November 30, 2013

Stanford University -- a rather brilliant place


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photo by Donald Kinney

I'm guessing that a lot of Bay Area residents have never stepped foot on the Stanford campus, but I've taken two night-classes there in recent years and it was a very exceptional experience. This (above) is the archway over the entrance to the Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery, but of course the more prestigious art gallery on campus is the Cantor Center for the Arts. The cast and carved stonework on the older buildings is absolutely fabulous.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The fountain out in front of the Hoover Tower is a real trip, as you can see. Checking the web I see that there is a total of 25 fountains on the sprawling Stanford campus--so far I've only found a few.


 


November 29, 2013

sunset from Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mt. Tamalpais


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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, Mount Tamalpais isn't far away, but with all the twists and turns in Fairfax-to-Bolinas Road it takes a good half hour to get up on the ridge. There are so many distractions along the way that there is real danger in being late for the sunset.



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photo by Donald Kinney

2000 feet below is Stinson Beach, and about a million miles out to sea is Asia. This is where one tectonic plate, with each successive slip of the San Andreas Fault, moves San Francisco and Los Angeles a few silly-milimeters closer together.


 


November 28, 2013

exploring black and white


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photo by Donald Kinney

Photography is a strange kind of animal... Sort of the lesser step-child of the traditional printmaking arts, but in the past several years the photo craft has gained more respect in galleries and museums. Pix-takers have multiplied like rabbits. Of course, digital imaging and Photoshop make it--oh so easy...



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photo by Donald Kinney

You will hear all sorts of theories, but with photography it is mostly monkey-see-monkey-do. But there are choices to be made and techniques to be dabbled in. Monochrome still has a place. At times, b&w is the best choice.

A little photo tip I've learned--when a color image is just not living up to expectations, try improving it by converting the image to black-and-white. You might be surprised and/or happy with the results.


 


November 27, 2013

the sun, she is a rising


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photo by Donald Kinney

As loyal as a dog. As faithful as Mother Teresa. A golden glow of the rising sun--more than sufficient to warm my deep, dark heart.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Followed by a blazing sun. Blindingly bright and unforgiving. Illuminating. Hot and searing, with more degrees than a Fulbright scholar.


 


November 26, 2013

directing traffic at Point Bonita


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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh gosh, I suppose now they have radar... But they still have a light out on Point Bonita that has been burning on foggy and dark nights for the past 136 years, doing a fine job keeping boats of all shapes and sizes off the jagged rocks at this northern entrance to the Golden Gate.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Not far away, about 3pm on a late November day, the ducks gather; and if they move at all, they tend to move slowly.  No traffic control needed.


 


Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin Civic Center


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photo by Donald Kinney

At the Marin Civic Center cars drive right through the building. No kidding. Stopping to look up--walkways turn into 4 levels of swoops. Straight angles are hard to find in this most far-out building.



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photo by Donald Kinney

It is almost as if the folded building gates could trumpet sounds of horns. Roof cut-outs challenge the imagination. Frank Lloyd Wright was definitely on a different level. He thought of this type of architecture as "organic", intending the building to become absorbed into the surrounding land.

I've done several blog posts on Marin Civic Center over the years. Click here or type "Marin Civic Center" into this blog's search block at top left:


 


November 24, 2013

a tranquil kind of place


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photo by Donald Kinney

Nothing quite as tranquil here in Marin than Lagunitas Creek--pronounced
"La - goo - ni' - tas" in Spanish, meaning "little lagoons", so I've been told.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I am enjoying a new book, "A Good Life" - Dairy farming in the Olema Valley: A history of the dairy and beef ranches of the Olema Valley and Lagunitas Canyon, Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California. [whew! now there is a title]

I am learning all about the ranching activity of our area called "west Marin". Soon I will be able to recite facts and figures about every farm and ranch going back to the mid-1800's. Names in the Bolinas and Olema cemeteries are beginning to come alive.


 


November 23, 2013

may there be roundness on earth


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photo by Donald Kinney

When I was a lad I had the opportunity to study the Word of God [King James version] in great depth, and from cover to cover, both Testaments. More parables than I could shake a stick. More Holiness than Swiss cheese.



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photo by Donald Kinney

And some whipper-snapper young Bible student just might have to straighten me out, but nowhere in that "great" story of creation does it say anything about the various aspects of roundness in this world. Astonishing, because roundness is everywhere. Without roundness it would be a very sharp world.


 


November 22, 2013

rock outcroppings and perhaps a whale tail


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photo by Donald Kinney

As advertised; rock outcroppings. The gloomy afternoon is a bonus. This is Nicasio, in west Marin County, about 30 miles northwest of San Francisco.



