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photo by Donald Kinney
Late afternoon--at a shady place here along Big Rock (Cross Marin) trail.
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photo by Donald Kinney
As soon as the sun begins casting shadows, poppies fold shut.
April 30, 2014
afternoon light at Big Rock
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photo by Donald Kinney
Late afternoon--at a shady place here along Big Rock (Cross Marin) trail.
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photo by Donald Kinney
As soon as the sun begins casting shadows, poppies fold shut.
April 29, 2014
zooming with an open shutter
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photo by Donald Kinney
Just a slight zoom here (above)... Enough to remove a bit of superfluous detail and give the illusion of a slight bit of movement. Even the wind whipping the blossom joined the experiment.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Oh, you will probably be seeing WAY too many of these in weeks to come. I ordered an 82mm neutral density filter yesterday which will allow lengthy exposures--giving me enough time to smoothly rack the zoom.
April 28, 2014
yeah, lets go with serinity
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photo by Donald Kinney
F. T. suggested it, so I'm going with it -- "serenity"...
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photo by Donald Kinney
"pilings", Loch Lomond Harbor
April 27, 2014
God sent clouds!
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photo by Donald Kinney
God sent clouds!
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photo by Donald Kinney
Huge hovering masses, landscapes in the sky...
April 26, 2014
orange and yellow -- at Big Rock
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photo by Donald Kinney
Orange lichen on a large boulder in the vicinity of Big Rock.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Yellow wildflowers… A bumper crop of color this year.
April 25, 2014
a soft morning light
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photo by Donald Kinney
The majority of Marin County's populace resides along the Highway-One-Oh-One corridor, and really, that part of Marin isn't too different from where you might live. But just over the ridge to the northwest is a vast area of green rolling hills--golden in summer, interspersed with cows and wildflowers. A substantial amount of farming and ranching goes on in west Marin. Best Sunday afternoon drives on the planet! This is Hicks Valley Rd.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Big Rock traditionally--and for decades--was painted, decorated, graffitied, tagged, brushed and sprayed by mindless youngsters that had too much time, beer/pot, spray paint and creative impulses. Big Rock was plastered bottom to top with initials and slogans. Nothing legal about it, it was just what dumb shitheads DID in Marin… When George Lucas (the filmmaker) established his first campus nearby he purchased the land Big Rock occupies. An impenetrable fence surrounds Big Rock; with night-spotlights and surveillance camera. It is just a coincidence that Lucasfilm is located in Lucas Valley, but it must have seemed, for George Lucas, like a nice fit.
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photo by Donald Kinney
George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch at Big Rock. Top of the hill, Lucas Valley. Taken in March 2013.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Big Rock, without graffiti…
Instead, a nice smattering of bird droppings.
April 24, 2014
Tam from Azalea Hill -- just before sunrise
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photo by Donald Kinney
I really don't know why I do this to myself, because it is reminiscent of speeding to work in order to arrive on time, but mornings can get a bit busy around my place... There is a silly blog to do, and my hopes are always that if I arrive in time the skies will bring a colorful, and just possibly a dramatic sunrise.
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photo by Donald Kinney
So having woken up just a tad late on Tuesday, I realized I didn't have quite enough time to motor out to one of my usual spots looking out across San Pablo Bay--I was going to have to make a mad rush to Azalea Hill, just west of where I live. Snap, snap...
April 23, 2014
ominous clouds over Point Bonita
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photo by Donald Kinney
Well, for all the pomp and circumstance the ominous clouds that rolled in over Point Bonita and our Bay Area on Monday didn't spill a drop of rain.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Even the sunset didn't manifest itself--a bit of yellow is about all it offered.
April 22, 2014
Angel Island -- once again
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photo by Donald Kinney
Maybe it is just copy-and-paste, but Wikipedia is my go-to source:
Until about ten thousand years ago, Angel Island was connected to the mainland; it was cut off by the rise in sea levels due to the end of the last ice age. From about two thousand years ago the island was a fishing and hunting site for Coast Miwok Native Americans.
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photo by Donald Kinney
No mention in the Wikipedia article that Donald Kinney is rather fond of this island. But it has been 44 years since I last set foot on her--a situation I really should remedy soon. [not a new image--taken November 2011]
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photo by Donald Kinney
And this isn't a new image either, but I guess there is no harm in showing it again. [taken late in February of this year]
April 21, 2014
fast moving water -- Lagunitas Creek
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photo by Donald Kinney
Later on in the year the mighty Lagunitas Creek will slow and I'll be throwing around one of my favorite words--bucolic--quite a bit. But right now, depending on her width, which varies, she is moving fast and furiously.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Because of the expense, I would never be able to use this technique with film, but the technique I used here was just to snap a succession of images--a whole LOT of them--one right after the other. I call it mindless photography--snap them now and sort them out later.
April 20, 2014
colorful reflections in Lagunitas Creek
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photo by Donald Kinney
Well, I suppose it is colorful, but I haven't decided if I like this particular image or not. Just seems a bit too busy--I guess I'll just have to return and shoot it again, like I have a million times before.
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photo by Donald Kinney
And if my opinion counts, I like this one a bit better. But yeah, I had better get back out to the creek and make sure something more dramatic or colorful isn't lurking. Still no sight of the elusive Coho Salmon...
For you photographers curious about my technique, I've found that it is best if the creek is shaded, with morning sun illuminating a bit of the surrounding trees and vegetation. My best attempts seem to come in the morning, with the position of the sun behind the camera.
