Alcatraz

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photo by Donald Kinney


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photo by Donald Kinney


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photo by Donald Kinney


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Well yes, my trip to Alcatraz was great, and something I've been wanting to do for a long time -- but the place sure is spooky...

It was sunny and nice when I visited, but I can imagine the place on a long series of cold and foggy days, and months, and years...

The inmates were dangerous but were obviously treated like animals -- the whole place looked rather barbaric and primitive to me...   If punishment was the goal of Alcatraz, they did an adequate job of dispensing it...


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colorful water

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photo by Donald Kinney

When the sun is out, but the creek is in shade, about 9:30a.m. this time of year -- my beloved Lagunitas Çreek puts on quite a colorful display...


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obscured sun - it's Sky Watch Friday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Hope everybody is having a great Sky Watch Friday !

I had to go back two or three weeks to find a sky shot that I hadn't already used, so I hope this shot fits the bill...   I'm not quite satisfied with the shot, so I guess I need to get back out there and do a re-shoot...

I'm off on a short holiday today so it may take me a day or two to visit everybody's blogs...


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foggy skies

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photo by Donald Kinney

In these parts, rain this time of year is pretty much unheard of...
We have fog instead.   And lots of it...


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"f"og bank -- it's ABC Wednesday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Hope everybody is having a great ABC Wednesday !

Around the San Francisco Bay Area, "f" stands for fog...   No doubt about it...

Fog is a good thing because it brings relief from hot summer weather, but it can be a big problem for motorists and ships.

The Wikipedia says:   "Fog formation does require all of the elements that normal cloud formation requires with the most important being condensation nuclei.   When the air is saturated, additional moisture tends to condense rather than staying in the air as vapor.   Condensation nuclei must be present in the form of dust, aeresols, pollutants, etc. for the water to condense upon.   When there are exceptional amounts of condensation nuclei present, especially hydroscopic (water seeking such as salt, see below) then the water vapor may condense below 100% relative humidity".


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old window, Petaluma Adobe

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photo by Donald Kinney

Petaluma, California, about 30 miles north of San Francisco has a colorful past.
It's been called "The Eggbasket of the USA", and "Normal-town, USA"...   Street sequences in American Graffiti were filmed right there in downtown Petaluma.

But two miles east of town is an older part of Petaluma's history -- the Petaluma Adobe, which served as the center of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo's 66,000-acre (100 square miles) working rancho from 1836 - 1846.   I recommend the two-dollar tour -- peek into the living quarters of the servants, workers, supervisor, and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo himself.   See how they processed wool and tanned hides, grew and milled grain, and check out their authentic bee-hive ovens out in the courtyard.


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into the fog

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photo by Donald Kinney

The weight is enormous...   The entire roadway hangs precariously by sets of thin suspender cables.

And we all go driving blindly into that white stuff, relying on a mere hope and a thin prayer for our safe arrival on the other side...


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bridge supports

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photo by Donald Kinney

This is one of the supports for the northern viaduct on the Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, they ARE massive, and they've been retrofitted to make them more earthquake resistant.   You can read more about the bridge retrofit at: http://goldengatebridge.org/projects/retrofit.php.


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fog over the Marin Headlands

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photo by Donald Kinney

This time of year in the San Francisco Bay Area your weather options consist of sunny days and foggy days, and usually a mixture of both...   The best thing to do is to rock-and-roll with the punches...


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red sunset -- it's Sky Watch Friday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Hope everybody is having a great Sky Watch Friday !

I don't think this sunset could have looked any redder, but that's pretty much what it looked like...   --Up on Mount Tamalpais looking towards Bolinas.

But as pretty as this photo is, I think I prefer sunrises over sunsets.   With a sunrise the day is just beginning, and with a sunset it is fairly obvious when the show is over.


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Visitors

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photo by Donald Kinney


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photo by Donald Kinney

Ya gotta love 'em -- tourists...   I love tourists so much that I will henceforth call them "visitors"...

They seem to know where to go and how to have a good time...

They know how to get to Chinatown, where to catch the cable-cars -- and more about how they operate than I do.

And yes, they even know how to get something tasty to eat at Pier39...   After lunch they probably enjoyed a good laugh watching the lazy and obnoxious sea lions...

They not only know about the Libertyship Jeremiah O'Brien and the WW2 submarine; the Pampanito, but they probably spent the afternoon onboard.   They've had their tickets for Alcatraz for weeks now...   They probably just finished spooking around the old arcade machines and games at the Musee Mecanique.

When they get home they're going to tell their neighbors how they sat on the sidewalk near Fisherman's Wharf and ate crab-louie...