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photo by Donald Kinney

and perhaps a whale-of-a-tale would be to say that is the tail of a whale...


 


November 21, 2013

tracks, possibly from outer space


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photo by Donald Kinney

A few days ago I ambled out to the dunes at Abbott's Lagoon in Point Reyes. Sand dunes are the coveted "Holy Grail" for many landscape photographers.



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photo by Donald Kinney

It could be the print left by an Egret or Heron, but it also could be something more unexplained. Bird-prints make a good disguise. We will never know...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Endless ramblings? Apparently. Perhaps to throw us off track. Be watchful.


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November 20, 2013

shadow on the beach


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photo by Donald Kinney

A week ago--I think it was a Wednesday--I took the tripod and "neutral-density" filter along on an excursion to Rodeo Beach, not far north of the Golden Gate Bridge. I climbed a large boulder and noticed a faint shadow. These were 2 second exposures.


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November 19, 2013

hand-holding with my sweetie at Legion of Honor


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photo by Donald Kinney

That's right--you heard me right... Hand-holding with my sweetie [camera] at the Legion of Honor, after hours, in the dark; and good things developed.



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photo by Donald Kinney

San Francisco's Legion of Honor was built on old cemetery property out by the sea near [appropriately named] "Land's End". If ghosts and evil-spirits don't spook the visitors, the museum's humorless guards probably will.


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November 18, 2013

di Suvero -- I-beam sculpture at Legion of Honor


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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh, I'm not a fan of Mark Di Suvero, but these monstrosities are popping up in cities and museums around the world, not to mention our own Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge. Di Suvero's oversized art is IN right now.

What these sculptures have going for them is that they are big. That's about all. Quite a bit of work welding, bolting, and cabling it all together; but I see it as a jumble. Really fun to photograph, but a jumble, nonetheless...



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photo by Donald Kinney

This monstrosity at San Francisco's Legion of Honor sits in the parking lot, obstructing traffic like no other skewed 150 ton conglomeration of I-beams and plates. Here is a good link about sculptures at Crissy Field.


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November 17, 2013

running out of juice on Rodeo beach


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photo by Donald Kinney

Up and over Hawk Hill is easy-as-eating-pie. Sometimes I stop for photos. Sometimes fog puts on quite a dramatic show.



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photo by Donald Kinney

As fate would have it my battery died 5 minutes before these clouds turned an intense pink. I must remember to carry a spare.  Dateline: Wednesday "one of the most dramatic sunsets I've seen in a while", said photog Don K.


"Photographing Marin County"


November 16, 2013

both sides of the Legion of Honor


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photo by Donald Kinney

...welcome to wordless Saturday



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photo by Donald Kinney

...


"Photographing Marin County"


November 15, 2013

finding that right balance of fog


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photo by Donald Kinney

You know, if you look really closely on the left side of that big oak covered rock they call Spirit, you might notice some cattle grazing in morning mist.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Looking sideways you might see a dividing line across San Geronimo Valley. Moist fog on bottom and dryer air on top. Like one giant science experiment. A terrarium, of sorts, so they tell me...


"Photographing Marin County"


November 14, 2013

view from Pine Hill on Mt. Tamalpais


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photo by Donald Kinney

My beloved Mount Tamalpais has broad shoulders, along with a plethora of views that stir my soul warm-the-cockles of my deep-and-dark heart. Having "Mt. Tam" close--almost right out my back door--is a true gift.

37 miles away is the double-peaked Mount Diablo, or "Devil's Mountain" (as she is sometimes called). There are sacred Native Indian legends about both mountains that are probably a "stretch" to most any rational thinking person, but regardless they tend to hold the imagination, and are all available here.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Swinging the camera slightly south brings in focus the peak of Mount Tamalpais. Many know her as the "Sleeping Lady" or "Sleeping Indian Princess", since her outline from one angle or another can be visualized.


"Photographing Marin County"


November 13, 2013

life is a beach


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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh lets see... Human suffering, illness and disease, malcontent, wars, distrust, lies, deceit, failed relationships, teenagers, theft and larceny, aspersions, nuclear disasters, natural disasters, global warming, foreclosure, the military-industrial complex, inflation and recession, extraordinary rendition, unemployment, Comcast, government snooping, vermin, viruses, germs, spankings, ugly words, ugly thoughts, farts and body odor, the dentist, aging, broken hearts, and last but not least--my sex life; but hey, once in a while and if we are very, very lucky--like I am, life is a beach!


