California Poppy

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photo by Donald Kinney

Marin County is full of all sorts of little detours and escapes, and one of my favorite is Laurel Grove Avenue through the upscale community of Ross.   This is where rich, famous, and successful people live in stately homes with well manicured gardens -- some behind gates, and some not.   In earlier days you might have spotted Sean Penn and his family out for an after-dinner walk up the road, or other svelt health-conscious residents out jogging -- I always imagine them as important doctors or captains of industry, keeping tabs on the battle-of-the-bulge...

In any case, Laurel Grove Avenue is an escape from the congestion of the college in Kentfield, and on Friday I spotted a huge patch of California Poppies that screamed out photo opportunity.   I flipped-my-wig over the bright color, and my camera followed-suit by also going nuts -- it didn't quite know how to handle the intense reds, oranges, and yellows.   I guess it assumed that if this guy wants color, I'm going to give him color...   When I first looked at the results I said -- oops, so I toned down the color saturation substantially, but decided to leave the image a bit over-saturated to remind me of all that intensity that was going on in the scene.


In the comments Sean was asking what Saturation is -- here is what the Red Histogram looks like for the poppy photo.   The reds are "blown out" (busting through the top limit of the graph), which is considered "bad form" amongst experienced Photoshoppers.




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sea-lions at Pier39, S.F.

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photo by Donald Kinney

Wednesday while on a leisurely walk along San Francisco's waterfront on my way over to the Tibet protest, I stopped by the incredibly tacky Pier39 to take a look at the only thing that Pier39 has going for it -- it's sea-lions.   Unfortunately my snaps of the sea-lions were nothing special, but I stopped on my way out and snagged these two durable creatures.



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concerned soul

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photo by Donald Kinney









Well folks, it looks like in my un-official poll it's about one vote FOR more protest photos, and one vote AGAINST more protest photos.   So I flipped a coin, and tails-it-is.   Here's four more...



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EXTRA -- Olympic Protest in S.F.

- - -   if you don't tell me to stop, I'll have more tomorrow   - - -


A huge crowd flocked to San Fancisco yesterday to protest the brutal teatment and killing of innocents in Tibet.   At this point, the Olympic Torch is nothing more a symbol of China's oppression and covered-up murder on the peaceful citizens of Tibet.   The protest was large, loud, colorful, intense and angry -- but it was quite civilized, and it seemed like everybody was having a good time, while throwing a political fit at the same time...   Bless Asian Americans...

Egret at San Pablo Bay

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photo by Donald Kinney

I've got to do some more work on this photo, but I thought I would show it at this stage anyway...   I need to crop it, bring the brightness up on the bird, straighten the horizon, lighten the water a little bit, get rid of the lens flares, clone out some small birds, and remove lights in the background -- I guess...

Those are a few of the great suggestions I got yesterday over at:
http://www.fredmiranda.com -- and everybody seemed to like the photo, but of course, anything can be improved...   If you have a suggestion on how to improve this photo, please let me know.   I think it would make a nice LARGE print -- whenever I get into making large prints...



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basket weaving material

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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, I am certainly no expert on the Native Indians who made a home in this paradise we know today as Marin County, but I'm pretty sure they would have found this particular plant useful for their tightly-woven baskets.   Near this same spot (Roy's Redwoods, near San Geronimo) a friend showed me a ground-hugging plant called "soap-root".   We dug it out of the ground, crushed it's roots in our hands, added some water (from the nearby bucolic creek) and presto, we had a soapy lather with which to wash our hands.   Worked great!



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original or crispy

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photo by Donald Kinney

Sunday morning I somehow ended up in San Francisco, and when I spotted a vacant parking spot near the corner of Taylor and Pacific I grabbed it and walked down the steep hill to Chinatown.   I managed to snag this photo, and I think I'll eventually crop it into a square, but I thought it was kind of interesting. --Looks like Colonel Saunders isn't the only one who offers both original recipe and crispy...



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gates and spire - Marin Civic Center

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photo by Donald Kinney

Although there were trials and tribulations along the way, Frank Lloyd Wright had a long and successful career as an architect, but by the '50's when he designed the fabulous Marin County Civic Center I'm pretty sure his staff did most of the actual design work for the nuts-and-bolts of the structure.   But I'm sure F.L.W. oversaw the really important design details.   My only question is; "what in the heck were those architects smoking?"...



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Marin County Civic Center

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photo by Donald Kinney

Marin County Civic Center was designed in the '50's by Frank Lloyd Wright.
He called this style of architecture - "organic", and it's an absolutely amazing building!   When it was first built a lot of people hated it and called it a waste of taxpayer's money as well as an eyesore, but these days most everyone has come to love it for it's futuristic design.   Most local residents call it by it's unofficial name:   "The Blue Roof"...

