like a moth to a candle

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photo by Donald Kinney

The sign reads "Point Bonita Lighthouse--Scenic Route" and it isn't kidding. This road is within "spitting distance" of the Golden Gate Bridge. And true to form, just like "Pavlov's dogs", the closer I get, and as more beauty is revealed; the more I start salivating.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The view to the south-west. See the tiny blip of light on the left? Those are cars on the "Great Highway" in San Francisco.



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photo by Donald Kinney

And yes, the small feature on the right is one of the Farallon Islands. Wikipedia is back up and running today so I have this information:

The Farallon Islands, or Farallones (from the Spanish farallón meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff"), are a group of islands and sea stacks in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of San Francisco, California, USA. They lie 27 miles (43 km) outside the Golden Gate and 20 miles (32 km) south of Point Reyes, and are visible from the mainland on clear days. The islands are officially part of the City and County of San Francisco, California. The only inhabited portion of the islands is on Southeast Farallon Islands (SEFI), where research residents (PRBO) stay.

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photo by Donald Kinney

And yes, that's the Point Bonita lighthouse that has been helping guide ships through the risky entrance to the Golden Gate since 1877. Prior to 1877 the lighthouse was located at a higher elevation but it was found that by positioning the light lower it would be less obscured by fog.

Oh what would my humble little blog do without Wikipedia? You can read a bit more about the Point Bonita Light by clicking here.

And if you would like to see a closer image of the lighthouse--one I shot almost exactly three years ago--click here.


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a Eucalyptus stump kind of morning

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photo by Donald Kinney

As I was huffing and puffing up a steep ridge at China Camp on Sunday I wasn't quite sure I would find anything to photograph or not.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But sometimes I just like to take my HEAVY camera out for a walk. And with the sun taking the chill off of a frigid morning it couldn't have been any nicer of a day.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Eucalyptus was brought to California from Australia over a century ago and was planted far and wide throughout the State, mainly to serve as windbreaks for farmer's fields. It grew straight and without many knots so at first it was thought it would make great wood for construction, but a few years down the road it was realized that Eucalyptus cracked and split so easily that it was totally unsuitable as a building material. Today it has a bad reputation as a fire hazard and has caused major problems, as it did in the major Oakland Hills fire-storm of 1991.

Being a non-native species, and the fact that few native plants choose to grow beneath it, efforts to eradicate Eucalyptus have intensified over the years. These stumps remain from when these trees were cut about 15 years ago--notice the splitting and cracking that has taken place in just that short period of time.


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adios, Taylor State Parik

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photo by Donald Kinney

Come July 1, our Governor, "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown will shut about 70 of California's 280 state parks. Taylor State Park (formerly known as Samuel P. Taylor State Park) will be closed until California can work itself out of a budget crisis.

In November 2010, voters rejected a plan to keep all the parks open when they turned down Proposition 21, which would have raised vehicle license fees $18 a year. "Moonbeam" Brown's mantra has been "let the people decide" -- he may as well have been saying; "let them eat cake".



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It's pretty difficult to padlock a creek. Or a ripple, reflection, or tree. After all, Taylor State Park belongs to the people and critters of California, and not just "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown.



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The fact is that shutting down a quarter of California's century-old state park system will save only $22 million -- two-tenths of 1 percent of California's $9.2 billion deficit. Attempts at closing parks in other states have resulted in costly vandalism. Some also point out that closing the parks will actually cost the state millions of dollars in lost taxes from tourism.
(source: San Jose Mercury News)

So why do it?

Seeing beloved beaches, campsites and redwood forests padlocked during the summer could help persuade recalcitrant California residents that the state's budget problems are real -- and make them more likely to vote for Brown's tax-hike initiative in November, political experts say.

Thank you, NOT, Governor "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown for playing politics with my ripples, reflections, and trees.


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afternoon visit to Roy's Redwoods

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photo by Donald Kinney

Saturday afternoon I realized it had been way too long since I had visited one of my favorite places here in Marin County, Roy's Redwoods. The Roy family settled here way back in the 1860's.

I found this deer skull sitting on top of a signpost. Initially I was a bit creeped out, since it was pretty much in this condition that I finally found my beloved cat, Kitty, a few months ago. But with this deer skull I could see the beauty of the construction and engineering that goes into a life-form--it was about as close to spirituality as I usually come.

But this skull didn't look quite so presentable until I made some adjustments and gave it a new background with the aid of Photoshop. Click here to see what I started with.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Roy's Redwoods is part of Marin County's public open space, preserved for posterity and shielded from development. It's a bit "low key"--many local residents don't know it even exists. Without much of a sign to announce what is beyond, a person can drive right by the entrance and never know this Redwood studded gem was there.



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Sad fact is that starting in the late 1800's Marin County's Redwoods were largely cut down; clear-cut to satisfy San Francisco's insatiable need for lumber. "Old growth" trees are now far and few between and most Redwoods we see today have sprouted from the roots of trees felled over 100 years ago. Life goes on, as I'm sure the progeny of that deer has also.


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Groovie !

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photo by Donald Kinney

Some photographers--some of the greatest--work with people. And not that I have ANYTHING against photographing people, I feel more at home sleuthing around the banks of my beloved Lagunitas Creek seeking out ripples and reflections. In a term that dates back to the 1960's, I think they're groovie.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Okay. The preceding groovie-water image is new, but I shot this sign and the yellow vinyl record below in November of 2008. (((I always let you know when I use an old image)))

For years I did a little website of my own design called the "Daily-Duo", where each day I would try to come up with a pairing of images--one square and the other rectangular. I had great fun with the site, but it never gained much popularity. Interested? You can check out the July 22, 2009 edition of the Daily-Duo here.