"Photographing Marin County"


November 12, 2013

high on a cliff overlooking Rodeo Beach


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photo by Donald Kinney

I've been having great fun recently with my very dark 8-stop "neutral density" filter, allowing me to slow time down to a crawl. This was a 6 second exposure at f-14, ISO-100. Lots can happens in 6 seconds, but that tiny speck of a bird on top of that tall rock remained in place. S--n--a--p.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Rodeo Beach is part of our huge, wonderful, and incredibly beautiful Golden Gate National Recreation Area, but as fate would have it, the damn Feds are "in charge" here and they have a list of regulations a mile long.

To my dismay the Federal government was responsible for cutting down every single pine tree on top of nearby Hawk Hill two years ago. Now they are preparing to mess with the off-leash dog regulations on Rodeo Beach. Perhaps what the Feds need, more than abusive regulations about dogs, is their fair dose of Federal Sequestration.  I am angry?  Well, yes I am!


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 11, 2013

Nicasio Reservoir -- a microclimate, extraordinaire


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photo by Donald Kinney

We are in the middle of a bad drought so Nicasio Reservoir, a long term storage reservoir for emergency use, has been getting lower and lower.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Nevertheless, Nicasio Reservoir is a stunningly beautiful place. And there is still enough water left to generate a microclimate all of its own. A cold night following a warm day can often be expected to produce a heavy fog the next morning, resulting in a highly mystical and rather beautiful morning treat.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 10, 2013

"bokeh" -- a phenomenon strictly photographic


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photo by Donald Kinney

Distracting backgrounds behind the subject are the bane of camerawork. Aside from selecting another background, the best way to cope with this situation is to employ a wide lens aperture, resulting in a shallow depth-of-focus. The subject will remain sharp while the background will be blurred.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But along with a blurry background something curious is likely to happen, especially if there are bright specular highlights. The blurred highlights will turn into circles, big or small, depending on the size of the lens opening. This is officially called "bokeh", pronounced as in a "bouquet" of flowers.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 09, 2013

on the edge of a restless sea


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photo by Donald Kinney

The sea-gulls were curious, as I must have been a terribly strange sight.



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photo by Donald Kinney

A 2 legged boy with a 3 legged tripod, in peril perhaps, of 1 large wave.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 08, 2013

viewed just a little bit differently


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photo by Donald Kinney

Perhaps this (above) is a bit abstract, so I've had my fingers crossed that you all managed to decipher what this actually is. Well, it is a 2 second exposure showing movement of water on a beach far below. What you are seeing here is the spent wave draining back out to sea.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Fortunately, I don't think I need to explain this image (above). Again, a lengthy exposure of 2 seconds gave the water a hint of movement. In order to achieve the long exposure I used an extremely dark neutral-density filter.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 07, 2013

Photoshop -- a big bag of tricks?


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photo by Donald Kinney

Okay, lets talk about this 800 pound Gorilla in the room. It answers to the often misunderstood name of Photoshop. I bring this up only because there have been SO many misconceptions over the years about Photoshop and what it is actually most often used for. Yes, certainly, Photoshop makes it possible to do cute tricks like swapping Diane Feinstein's head onto the body of Raquel Welch, but that is FAR from all of what Photoshop, or any of the other image processing programs, facilitate.

Photoshop is all about getting the MOST out of an image. But the main idea is to not make it obvious that any corrections have been made, and usually that calls for a bit, or a whole lot of restraint.

So, on the image above--aside from a slight boost in color-saturation, what you see is fairly accurate to the scene that was in front of me. Most of the work in Photoshop had to do with straightening the horizontal and vertical lines--corrections that are normally only possible with one of those huge "view cameras". Oh you know, the big old-fashioned camera with the accordion-like bellows and a multitude of swings, slides and tilts.


An oldie but goodie--my 4x5 view-camera with 210mm Schneider Symmar.



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photo by Donald Kinney

On the other hand, this oversaturated iteration of the image might look kind of cool at first--perhaps a throwback to the 1960's--but I assure you that I was just "having fun", taking Photoshop to its limits with reckless abandon. I should probably be ashamed of myself, but sometimes I just can't resist.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

November 06, 2013

and when nobody is looking


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photo by Donald Kinney

There is a certain time of day. And it is e-a-r-l-y. Tourists are safely tucked away in their $400 a night hotels. Yes, a most w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l time of day.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This second image is not new (taken August 1), and it really doesn't pair well with the first image, but I thought it deserved a repeat performance.


                            "Photographing Marin County"

 
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