February 28, 2013

cemetery at Collinsville, California


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photo by Donald Kinney

AphotoAday is skipping tomorrow (Friday). I'll be back Saturday.

I'm sure most motorists would opt for instant teleportation, rather than suffer the 15 miles of apparent nothingness between Fairfield and Rio Vista. Perhaps even the 7 mile side trip to a one-horse town named Bird's Landing past enormous wind generators wouldn't raise their curiosity one iota. But lets keep going on this side road--eventually it will end in Collinsville, at the very base of the Sacramento River.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Not a whole lot of people are buried in the Collinsville Cemetery, but these folks were farmers and ranchers, and maybe even a merchant or two. Dry farming is a difficult proposition. Raising cattle and sheep probably isn't any easier. Who knows--maybe these people just worked themselves to death.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So there it is, the end of the Sacramento River. The end of life. No regrets.


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February 27, 2013

a peaceful Montezuma Hills


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photo by Donald Kinney

When I spotted this hillside of newly sprouted wheat I knew EXACTLY who would appreciate the image. And sure enough, my good friend Jan Bell of Bell Images sent a note with his stamp of approval. Personally, I am somewhat ambivalent about the photo--I am a lot more enthusiastic about the OTHER 1100 snaps I made in the Montezuma Hills on Sunday morning.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So, I probably am more interested in hearing from YOU as to what this image "does for you", but the message I get from it is symbolic of peace. It's those three blades on that windmill...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Believe me, this is the middle of no-where. Several miles down a rough gravel road off of another road where very few folks venture. Closest to Heaven that I will probably ever get!

But back in 1968 I met the lady who lived in this shack. With my 4x5 view camera I was photographing a nearby hillside of wheat stubble when that lady stopped to ask what in the "Sam Hill" I might be taking a picture of. She just couldn't understand or see it... "It is just stubble", she said, to which I tried my best to explain the beauty of the textures and patterns.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So yesterday I mentioned the Montezuma Hills is sheep ranching country, so of course I feel obligated to show you some sheep. Oh, they are SO skiddish--I wish I had been able to get some better shots. I was in such a hurry to snap this that I moved the camera slightly, and of course the sheep were bobbling around as well. I'll keep trying.


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February 26, 2013

wind turbines at Montezuma Hills


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photo by Donald Kinney

Okay, I will admit that I got rather excited when this scene opened up in front of me, but the more I look at the photo the less I like it. Contrails, although "arty", spew from military planes--crews training for the endless string of illegal wars that our government seems hell-bent in pursuing.

But welcome to the Montezuma Hills, a place few have reasons to visit, EXCEPT for dopey hunters who delight in blasting birds and call it sport.



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photo by Donald Kinney

In my youth I frequently came here to photograph the low rolling hills with my 4x5 view camera. A more peaceful place is difficult to find. Montezuma Hills is west of Highway-12 between Fairfield and Rio Vista at the base of the Sacramento Delta. Wheat is a major crop here and sheep abound.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Forty years ago only a few experimental "first generation" wind turbines had been "planted", but today there are several hundred highly efficient 3 bladed windmills, a few as tall as 400 feet, spinning away, helping satisfy insatiable demands for electricity. Montezuma Hills gets more than its share of wind.


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February 25, 2013

powerful symbols and a pointy tower in San Francisco


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photo by Donald Kinney

--Some curious facts I found on Wikipedia:
According to the San Francisco Planning Department, Chinatown is "the most densely populated urban area west of Manhattan," with 15,000 residents living in 20 square blocks. In the 1970s, the population density in Chinatown was seven times the San Francisco average.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Many working-class Hong Kong Chinese immigrants began arriving in large numbers in the 1960s and despite their status and professions in Hong Kong, had to find low-paying employment in restaurants and garment factories in Chinatown because of limited English fluency.



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photo by Donald Kinney

With national unemployment in the wake of the Panic of 1873, racial tensions in the city boiled over into full blown race riots. In response to the violence, the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association or the Chinese Six Companies, which evolved out of the labor recruiting organizations for different areas of Guangdong, was created as a means of providing the community with a unified voice. The heads of these companies were the leaders of the Chinese merchants, who represented the Chinese community in front of the business community as a whole and the city government.

