous human being. Here’s an excerpt from his farewell message: “It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It’s not only that the world needs […]
January 20, 2021 — Point Reyes National Seashore, California It’s been a minute — maybe several — since I’ve posted wildlife. I’ve been concentrating on abstract and impressionistic seascapes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love to shoot wildlife — photographically. A couple weeks ago, The Muse and I went out to the Tomales Point trail for a long hike in celebration of significant click on my personal chronometer. It was a sunny day. Mild […]
July 10, 2010. San Gregorio Bluffs, San Mateo County, California. January 28, 2021, My Office Here’s what I said in my August 3, 2020 post of the mother of today’s picture: This is an impossibly small crop of a much larger frame — a starting point for an imaginary stroll on walkable water. I was going to post this last night, but it wasn’t ready. This is a picture where every nuance counts. An adjustment […]
December 8, 2014 — Point Reyes National Seashore, California I came across this while verifying my archives a few weeks ago. I marked it to remind me to come back to it and come back to it I did. The original shot was fodder for what you see here: not what the camera saw, but what I saw. I was quite happy with it when I worked on it last night — but this morning […]
Hard to believe this was shot in the same place and in the same hour as the one in the last post. But it was. Despite the stormy day, this shot is tranquil. ICM does strange things — especially in a misty environment. The 25-foot waves were there. There are even some in this shot, but the mist and the intentional camera motion obscures them. (Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR zoom. RAW processing […]
January 10, 2021 — San Francisco, California Hard to believe this was shot in the city of San Francisco and not in the cold, cold North. Also hard to believe I overlooked this on my first pass through the shots. (Well, not that hard to believe. There were almost 2,000 shots.) On the second pass though, it jumped out at me. And I thought, “I’m looking at a theater.” This is a hand-held long exposure […]
January 10, 2021 — San Francisco, California More big surf at Ocean Beach. Weather Service said 20 to 25 feet and they were right. I shot 1,946 frames with an eight-pound camera/lens in a little less than three hours. Good upper-body exercise. Some of those shots used fast shutter speed and some slow. Some with camera held steady and some with intentional camera motion. Interesting phenomenon: Some ICM shots of heavy insane surf end up […]
January 2, 2021 — San Francisco, California I went to Ocean Beach in San Francisco to shoot waves in dense fog for abstract or impressionist pictures. I did get shots for some of those. But the fog cleared for maybe thirty seconds and I caught this handsome specimen as well. I rarely discuss social issues here. This is a photography blog. I will simply say that now more than ever I hope, wish, pray for […]
December 26, 2020 — San Francisco Bay, California Exploring the extremes of minimalism, one superfluous pixel at a time. (Nikon D500, Tamron 100–400mm f/4.5–6.3 Di VC USD. ISO 100, f/22, 1/5 sec. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 4.1; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