As I was leaving I stopped for one last shot of the "far out" gate (big photo above), and one of the county supervisors stopped to say hello and give me a tip about a vantage point for a sweeping view of the entire building.   But of course I know about that spot, and had shot it earlier -- but I was amazed that such an important man would stop and strike up a conversation with such a knave like me.   For sure -- he's going to get my vote in the next election...



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morning at the G.G.B.

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photo by Donald Kinney

Thursday morning before dawn I decided to get an early start and place my bets on what might be going on down at the Golden Gate Bridge -- sometimes there can be incredible sunrises down there.   On the way I couldn't miss the beautiful crescent moon in the sky, and my heart actually started to race a bit -- as I raced my little car the 15 miles or so it is to the bridge from where I live.

But when I got to my lookout spot at the top of Conzelman Road, the crescent moon was way too high in the sky to include it in a shot with the bridge, so I packed up my camera and tripod and headed down to the little point near Fort Baker on the east side of the bridge, just about at water level.   And no, that first shot isn't red paint or blood in the water -- it's supposed to be a reflection of one of the bridge towers, but it's pretty hard to tell, I suppose.   And I kind of like the second shot of the sunrise, and I think I should get extra points for getting up so darned early in the morning...



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California Poppy

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photo by Donald Kinney

California Poppies are popping out all over, and admirers say they haven't seen such an incredible display in years...   And everybody has their own theory -- but I don't quite know who to believe...   Someone I know has a theory that whenever wildflowers put on such a show it means that they already know somehow that next winter and spring is going to be especially harsh -- they have an ingenious way of knowing what's coming...   Their intentions are to sow as many seeds as possible now, so their offspring will have a better chance of survival...   Got a theory?   Lets hear it...



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bee on tufted vetch

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photo by Donald Kinney

Tufted Vetch seems to be more of a weed than a wildflower, but it's lavender color is pretty and the bees really love it.   To tell you the truth, I really don't know the difference between a flower and a weed (help me out on this one folks).   This plant grows profusely in large clumps -- I understand it's a member of the pea family -- with long tendrils that grab on to surrounding vegetation for support, often strangling their neighbors in the process.   And yes, there have been a few occasions when I wanted to strangle my neighbors, but please don't call me a vetch...



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wispy cloud 'n tree

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photo by Donald Kinney



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nice morning in the forest

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photo by Donald Kinney

On Saturday -- all the while I was taking this photo -- I was reminding myself just how lucky I am to live nearby.   Found it between the old railroad right-of-way that leads to Taylor State Park, and the bubbling and bucolic Lagunitas Creek.

---------------------------------------------
Yesterday I wrote a comment in http://www.whatimseeing.com -- one of my favorite blogs (written from the perspective of a younger generation), and I typed out this comment that is way too long, but it was a trip-down-memory-lane, and I thought some of your folks might enjoy [ endure ] it, so here it is:
----------------------------------------------

I read with rapt attention to Travis Jensen's life story -- or at least the brief parts he shared with us -- I'm sure there is much, much more.   I don't think many skateboards were around when I was a kid, but I do remember kids who would occasionally nail regular skates to the bottoms of two-by-fours.   For me, building coasters was fun and about all the risk I could handle...

But hearing that Travis Jensen writes for the Chronicle will inspire me to buy it more often than I do and search out his work.   Disrespectfully, I've always called the Chronicle -- the Comical...   Yes, it is a time-honored and prestigious newspaper, but you've got to admit it's been pretty bad at certain stages over the years.   At times Herb Caen was the only column worth reading.   When he died the only good thing remaining IMHO was when Macy's ran a big bra and panty advertisement.

Now, I don't know exactly why I feel I need to mention all of this, but my father worked for the Chronicle for two or three years back in the '50's as a bookkeeper, and about all I can remember is his comments about how much he hated his bosses and working there.

Get this -- the job situation for accountants in the Monterey area must have been so bad in the 1950's (he worked as a bookeeper for a succession of canneries on Cannery Row, as one by one, they all folded) that he decided to take a job at the Chronicle, about 115 miles to the north.
Our family owned a sleek 1947 Pontiac, but he commuted by Greyhound on the weekends between Monterey and San Francisco.   He would leave Monterey on Sunday afternoon, room and board with my grandparents who lived in Marin County, and then commute into the City on the bus each day, until Friday evening when he would take Greyhound back to Monterey.   All that time he was considering moving our family to San Francisco or Marin County, but eventually he landed a bookeeping job in Monterey with the school district.

But I DO remember going to, but not inside, the Chronicle Building back in the '50's...   I probably was no older than 8, but I remember having to wait in the Pontiac while he took mom inside to meet his bosses.   Before leaving me and my brother in the car he gave us the lecture of our lives about not getting out of the car or letting anyone in...   My brother and I sat there all the while absolutely petrified that some terrible harm might come our way as we were waiting.   I doubt if Mission Street in that area looked too much different in those days than it does today.

Anyway, I still don't know why I had to tell you all of that, but there you go...



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