Any good visitor can point to Coit Tower while naming all of the other major hills and their general direction in the City...   If they've been to the aquarium they probably know a lot more about The Bay than many locals...   If their neck hurts, they've probably been down the twisty portion of Lombard Street two or three times...

Our visitors know about our fine art galleries -- MOMA, the Asian Art Museum, the DeYoung, the Legion of Honor, and the soon to be opened Steinheart Aquarium.   Visitors seem to know their way around the srawlling Golden Gate Park   A side-trip to see the butterflies at the Conservatory of Flowers is a popular way to spend an afternoon.

Not seeing any visitors is no reason to panic -- they're probably still making their way though the cheeses, crackers and olives inside the Ferry Building...   Don't tell anyone...


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"e"dge of the "e"arth -- it's ABC Wednesday

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photo by Donald Kinney

Wishing everybody a happy "E" day on ABC Wednesday !

And yes, there it is -- the "e"dge of the "e"arth...

Oh I suppose there is more than one edge of the earth, but I think this one qualifies...

It was taken from the north-flank of our beloved Mount Tamalpais.   That's the "e"lusive town of Bolinas on the dark hill.   On the flat and to the left is a nice beach named Stinson.

The rift zone of the San Andreas "E"arthquake Fault runs just out of sight right along the lower portion of the photo.   The yellow hill where I was standing is on the North-American Plate, and Bolinas is on the Pacific Plate.   The North-American Plate slowly rumbles-and-creeps southward, and the Pacific Plate slowly rumbles-and-creeps northward.   But it's a very slow process so it's no good standing there and waving goodbye...


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ripples

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photo by Donald Kinney

Ripples in my favorite creek, The Lagunitas...

Ah yes, ripple watching...
It's a good job, it's an important job
--and someone has to do it...


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Sir Francis Drake, by Dennis Patton

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photo by Donald Kinney


Dennis Patton fashioned Sir Francis Drake out of metal in 1990, and the rusty old sea-dog has been guarding the entrance to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal ever since...

That's the profile of Mount Tamalpais in the background...
She is known as "the sleeping lady", but most locals just call her "Mount Tam"

Sir Francis Drake did sail down the coast of California between 1577 and 1580, but exactly where he stopped remains open to debate.   Most historians think he stopped either at Bodega Bay farther north, or Drakes Bay near Point Reyes.   Several years ago someone with unscrupulous intentions tried to plant a bogus plaque -- inside the bay -- not far from where this photo was taken.


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photo by Donald Kinney

I should see if a heavy-metal rock group could use this photo.

Dennis Paton has left his mark on a grand scale all over Marin County, and you can read a little more about him at:
http://www.marinnostalgia.org/patton.html.


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Can you identify this wildflower ?

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photo by Donald Kinney

Speak right up if you know the name of this beautiful plant...

NEWS FLASH !   --   Aileni knew:   Crocosmia or Montbretia





My parents had this plant growing in their yard in Pacific Grove, but this year it is growing prolifically along the banks of the Lagunitas Creek...   It's scarlet flowers open up from a progressive line of shoots, and droop downwards -- making for a lovely riparian display...
The bright scarlet and yellow color spice-up the riverbank...


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photo by Donald Kinney

So, thanks if you can help identify this pretty plant...


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Smiley's -- Bolinas, California

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photo by Donald Kinney

I've never been inside this watering hole, but I know it's a popular place...   Some nights they blast reggae, and other evenings they are more into jazz, or open-mike, or whatever.

Ask me where Bolinas is and I would probably tell you Bolinas is simply a state-of-mind...
Visitors who know that are better tolerated than those who don't.

But actually, Bolinas is a sleepy little town on the California coast, about twenty miles north of San Francisco as the pelican flies...   It is the home of artists, freethinkers, families, kooks, and bumper crop of crazy old hippies...

Bolinas isn't terribly fond of visitors, although the management of the Coast Cafe, Smiley's, the Market and other shops in town have a more favorable attitude towards tourists...   In general, the residents of Bolinas seek to protect their un-hurried lives and creative lifestyles.

There is no sign pointing to Bolinas, and that's the way most residents want it...
For years, the "Bolinas Border Patrol" confiscated the road-signs so many times out on Highway One that the county just gave up trying to give Bolinas a sign...

I found this interesting story about Bolinas on the Internet...
"Harry Pothead and the curse of Bolinas" at:  
http://www.coastalpost.com/00/8/06.htm.


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Raccoon Straights -- It's Sky Watch Friday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Happy Sky Watch Friday, everybody!

