It’s that time of year again. July 24th I’m going to be leading a photowalk here in San Francisco as part of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk mega-event. Last years photowalk through North Beach was a lot of fun with lots of great photos taken, but this year I’m going to be sharing a favorite spot of mine… Sutro Baths and Lands End. Â We’ll be meeting in front of Louis’, a small restaurant, and then exploring the Sutro Bath ruins, walking on the Lands End trail for great views of the Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate Bridge and returning to the ruins for sunset dusk shooting.
If you’re in town on July 24th join me by signing up. Space is filling up fast. At last check the photowalk was half full after 1 day.
Today’s guest post is by John Wall, an avid & dedicated nature photographer, who loves exploring California. I first saw John’s work on Naturephotographers.net and after several years of online interaction learned he lives just 3 blocks from my house. Be sure to check out his blog John Wall’s Natural California and John Wall’s Flick photostream for some inspiring images taken across California.
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I feel like I’m about to write an obituary for a place I hardly got to know, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. I first stumbled on the Poppy Reserve in 1994 but was a little too early to catch the poppies gone wild. Still, my girlfriend and I had the place to ourselves, and the solitude, as always, was excellent. When I passed by ten years later I was even earlier, and although I got skunked on poppies I was pleased to spot a donkey standing in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere.
California Poppy Reserve 2004 by John Wall
It probably won’t be the middle of nowhere much longer. The Fairmont Butte Motorsports Park is going to pave a 3.6-mile racetrack through the landscape and attract a much speedier breed than wandering donkeys and people looking for peak wildflower action. The Los Angeles County Planning Department has finalized the environmental review and will take it to the Planning Commission for approval this Saturday (June 9). As racetrack opponents continue their uphill battle, their next stop after Saturday’s meeting will likely be the Board of Supervisors where the project could receive final approval — or not.
I heard the poppies were great this year. I hope I haven’t missed my chance to enjoy them in peace.
I recently photographed my elusive “white whale” photo subject, a fog enveloped Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise. You might expect I’d be happy with capturing dozens of photos of this amazing phenomenon, but I’m eager to photograph it again to get a different take on it. I should clarify I am very satisfied with the photos captured including the one shown below, but I have an incredibly strong desire to try something new next time.
What might surprise you is that I almost missed this opportunity out of sheer laziness. I knew conditions were lining up to be good the evening before and I set my alarm for 5am… 40 minutes before sunrise. I had been working on photos until about 1am that morning and when my alarm went off I had a tough time getting my butt in gear. I got up, looked out my window and I could see a clear view above a fog layer in the valley beneath the hill I live on. What this meant is that the fog was receding and hugging the coast making the odds the bridge would be poking out of the fog a near certainty. Even still I got back in bed and after much internal debate I got myself up and out of the house. It should be noted to minimize my own internal resistance I had my gear ready to go the night before so no extra effort was needed… I just needed to get on the road.
To say I’m happy that I eventually got up is an understatement. The conditions turned out to be perfect and the rate at which the fog receded was astonishingly quick. With in a matter of 90-120 minutes the fog lowered in level from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge towers to below the bridge span. The morning air was cool, filled with the sound of birds chirping and of course foghorns. Beyond getting photographs of this phenomenon it was just fun to witness. Heck even the drive back was exciting as the fog was barely spilling over the bridge.
Before the end of the short work week I wanted to wish everyone in the U.S. a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. For those that are lucky enough to get out this weekend make the most of your time and be sure to stop and enjoy the show nature puts on daily. Have a great weekend!
Easily one of the three most recognizable landmarks in San Francisco, Coit Tower is often lit beautifully by artificial and natural lighting. At the right time of day you can use both of these lighting types to capture dramatic photographs of this commonly photographed subject.
One thing I’m quite embarrassed about is the fact that I’ve yet to visit Coit Tower and enjoy the view from the top of the tower. After living in San Francisco for nearly 10 years you’d think I’d have visited all the classic locations. One of these days I’ll make it to Coit Tower and to Alcatraz too.
One thing over the years that I’ve learned is to never keep your eyes too far off into the distance when trying to get your next photo. While photographing seascapes in Monterey, California I was rock hopping and paused to see what exactly I was hopping over. I was pleasantly surprised to see sea anemones in a rather small tidal pool. With a nice overcast sky I took the opportunity to switch out my wide angle lens for my macro lens and photograph them. Fortunately for me they were very cooperative subjects unlike the sneaky surf that caught me in a later photo (more on that later).
Sea Anemones & Pebbles
For the techies who read every word of my posts I should add this is one of the first macro photos taken with my Canon 1Ds Mark III. The detail in the full size version of this photo is mind blowing. If curious I can post a 1:1 crop later to give an example of the detail captured.
Update: See below for the 1:1 crop of the image above. The detail captured from the 21MP sensor in the 1Ds Mark III never ceases to amaze me. The native image resolution is 5632 x 3750 pixels. Enjoy and do take advantage of clicking on the image to enlarge it.
Sunrise or sunset? I suppose that will depend if the glass is half full or half empty for you on this Monday. Either way I hope that everyones Monday starts off well.
Photographed below are California Oak trees in a grassy meadow. If you’ve been to California you’ll know that much of the landscape inland from the coast resembles this scene. Several years ago I would often travel from Santa Barbara, in the central coast region of California, to north of San Francisco in Marin county. Much of the view along the way was this very type of landscape. Driving by this landscape it’s easy to take for granted the forms and textures present in this environment. Only recently have I started to explore this common view by foot and each time I’ve learned something new and/or gained a new perspective. It’s amazing how a sense of discovery can be found in your own backyard, so to speak, versus half way around the world.
Here in California during the Spring all the photographers go crazy looking for wildflowers. While wildflowers are great I can’t help but think a flowerless field is equally if not more attractive. A field such as this is quite a busy subject to photograph, yet due to our exposure to grass on an everyday basis we seem to lump it all together into one object.
Back in college chemistry there was the concept of the “Avagadro number”, a value of 6.022×10^23 or 602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in 12 grams of carbon. “A mole is defined as this number of “entities” (usually, atoms or molecules) of any material.” (courtesy of Wikipedia) In one of my lectures a philosophical if not rhetorical question was asked by my professor, “How many moles of sand are on the beach?” The concept of this value was mind boggling to me. Looking at this picture less wildflowers I’m left to ponder how many moles of blades of grass are in this field? on this hillside? in this state park? in California? To think how much life this represents and how much life resides in these fields is awe inspiring to me.
