straight to my heart, San Francisco

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photo by Donald Kinney

Incoming ships with goods have been replaced by big boatloads of tourists.
I travel to San Francisco on a regular basis. Usually for no apparent reason.



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Funny business--some say with this huge privately funded "public" sculpture. Over the top--the ego of the Fisher family, knowing exactly what we wanted.

So here is the controversy in a nutshell: Over many years the S.F. Arts Commission has allowed a great number of artists to show their privately owned work in public spaces for a limited amount of time. For some reason, Don Fisher's "Cupid's-Span" was not held accountable to the same rules as everybody else. Like it, hate it, or just can't figure it out--we're stuck with it.



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Meanwhile, in Northbeach, dinner is served. Heavy on garlic. Splash of oil. Maybe a little real art, maybe a little live music. Get some bodies dancing.


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San Francisco, shadow and light

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photo by Donald Kinney

City of contrasts. Wealthy, desperately poor; and light in all sorts of moods.



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Flying books. Buildings hanging like Xmas ornaments. Only in San Francisco.



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Of course, San Fran already has sufficient meaning. No need for sculpture. Really, San Francisco... You are getting QUITE carried away with it all.


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black and white skies; volcanos, bridges and bubbles

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sea-ya at Duxbury Reef

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photo by Donald Kinney

Far-out and isolated... Yeah, but good luck finding the place. But I suppose it is more fun that Duxbury Reef is off the beaten path.



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All up and down the coast is kelp--giant forests that we see only the tops. These flat "leaves" are suspended by the buoyant air-filled bulb, on left...



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...while tentacles hold-fast, quite tenaciously, to rock 30 or 40 feet below.



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Kelp is in LOTS of things. The iodine kelp contains is said to be a cure for goiter. Also is used widely in Asian cooking. A kelp-derived carbohydrate (alginate) is used to thicken products such as ice cream, jelly, salad dressing, and toothpaste. Makes a great emulsifier and is non-toxic so it slips into a LOT of our food products, such the gooey stuff inside a Twinkie.

From the early 1970's to the mid-80's I worked as a paint-maker for a small company that made a water-base textile printing ink; Versatex. The formula has changed since then, but one of our ingredients was a certain amount of kelp powder, which I premixed with water to form a thick gel. Its purpose in our paint was to keep aqueous components homogenous and in suspension with the other ingredients, preventing "migration" or bleeding of the ink.


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Eucalyptus driftwood at Duxbury Reef

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Eucalyptus is not native to California but came as an Australian import--planted widely throughout the state 100 or so years ago. Fast growing and straight, it makes fine windbreaks around farmland. The splintery nature of Eucalyptus makes it unsuitable for use as railroad ties or most all other construction purposes. Perfect for photogs, though--love that coarse grain.

These Eucalyptus stumps and trees have apparently fallen down from high cliffs above the beach at Duxbury Reef, near Bolinas. These cliffs get hammered during winter storms, crumbling without a moments notice.


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Montezuma Hills adventure, part 3 of 3

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Over 40 years ago I met the lady rancher who lived in this shack. In those days she had it fixed up quite nicely, from what I could see on the outside.

She stopped her pickup next to me on that dusty road and asked what-in-the-Sam-Hill-I-was-taking-a-picture-of. "Stubble", I said. The side-lighting late in the day was making it look coarse, like the bristles of a scrub-brush.

Those were the days when I was using my 4x5 view camera shooting with Polaroid#52 film packets. Costly; $1.60 per shot in the mid 1970's, but gave almost instantaneous results--much like digital. The prints were small--but I like small; 4-1/2" x 3-1/2", and have held up well over the years.



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So, yes I did manage to get myself thrown off private property on Saturday. I was snooping around the ruins of a barn and the shack (top photo). Fortunately, not before I had gotten my shots.

A rancher on his ATV putted up near me, and the script sort of wrote itself; "I guess you don't want me in here", and "Okay, I'll walk out", and finally "Sorry to bother you". The rancher only said; "out", and I'm guessing he didn't speak a whole lot of English. Spanish is not my strong-suit either.



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This concludes our 3-day tour of one of MY favorite places; Montezuma Hills.


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Montezuma Hills adventure, part 2 of 3

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The old...



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The new...



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Yes... Electricity to power all those warm electronic gismos I love so much.
I am truly indebted to you, Mr. P.G.&E...

Well, here's the story;
It is simple math--and the big investment corporations like New York Life Insurance are sinking huge sums into 4 million dollar wind turbines. French company EDF Engergies Nouvelles also has a big piece of the pie.
Iberdrola Renewables holds claim to "largest Montezuma Hills player".

Clean and renewable energy generation is big business but also helping to save the planet, at least a few megawatts at a time. Currently, no coal fired generating plants are being built in the U.S., so either the price is going to go way up or we're going to have to plug into sources like wind and solar.

Sorry I don't have a total count of all windmills, but I'd estimate 500 or more. There has been an explosion of windmills since I first started coming to these peaceful rolling hills over 40 years ago. At first there were only twenty or thirty, of a much smaller type. They are still generating electricity today, feeding into the grid. All these companies have contracts to sell their generated power to P.G.&E. But of course, initial investment is enormous.