This is Raccoon Straights...   To the right is Angel Island, and to the left is Belvedere and Tiburon.     This shot was taken from between Fort Baker and Sausalito -- just before sunrise...   That cloud put on quite a show...   I think I've seen more spectacular sunrises, but I think this one is equally as pleasing.


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photo by Donald Kinney

The photo above is San Pablo Bay, the upper-thumb of San Francisco Bay, taken from Ring Mountain between Corte Madera and Tiburon.   That's the west end of the San Rafael to Richmond Bridge, and the ferry boat is one of a fleet operated by the Golden Gate Transit District.   Richmond would be on the other side of the bridge on the right.   Those two little islands are the Brothers, East and West.   San Quentin State Prison is is located not far from the left edge of this photo.   See you there...

By the way, for my upcoming 61st. birthday I bought myself a (roundtrip) ticket to Alcatraz, so on the 29th I'll be taking a boat over to "The Rock".   See you there...


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Lagunitas Creek

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photo by Donald Kinney

Yes folks, this is the Lagunitas Creek, which translates as "little lagoons" in Spanish.

This particular area is within the boundarys of Samuel P. Taylor State Park, or as they simply call it these days -- Camp Taylor.   It's a popular place to get-away-from-it-all, and the campground is booked solid this time of year.

Where I like to visit is about a mile downstream at the confluence of Devil's Creek, and over the past six years or so I have photographed it's mysterious and colorful ripples and reflections many times.

To find this miniature waterfall shot I continued down the creek about a quarter mile and crossed over to the west side where Samuel P. Taylor built and operated a water-powered papermill in the late 1800's.   Mr. Taylor had a plentiful supply of fir trees to use in his papermaking operation, but since redwood trees make poor quality paper he left those for someone else to come along and cut down for lumber.   Most all the redwoods in the area today are one-hundred year old second-growth trees.   Redwoods regenerate quickly, usually sprouting from the roots of the cut or fallen "mother tree".

Hope you enjoy the photo -- I had a lot of fun carefully making my way along the narrow banks and hopping from stone-to-stone and log-to-log in the middle of the creek, trying my best not to fall in or brush up against any of the stinging nettles.


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photo by Donald Kinney


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"D"earest Mouse + "D"iego Rivera

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photo by Donald Kinney

Whoopie !   It's "D"-Day on ABC Wednesday !

Last Saturday on a tip from one of my favorite blogs about San Francisco, www.whatimseeing.com I made a heartfelt visit to the Presidio Pet Cemetery, where military families lovingly put their pets to rest over the years.   The half-acre pine-shaded plot is full of the memory of dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, fish, and reptiles.   Gravemarkers are truly unique and expressive, reminding me that military people are just as caring about life and those they love as the rest of us...

If you would like to see more, please visit my new set of photos on this remarkable place, over at:   www.photoarrow.com/big/14/14presidiopetcemetery.html.


SPECIAL EDITION -- "D"iego Rivera mural at San Francisco Art Institute



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photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

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photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney


A week-and-a-half ago, on a whim, I stopped by the San Francisco Art Institute on Chestnut Street to snoop around -- it had been over 40 years since I had last visited.
It was early on a Saturday and I was the only person there, but the neatly dressed security guard let me freely wander around to snap some photos.

Off the open-arched Spanish style courtyard I entered the main gallery which was completely empty, as they were in the process of changing the exhibit, however one unchangeable wall holds a huge fresco assemblage by Diego Rivera, commissioned in 1931 by William Lewis Gerstle who was president of the San Francisco Art Association.

The colors are still vivid, and the overall impact of the mural is stunning!   It was a real treat to be able to stand there and absorb the socially conscious work of the master -- Diego Rivera.


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giant mitt at ATT Park

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photo by Donald Kinney

As a kid I used to love the game of baseball, and all of us in the vacant lot league used to get to get together for a challenging double-header, or two...   If we got worn out we might even let the girls play...   Keeping track of the score was problematic and could lead to some huffy arguments, depending on our mood...

But these days I am no longer much of a sportsman, and have only been to two professional games -- both at Candlestick Park -- one a football game and the other a baseball game, and both times "we" lost, so it really wasn't as much fun as it could have been...

This is the giant 27 foot tall mitt out in left field at the new ATT Park.   (yes, folks, if you have enough corporate money you too can attach your name to a stadium)   I'm not exactly certain what the giant mitt is supposed to represent, although the intentions of the giant Coke bottle next to it are obvious...   I understand that the Coke bottle blows steam whenever the Giants hit a home-run.   I'm only guessing here, but I suppose if the batter's ball is caught by the giant mitt he is out...