April 19, 2014
Perhaps a billion years ago...
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photo by Donald Kinney
Perhaps a billion years ago boats pulled up to this dock on the western shore of San Pablo Bay, the northern "thumb" of San Francisco Bay.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Okay, maybe not a billion… Before this area was made a state park in the early 1970's, there were a few homes with access to the bay here. Being an old-geezer I remember them. Today only a few remnants of their foundations remain.
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photo by Donald Kinney
These days, solitude floats my boat--what floats yours?
April 18, 2014
subtle sunrises
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photo by Donald Kinney
Serving as an immigration station during the mid-1800's, Angel Island--or "Island of Tears" as it is sometimes called--has quite a colorful history. Imagine making it all the way here on a tiny boat in rough seas, only to be told that you are a "defective" Asian and must return to your homeland.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Fast-forward to Lucas Valley--the brand of milk my grandmother used to have in her refrigerator when we "Skinneys" came visiting. It is purely a coincidence of name, but these days Lucas Valley is home to two of George Lucas's filmmaking campuses, situated on two old dairy farms--and yes, I am old enough to remember the cows.
April 17, 2014
searching for the elusive Coho Salmon
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photo by Donald Kinney
The general consensus is that more and more endangered Coho Salmon are returning spawn in the clean waters of bucolic Lagunitas Creek. Last year the number was estimated to be 500--a number that is still very small, although they say it has been slowly increasing in recent years. I'm going to blame it on our whacky weather, but so far I haven't seen hide-nor-hair of a single fish.
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photo by Donald Kinney
The ferns seem happy, though. Finally...
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photo by Donald Kinney
Wildflowers seem happy, finally, too. California Poppies are blooming like gangbusters. Our hills are now covered with Poppies, and yes, the wild grasses couldn't be any greener.
April 16, 2014
blazing sun in a sea of fog
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photo by Donald Kinney
Had I turned the camera 180 degrees I probably could have gotten yet another snap of the Gee-Gee Bridge, but my head was in the clouds...
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photo by Donald Kinney
And I could have joined a mass of cars in the evening commute, but I found solace watching incoming fog attempting to push its way over Slacker Hill.
April 15, 2014
oh, dat fog -- she come rollin' in
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photo by Donald Kinney
It is a common sight… From now until late summer the fog will be rolling in like clockwork--or a freight train (take your pick). This is a view towards what we call "The City" from my beloved Mount Tamalpais. If you look closely, just to the left and slightly above center, you will notice a tiny squarish nodule--it is the top of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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photo by Donald Kinney
I had to go way back in the archives for this foggy shot from August of 2008.
April 14, 2014
morning mystique of the mist -- Mt. Tam
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photo by Donald Kinney
Veiled in mystic mist, my beloved Mount Tamalpais greeted me with this display early on Saturday morning. Quite beautiful, isn't it?
April 13, 2014
McNear's Point -- two shades of sunrise
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photo by Donald Kinney
The first rule of photography is "just being there", and here in Marin County one of the best vantage points for viewing the sunrise is from the Loch Lomond boat harbor "spit", with what I think is a g-r-a-n-d view across San Pablo Bay towards the tiny East Bay town of Pinole.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Timewise, this snap with the reds preceded the first image. The reds quickly fade into yellow, and the day begins.
April 12, 2014
ripples, Alpine Lake, Mount Tamalpais
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photo by Donald Kinney
I've always been fascinated by ripples and reflections, and a good place to find them is on the surface of Alpine Dam on the shoulders of my beloved Mount Tamalpais. Temporary and fleeting--I truly think they are part of Nature's artwork.
April 11, 2014
below Alpine Dam -- Lagunitas Creek
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photo by Donald Kinney
Oh gosh, maybe I should keep it a secret, but you see, just to the west of my hometown of Fairfax is one of the most beautiful and scenic roads in all of California--with the relatively unimaginative name of "Fairfax to Bolinas Road". This road is popular with bicyclers and has a plethora of twisty turns, and ups and downs. And around every corner--another canyon and stream.
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photo by Donald Kinney
My favorite place to visit and photograph is several miles downstream, past Kent Lake and Peter's Dam, so I don't get to this wild fragment of the mighty Lagunitas Creek all that often, but I am always amazed and revitalized by the beauty I find here, especially in Spring when the creek is running full-blast.
April 10, 2014
Lagunitas Creek -- movement and color
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photo by Donald Kinney
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photo by Donald Kinney
April 09, 2014
our wildflowers -- better late than never
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photo by Donald Kinney
Due to a lack of rain our wildflowers got a late start this year,
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photo by Donald Kinney
but now they're popping up like gang-busters… These are Douglass Irises.
April 08, 2014
more Redwood Creek, San Geronimo, Marin County
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photo by Donald Kinney
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photo by Donald Kinney
April 07, 2014
Redwood Creek, San Geronimo, Marin County
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photo by Donald Kinney
I've been turning a lot of my images into black and whites recently--mostly landscapes where I can darken what would have been blue, and perhaps gain some contrast by lightening what would have been the reds, but what we have here are color images, and I think the brown earth tone is important.
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photo by Donald Kinney
I assume the name is Redwood Creek--neatly hidden within San Geronimo's Redwood Canyon. Not a place many people get to see, although we now have a newly opened preserved area, the Giacomini Wilderness, nearby.
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