The anti-immigrant sentiment became law as the United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – the first immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. This law, along with other immigration restriction laws such as the Geary Act, greatly reduced the numbers of Chinese allowed into the country and the city, and in theory limited Chinese immigration to single males only. Exceptions were in fact granted to the families of wealthy merchants, but the law was still effective enough to reduce the population of the neighborhood to an all time low in the 1920s.

The exclusion act was repealed during World War II under the Magnuson Act in recognition of the important role of China as an ally in the war, although tight quotas still applied. Not unlike much of San Francisco, a period of criminality ensued in some tongs on the produce of smuggling, gambling and prostitution, and by the early 1880s, the population had adopted the term Tong war to describe periods of violence in Chinatown, the San Francisco Police Department had established its so-called Chinatown Squad. The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake that leveled most of the city.


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February 24, 2013

San Francisco, stuck in my eye


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photo by Donald Kinney

Believe it or not, books fly in San Francisco. A tall pyramid pierces the sky.



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photo by Donald Kinney

DeLucci Sheet Metal Shop exudes confidence. Yes, your car WILL be towed.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Bring two slices of bread with you, and you can almost make a sandwich.


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February 23, 2013

a jazzy and reflective Lagunitas Creek


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photo by Donald Kinney

Give specks of sun one-thirtieth of a second to dance in fast moving water, and they can scribe some rather jazzy lines.



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photo by Donald Kinney

As water spreads out it slows, becoming reflective and mirror-like.



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photo by Donald Kinney

A little art show on-the-fly as it passes over creek-bed convolutions.


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February 22, 2013

fog, sun, and two ducks at Nicasio


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photo by Donald Kinney

'Twas a struggle between sun and thick fog steaming off the lake at Nicasio.



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photo by Donald Kinney

'Twas a shivering 28 degrees. But a mantra of *wow*s kept me quite warm.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Ducks seemed happy as clams. Clams as warm as worms. Life goes on...


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February 21, 2013

posterizing my "hopeless" images


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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh brother... Tuesday SHOULD have been full of photo-opportunities. After all, a storm had just rolled through and dramatic clouds decorated the sky.
I tried, but the cards just didn't seem to be stacked in my favor.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, I might be all wet, but when I end up with an image that doesn't quite make the grade, I sometimes am able to salvage the image by posterizing, or limiting the number of colors. Oh, I'll let you be the judge--here is the same image un-posterized. That is Point Reyes peninsula in the distance.

I used the Posterize tool in PhotoshopCS5 to make these JPEG images, but another method for posterizing an image is to save it not as a JPEG but as a GIF. Either way the number of colors can be selected. JPEGs tend to have slightly smoother transitions between colors, while GIFs generally produce smaller file sizes. Normally, a GIF is only used for simple web graphics with a limited number of colors.


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February 20, 2013

Lagunitas Creek, arty, jazzy, and bubbly


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photo by Donald Kinney

Those of you familiar with my snaps might know that I am rather uneasy with the term "art" when it comes to photography, after all I do a lot more "taking" than "creating". But in the case of my ripple and reflection work I will concede that some of my images may possibly flirt with a bit of "artiness". Discovery can, indeed, be a meaningful process.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Jazzy water. Brief and transitory. Of the moment. Reacting to influence...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Bubbly water. Dancing in crazy patterns on the surface. Turbulence below.


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February 19, 2013

tree, bush, and blossoms


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photo by Donald Kinney

China Camp is home to many huge Black-Oaks that are just as graceful and artistic as they are old. Unfortunately, many of them are dying.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Live-Oaks (like this scrub) and the larger Black-Oaks have taken a huge hit here in California due to a pathogen that causes "Sudden Oak Death".



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photo by Donald Kinney

This fruit tree is not native to the area, but is a reminder that people lived, fished, and ranched here at China Camp on San Pablo Bay--the northern "thumb" of San Francisco Bay. China Camp once supported a substantial shrimp harvesting operation but is now a California State Park, a popular get-away for local hikers, mountain-bikers, artists, and photographers.