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photo by Donald Kinney



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photo by Donald Kinney



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photo by Donald Kinney




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foggy Golden Gate Bridge

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photo by Donald Kinney

One of my favorite vantage points on San Francisco Bay is the little spit of land at Travis Marina, out past Fort Baker on the north side of the bridge.   Early morning here is usually a treat -- groups of pelicans glide low on the water in small groups on their way out the gate towards their feeding grounds.   Other seabirds fly a bit higher, navigating around my vantage point.

Depending on conditions the City across the bay may or may not be visible, and the Golden Gate Bridge plays hide-and-seek with the fog as well.   This time of year we usually can expect foggy mornings.   Sometimes the sun pokes through early, but sometimes not -- it's a pleasurable experience either way...

I'm ashamed to say I can't identify them so please let me know if you can, but here's two of the local residents soaking up the beauty of the moment just below where I was standing.

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photo by Donald Kinney


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little exploding wave

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photo by Donald Kinney

O.k., I'll admit -- I'm spoiled...   For me, going to the ocean is as easy as getting in the car and stepping on the gas...   And yes, it IS a gas -- I never get tired of it, and it is always a different experience.

On Friday I was in the mood, so off I went at 5PM -- out to one of my favorite beaches -- the south-west part of Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge -- but a million miles away from civilization in my minds eye...

Being the unsociable hermit that I am, I enjoy avoiding the crowds...   The main part of Rodeo Beach is usually littered with people and surfers, so I chose to take the steep trail to the harder to get to, but isolated portion of the beach that is normally blocked from the other end of the beach by the tides.   I had a fine time snapping seabirds, glistening wet sand, foamy waters, kelp and seaweed, driftwood, and of course -- the ceaseless waves...   I had a fine time...


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a "Smart-Blurred" sky

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photo by Donald Kinney

Quite a while ago I figured out that Photoshop's "Smart Blur" filter can turn an otherwise ho-hum photo into something rather interesting.   Photoshop offers a wide range of blur tools, including Box Blur, Gaussian Blur, Lens Blur, Motion Blur, Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Surface Blur, and my old favorite -- Smart Blur.   Smart Blur blurs the inside detail while retaining the clarity of the edges -- pretty smart, huh?   With Smart Blur you have two main settings;   "Radius", which (for a 640x427px final image) I usually set to 3 -- and "Threshold", which I usually set to 25.   Changing those values will lead to a variety of results, so that's where the fun of experimentation comes in.

While first learning Photoshop most everybody goes-wild experimenting with the wide variety of other filters -- and really, some of them are truly amazing -- but it's best not to over-do them too much, as they can become tiresome after a while.   But like I mentioned, they're sometimes great for turning an otherwise ho-hum photo into something rather interesting...

Here's a photo of you know who, using the Radial Blur:



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sunrise -- it's Sky Watch Friday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Hope everybody is enjoying a great  Sky Watch Friday.

Well, it's been a while since I've seen a really spectacular sunrise out at China Camp, but I finally was able to oooh and aaah on Wednesday...

We had some clouds roll through the Bay Area Monday night, and San Francisco even got a brief shower.   Yes, we need rain out here in the west -- it's been dry as a bone.   But what we don't need right now is lightning-strikes -- the threat of wild-fires is extremely high.

Read more about the wild-fires in the west at Wikipedia, but here is a brief summary:

[[[ quote ]]]
The fires broke out after three years of below-normal rainfall dehydrated much of California's forests and woodlands, making them prone to wildfires.   Spring 2008 for California was the driest on record for many locations;  for example, San Francisco registered only 0.007 inches (0 cm) of rain out of a normal of 6.18 inches (16 cm) from March to May.   As vegetation turned into bone-dry tinder in early June, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought for the first time in over a century.   Dry thunderstorms and lightning, rarely seen on the California coastline in June, rolled onshore on the weekend of June 20 - June 21.   The storm unleashed 5,000 to 6,000 dry lightning strikes across Northern and Central California, igniting more than 800 fires.   The same thunderstorms also caused fires in Oregon.   High daytime temperatures facilitated the spread of the fires and the number of wildfires skyrocketed in the days after the thunderstorm.
[[[ end quote ]]]


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Al Capone Cigars

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photo by Donald Kinney

I'm not a big fan or cigars or cigar smokers, but I do like interesting neon signs -- and I think this one fits the bill...   I found it last Saturday in San Francisco on the corner of Polk and California.