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Oh yeah, I suppose you need some information... "Grooves" is a vinyl record store on upper Market Street in San Francisco. This "record" and many others hang in the window, and I did a blog post on "Grooves" November 19, 2008, which you can see here.

But before you go off exploring that link, maybe I should first explain what a "vinyl record" is--I think this may explain the origins of the word "groovie".

As I remember, grooves containing microscopic hills and valleys were stamped on a flat vinyl disc in one long and continuous spiral fashion. The needle of a "record player" was then used to track vibrations produced by minor variations in these grooves -- and THAT is where I believe is where the expression "groovie" originated. Roughly translated, "groovie" means "cool" and "interesting". "Far out" would also be synonymous with groovie. In the form of a sentence; "I hope you're having a groovie day".


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reflective beauty of the Lagunitas Creek

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photo by Donald Kinney

Not having seen any Coho Salmon spawning in my beloved Lagunitas Creek for several days now, I've had to return to shooting what I know best--the abstract beauty of the creek on it's reflective surface.



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photo by Donald Kinney

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really, these are my roots

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photo by Donald Kinney

It was really early and really cold, and even though my tripod is really heavy and I really hate to carry it, I thought I should really stop by Phoenix Lake and photograph my favorite roots on a really stable platform so I could take a really long exposure at a really small f-stop so I could get some really extended depth-of-field.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But in reality, I just don't use my tripod as much as I really should. But as I mentioned it's really heavy, and really, it really isn't difficult, usually, really, to find something that I can brace the camera on for steadiness. A tree, rock, fencepost, or even my knee. Combined with the image stabilization of my lens, I think my bracing technique works really well. Unless, of course if it's a really long exposure--this one required a full 30 seconds at f-22 (ISO-100), really.



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And it's probably really obvious that shooting in the middle of a blackberry patch can be problematic. Those stickers can really stick and scratch. But for a really colorful photo, I suppose I really don't mind.

Really glad you could stop by today. Have a really really nice day. Really!


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Don't fiddle with the controls, Donald

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photo by Donald Kinney

On Tuesday morning prospects for sunrise photographs didn't look good, so I tuned in to my old standby--Alpine Lake and Dam--it's not far away, but a million miles away in a distant galaxy, if you know what I mean.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I don't know where I got this idea, but I decided to heave a large rock out into the water to see what would develop. To my amazement I think I caught a bit of static on Channel44.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I turned a few knobs and pushed a few sliders...



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...and pointed the camera towards my beloved Mount Tamalpais.
Lets all say it together; "Tam - al - pie' - us. There--I think you've got it.
Zowie! Ka-bam! Pow! Tune in tomorrow. Same time, same Bat-channel.


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San Francisco's NorthBeach, early morning

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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, THIS doggie illustration is what I call "art". It comes from the soul of the neighborhood, and of course, the artist. A far-cry and a sight-better, in my opinion, than what is offered in San Francisco's stuffy museums and galleries.



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And I bet I could also call this scene "art", if I knew the right people. But I don't, and so I won't. Only a few people, I'm afraid, will ever see MY photographs--welcome to the club. Admission is always free.



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There's some great curio shops on upper Grant Street in NorthBeach. That's a photo of Kenneth Rexroth belting out poetry to the beat of a jazz trio.
Now, I'm as "old-as-dirt" but the whole "beat" scene happened a bit before my time.


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curious vegetation

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photo by Donald Kinney

I should probably give this idea a few more minutes in the oven, but perhaps you've heard my half-baked theory that the stranger the plant, the farther out in space that particular vegetation originated.



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But there's the problem--I suppose I'm trying to find answers to the question of beauty. Maybe I should just absorb beauty and let it work it's miracle.



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Coho Salmon now spawning in Lagunitas Creek

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photo by Donald Kinney

This is my creek. The mighty and beautiful, and mighty-beautiful Lagunitas. "La-goo-ni'-tas" -- the word means "little lagoons" in Spanish, so I'm told.



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photo by Donald Kinney

For the past few days I've been watching "Mom" here, dressed smartly in red and gold, guarding eggs that she has deposited in the gravel creek-bed.



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And here she is again, watching her beau kick up a little sediment as he goes about the important business of fertilizing her eggs.



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So, after depositing 2500 to 5000 eggs, and after "Jack" has had his day, "Mom" here will have completed her three year life cycle and die. A year in the creek as a juvenile, and two years at sea--always able to "sniff out" the particular stream or tributary of her birth.


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views from Marin Headlands

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photo by Donald Kinney

I'm not sure self-proclaimed titles are worth the paper they're printed on, but as Marin County's unofficial "Local Tourist" it's my duty to visit all of the local hotspots and places of interest. That's the Golden Gate Bridge in the foreground, and the suspension span of the Bay Bridge in the background.


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From Hawk Hill, the tallest peak in the area, it's a steep descent on a twisty one-way road to Black Sands Beach.



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The movement of the glistening surf on the dark sand captivates me.



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And the ocean calls...


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early morning dreams

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photo by Donald Kinney

About four years I can remember most of us being caught up in a fervent hope that with change we could make a difference. But once again, it's the old story of the wolf being dressed in sheep's clothing. Drat! Fooled again!



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So, I'll just have to settle, I suppose, for a different kind of peace. My own.



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I will continue to find peace in my own little early morning world. An extraordinarily nice time of the day. A time of day that any type of war seems inconceivable. Oh, I am such a dreamer...


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Donald Kinney, local tourist

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photo by Donald Kinney

The great thing about living near San Francisco is that I get to play the role of tourist without having to venture far from home.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Sometimes it's a big adventure...



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and sometimes it's small.



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But it's not difficult to find a place for a delightful early-morning walk-around in San Francisco. The trick is to get to these places, like like Fisherman's Wharf and Pier39, before the hordes of genuine tourists arrive.


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