The land for the turbines is leased from two dozen (+/-) local landowners, who continue to use it for sheep grazing and growing wheat. Wheat is the major crop here. Cows are allowed to roam in the stubble after the fields are cut. Ranchers and farmers receive sizable checks for the use of their land. Up close, the wind turbines do produce a bit of noise, but the cattle and sheep don't seem to mind. Bird-strikes is a common windmill problem.

The Montezuma Hills is probably one of the best places to "plant" a farm of windmills. Moderate winds blow across these low hills year-around.
Location: base of Sacramento Delta, between Rio Vista and Fairfield.
CLICK for a great webpage showing how these massive 250' towers, with three long blades and a giant generator, are assembled and erected.
--more tomorrow...


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Montezuma Hills adventure, part 1 of 3

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Tell you a little secret--this photo whooped-my-butt.  In color, no matter HOW much I fooled with overall color temperature and the individual colors themselves, I just couldn't arrive at anything other than an assault on my eyeballs. Fortunately, in Photoshop it is easy to switch to black and white. That's the secret cure for an image with recalcitrant colors, in my opinion.



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Yes, on Saturday I motored over to one of my favorite places on Planet Earth; the Montezuma Hills, which is at the base of the Sacramento Delta, between Fairfield and Rio Vista. Almost NOBODY lives there and almost NOBODY goes there--that's why I love it there. A get-away from it all...



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Those are the tips of turbine windmills, generating electricity from the nearly constant breeze in this area. More about these windmills tomorrow.



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This is sheep ranching country. Skiddish creatures--had to make the snap without getting out of the car. A wire fence impeded the camera's view.



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The Montezuma Hills is cattle country too.  I've never realized that barbed wire apparently makes a great scratching tool.   --continued tomorrow...


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morning adventure to Nicasio

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Nicasio Reservoir is a curious place, and until I find out otherwise I'm just going with a notion that these curious looking plants are from Outer Space.



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And I can imagine all sorts of mystical stories regarding the origin of fog.



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Messages in the ripples? Most likely so. Some code. I do not have a clue...


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Golden Gate Bridge -- just prior to sunrise

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A note I received from the GGB's public affairs director in 2010:



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When I received this letter I have to admit I was a bit miffed--after all, I wasn't selling all that many of my photos in 2010. But after a bit of back-and-forth e-mailing Ms Currie and I worked out a deal. On the "offending" photos I agreed to put a note clearly stating that those specific images were not for sale. "Works for me", Ms Currie said. End of story. No $2000 fee.



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But when you think about it, this policy of the GGB sort of makes sense. After all, everybody-and-their-brother would be wanting to be doing commercial and wedding photography on the span, quite possibly creating a distraction for motorists and an impediment for pedestrians, however I think the $2000 fee is more than a bit abusive. "Usury", I think they call it in law.

Just don't get me going on the subject of the elimination of the toll-takers on the Bridge. The billing system is a nightmare, and if you are even one day late with your payment the owner of the vehicle is summarily fined $20 per instance. Bloody and heartless bastards--those Bridge people, in my opinion.
Click to find out how much Bridge directors and employees earned in 2007.


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splish splash, I was taking a bath

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Brisk winds whipped up some heavy surf at Rodeo Beach on Wednesday. I need to ask my surfer-dude buddy about this, but apparently gnarly waves like this are not conducive to a pleasurable surfing experience, as not one surfer was in the water--where there normally might be a dozen or more.



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So, a surfer's loss is a photographer's gain. And yes, I DID get my feet wet.



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Yeah, those waves can be sneaky. You've got to watch out for those bubbles.


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foggy adventure on Mt. Tamalpais

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Yes, make that boy happy... Give him some fog. Maybe some mossy trees.



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Throw in some Redwood trees with the fog and he will be even happier.



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Roll those hills, roll that fog; lights... camera... action...


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in search of heavy fog -- didn't find any

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I grew up in the little ocean-side town of Pacific Grove, so I am no stranger to fog. Heavy fog. Fog thick enough to cut with a knife. Fog so dense that visibility is measured in noses, not yards. Fog that can chill a boy to the bone. Fog so soupy and drippy that a certain young lad might have had second thoughts about not wearing his rain-gear.



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So, last Thursday I thought, surely, a massive amount of fog would be waiting, but I arrived at the twisty grove of Cypresses at San Francisco's "Land's End" only to find much less than I had hoped for. And yes, the trees were still artfully ghostly--just not quite enough "vapors" to evoke a mood.



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An adventurous hike took me down to Sutro Bath Ruins, where I have rarely seen such a low tide--revealing a wide and wet sandy beach. One old codger with a camera, one fisherman without much luck, and a plethora of gulls.



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ripples and reflections -- temporary works of art

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I'm afraid I will never achieve the coveted super-power of being "invisible". So I guess I'll just have to deal with people and their harmless but often asked question; "What in the world are you taking a picture of?"



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Oh, I usually point, and exclaim with as much excitement as I can muster; "Little temporary works of art, right there in the water".



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Then comes a reply to the tune of; "Oh, are you an artist? To which I always feel obligated to launch into my diatribe about how Edward Weston never allowed anyone to call HIM an artist. That being called a "photographer" was sufficient... Anyway, I'm certainly no Edward Weston, but I've always wondered if E.W. ever fantasized over that same super-power--"invisibility". [ note: this last image is not new -- taken August 29, 2012 ]


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