Of course, curiosity finally got the best of me so I Googled around for some information on these cigars [cigarillos] and ended up at rateitall.com with this rather interesting rating of the primo smoke:

[[[ quote ]]]
These are the best thing smoking! This is all I smoke now.. nomore camels or nothing. This does it everytime. It isn't harsh, it doesn't burn hot, and it goes down oh so smooth. Before I smoke it, I love to lick the whole body down (i don't have a humidor) and then the sweet sweet tip, then smoke it. It smokes better this way to me alot better. I smoke it as a cigar and cigarette, sometimes enjoying the flavor in my mouth and then inhaling. Everyone i smoke around says it looks like weed and taste like weed, and smells like it but it isn't but its the best thing smoking! A must try! the cognac are good, and the rum are good. To me the cognac smells more robust and the rum more sweeter and appetizing.
[[[ end quote ]]]

Cough, cough, wheeze, cough...


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"C"able Car -- it's ABC Wednesday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Hope everybody is having a great  ABC Wednesday.

In 1873 Andrew Smith Hallidie put his experience with wire-rope to good use pulling the now famous cable cars up and down the steep streets of San Francisco.   It is told that he witnessed the trouble horse-drawn street cars were having on fog moistened slippery streets, often resulting in terrible accidents.

Hallidie's father just happened to be the inventor of wire-rope, and before son Andrew put it to use pulling cable cars, he found new uses for his dad's invention in the California gold mines.   He also promoted wire-rope as an economic method for building suspension bridges.

In the late 1800's cable cars had to compete with the more economical electric street cars, but I suppose that by that time the cable cars had gained so much charm -- becoming an identifiable trademark -- that the City decided to keep them running.   And yes, I suppose the long-running television commercial for Rice-A-Roni helped too...

You can read more about the San Francisco cable cars over at Wikipedia.


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Coit Tower, San Francisco

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photo by Donald Kinney

Sometimes my photos turn out so "normal" that I feel I need to do something to perk them up a bit...   I had to "jazz this one up" by selectively treating the foreground.   First I saturated the heck out of it, then applied what Photoshop calls it's "Smart-Blur" filter.   It blurs the center of objects while leaving their edges sharp.

Shot on Saturday from the elevated patio at San Francisco Art Institute.

Here's another shot with less zoom, slightly to the right.   That's Peter and Paul's Church -- no, they don't make Almond Joy candy bars there -- on the right:

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photo by Donald Kinney


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San Francisco Art Institute

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photo by Donald Kinney


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photo by Donald Kinney


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photo by Donald Kinney

Saturday morning I had nothing better to do, so I popped over to San Francisco and did some early morning spooking-around in Polk Gulch, followed by some other-world exploring in Chinatown, but as I was taking the route home up Columbus Avenue towards Bay Street I crossed Chestnut Street and spotted the old tower at the San Francisco Art Institute off to my left.   I actually found a parking spot and proceeded to lug my old bones up the steep hill to it's entrance.

The last time I had been inside was when I was about 15 years of age, and I'll be 61 near the end of this month so you can do the math, but it's been a heck of a long time since I've been there.   Despite a huge new addition it looks pretty much the same.   The Spanish courtyard fountain is still bubbling away, and the walls of the open arched corridors are still filled with art.   Aside from a neatly dressed security guard I was the only person there, so I asked if I could snoop around and he nodded yes.

Off to the left of the courtyard I entered what I remember as the main gallery, and although it was completely empty in preparation for another exhibit, there it was -- filling one complete wall -- an incredible mural painted by Diego Rivera in 1931.   And no, I didn't remember it from when I was 15 -- because in those days I didn't know who Diego Rivera was, or what he represented -- but his muti-sectioned mutal completely blew me away, and I busily snapped away trying to document it.

So, folks, I'm going to leave you hanging on that teaser -- you'll have to stop back in a week-and-a-half on Åugust 20 when we're doing "D" (for Diego Rivera) on ABC Wednesday...   Don't make yourself a stranger in the meantime, but I'll see you then...

ANNOUNCEMENT:   Yesterday I got around to adding 18 new photos (a few you may have already seen here) on my Mount Tamalpais set of photos on what I call my "big" site.   If you go to the site directly and you have recently visited the site, you may have to refresh your browser cache or you may not see the links to the updates -- or you can follow these links directly:
http://www.photoarrow.com/big/89/8904.html
http://www.photoarrow.com/big/89/8905.html
http://www.photoarrow.com/big/89/8906.html
and I also added another set to my Çhina Çamp set at:
http://www.photoarrow.com/big/84/8406.html


CLICK to visit my Daily-Duo. 
CLICK to visit KittyBLOG -- the daily doings of my cat.
CLICK for what I call my BIG site.


Your comments are invited and welcome.