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February 18, 2013

cat-tails, Canada geese, river otters, and thistles


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photo by Donald Kinney

As you probably know by now, my favorite time of day is early morning. Throw in a bit of fog and a sun desperately trying to break through, and I will have pretty much died-and-gone-to-Heaven.



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photo by Donald Kinney

These Canada Geese were most likely sharing my religious thoughts.



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photo by Donald Kinney

A rare and unusual morning. I spotted two River Otters at Nicasio Reservoir.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The new crop is on the way, but many thistles from last year still stand. Ghost-like perhaps. I suspect there is some sort of spiritual lesson here...


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February 17, 2013

sunrise, fat and thin


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photo by Donald Kinney

This subtle scene caught my eye a few days ago. I call this 3-to-2 aspect ratio my "fat" format, and of course I also use it in a vertical orientation.



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photo by Donald Kinney

In June of 2011 I had the rare opportunity to have my portfolio reviewed and critiqued by a highly respected member of the photographic community; Brooks Jensen who publishes LensWork Magazine. Aside from some technical issues which he made abundantly clear, he realized that many of my images could be drastically improved if I simply chopped off their tops and bottoms, turning them into panoramas.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So there you have it. An epiphany that has really changed the way I see and work. Brooks Jensen also pointed out that a "thin" photo would be conducive to the web, as it takes up less space. And oh yes, beyond the few technical issues, Brooks actually LIKED a lot of my work. Who would have known...


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February 16, 2013

bright, black and white


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photo by Donald Kinney

Black and white is an old friend. It takes me back to my youth. Singlehandedly, perhaps, my purchases of film, light sensitive paper and chemicals kept Eastman Kodak and the Agfa corporation in business.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Black and white, and hopefully a full range of tones between the two extremes. But I didn't take color out of these images--by shooting in the direction of the sun, this is how the tones appeared.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Some very accomplished photographers still carry on the tradition of black and white. Jan Bell, of Bell Images (winner of the Ansel Adams Gallery competition in 2011) uses the silvery tones in a way that seems entirely complete--where color would only detract from the dynamics of his stunning compositions. Jan's b&w work, including color, is at www.bellimages.com.


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February 15, 2013

the coast north of S.F.


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photo by Donald Kinney

Even though the weather was bright and sunny at Muir Beach on Tuesday morning, I pretty much had the swells and splashes all to myself.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Dark and moody.  Bright and splashy.  And drama, yes, often dramatic.



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photo by Donald Kinney

...


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February 14, 2013

I ♥ Roy's Redwoods


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photo by Donald Kinney

Yes, folks, I Roy's Redwoods...



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photo by Donald Kinney

A place where fat red trees are quite happy coexisting with skinny green.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Where children surround the mother tree. And where sprouts shoot skyward.


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February 13, 2013

sad girl at Bolinas Cemetery


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photo by Donald Kinney

Our sad girl of Bolinas didn't have any new stories for me. Nor did she share her ambitions. And really, after all these years I don't know much at all about the Garzoli family.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But perhaps, just by viewing his work I've learned some things about the stone-carver who produced this masterpiece. I imagine that hands and fingers are not easy to carve. Obviously, he put a little extra into the work.


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February 12, 2013

able-to-leap-great-distances-with-a-single-bound


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photo by Donald Kinney

Mostly, I'm pretty much your nondescript run-of-the-mill old codger, but put a camera in my hands and I am able-to-leap-great-distances-with-a-single-bound. It is a magic act of sorts. Freezing a moment-in-time sounds almost scientific. Ah yes, photography--a curious blend of art and science; an arty and geeky delight.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Hold the presses and call Nature Magazine... My early morning observations reveal that birds of all sorts take flight and seem to get extremely enthusiastic and excited in the few minutes preceding sunrise.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The Farallon Islands, west of San Francisco about 15 miles off the coast. Most easily accessed not by boat, but with a long lens and a bit of judicious enlarging and cropping.


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