9/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 32 of the book...   Taken July 2010.

The main part of Mount Tamalpais is a sculpted peak, but she also has a 5 mile long ridge rising almost 2000 feet above Stinson Beach and the Pacific Ocean below. The appropriately named Ridgecrest Boulevard stretches the full length of the ridge and views are exceptional. A great place at sunset.

Countless automobile commercials have been filmed on Ridgecrest Blvd over the years. Same goes for the also spectacular Fairfax-to-Bolinas Rd, just on the other side of town from where I reside. I am a lucky guy.

Tiny particles of dust allow moisture to coalesce. Then air and water temperature differentials, moisture content, pressure, and other scientific variables mysteriously manage to spew-forth vast volumes of finely divided particles of water. Low and creeping currents of fog advance from ocean towards land. Fog being heavier than air sinks, forming thick blankets.

Fog can come roaring-in-like-a-freight-train; or it can hang ghostlike.
An exceptional afternoon. Right place at the right time.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 29 of the book...   Taken October 2011.

I don't have a clue where I shot this image. Nor would I ever be able to revisit that particular event anyway. Fleeting moment, gone-with-the-wind.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 16 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

8/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 27...   Taken March 2013, at McIssac Ranch.

Occasionally I will stop here at the McIssac Ranch near the intersection of Platform Road and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard for a little conversation with this horse--but more often than not she is busy grazing somewhere on the hill. And it seems like these hills turn brown way too quickly, as they are now--but not for long. Winter rains are arriving--excitement is in the air.

But this was one of those Kodak-moments where all the elements just fell into place. Not that I was waiting for those birds to take flight--they just did, and fortunately instead of just dropping my jaw, I managed to squeeze off a shot at the right moment. Pure luck.

In July this photo won a "special award" at the Marin County Fair, and earned me a $100 gift certificate given by a local business, "Digital Light Rain", who specialize in professional digital imaging and quality printing.

The print also hangs in the homes of two of my friends, which is the ultimate reward for what I do. And I even like the image myself. I like it a whole lot. Hope you do too. Actually, if you REALLY like it and haven't yet spent all your Xmas cash, you can BUY a print and hang it in your home too. It will cost you an arm-and-a-leg, but hey--who needs extremities when eyes can feast on such a peaceful scene.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 29...   Taken January 2013, near Nicasio.

As you might have noticed, I do a lot of shooting in the Nicasio area, which is more or less the geographical center of my beloved "west" Marin County. Over the hill and only a few miles to the east is the "other" Marin County, home to the dreaded "Highway One-Oh-One". The "other" Marin County does have its nicer bits but relatively little charm, and certainly very little of the peaceful beauty we will find in "west" Marin.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 17 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

7/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

New batch of books is in, and they look GREAT! Sharp and the colors look superb! First ones went out in the mail yesterday. Wahoooo!

This image is on page 23...   Taken June 2011 at China Camp Village.

This is the shack that guards entrance to the pier at China Camp. Frank Quan, the last remaining resident of China Camp has his rustic shrimping boat at the end of the pier, floating in shallow water.

Because of water diversions to California's Central Valley, not a lot of fresh water flows into San Pablo Bay. Brackish water is not conducive to the native Bay Shrimp population, and Frank's catches these days are barely enough to fill a small sack. Small potatoes compared to the hundreds of tons of Bay Shrimp that were netted from the 1860's to the early 1900's. Most of the catch was dried and, believe it or not, sent to Japan and China.

The big and seldom told story here at China Camp is the horrendous discrimination Chinese immigrants faced when they arrived in this country. Netting shrimp was one of the few occupations the "White Man" allowed the immigrants. Chinese were prohibited from selling their catch directly to the fish merchants of San Francisco--the Chinese were required to hire a "White Man" as a middleman. Oh, there were other restrictions, such as how much could be caught, and when and how the Chinese were allowed to set nets.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 22...   Taken October 2013 at China Camp Village.

Inside of the building at the head of the last remaining China Camp dock. China Camp Village was once bustling with 469 residents in 1880.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 18 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

6/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 25...   Taken June 2011 at China Camp.

This is the iconic island, Rat Rock, just off the cove at one of the more peaceful places that I know; China Camp, an historic Chinese shrimping village on San Pablo Bay--the upper "thumb" of San Francisco Bay.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 21...   Taken October 2013 at China Camp.

And this is Jake's Island on the China Camp coastline. I can seldom pass it up for a photo, and of course I have photographed it from most every angle and under most every weather and atmospheric condition. Always different. Its aloneness seems to resonate with the deepest, darkest parts of my soul.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 19 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

5/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 17...   Taken December 2012 at Nicasio Reservoir.

As you may have noticed, I've been experimenting with black-and-white more and more recently, and this photo, and the one below, probably would have made wonderful b-and-w's in the eye of some, but for me and at the time I shot them, a decision was made--converting them to b-and-w would have sucked out every bit of their warmth and life.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 19...   Taken October 2013 on the west shoulder of my beloved Mount Tamalpais.  2000 feet below is the Bolinas peninsula.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 20 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

4/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 13...   Taken November 2012.

One thing I learned this year is the difficulty of pairing two images together as a cohesive match. Not as easy as it sounds. For instance, this photo above and the photo below both feature cows, but the mood is dissimilar--a diptych, they aren't. Fortunately, that is what blank pages in my book are for--to isolate unrelated images.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 12...   Taken January 2012 at Point Reyes.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 21 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

3/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 10...   Taken on Mt. Tamalpais, in August of 2013.

Well, you might have heard me screaming in horror yesterday. The first batch of books rolled in, but there was a huge problem--the resolution was not up to snuff. My fault entirely, but after 5 hours of work the problem is fixed, the publisher has the new version, and a new batch with the proper resolution will be arriving this Friday. This was a costly error for me, so please buy YOUR copy and you can help me dig myself out of the red.
Keep in mind that prints are available (see page 79 for details)...



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 11...   Also taken on Mt. Tam, in January of 2011.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 22 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

2/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 9... A bit of a conundrum--I've been wondering how I can promote my new book for the next couple of weeks without driving everybody batty, or sounding like one of those interminable pledge-breaks on KPFA. Suggestions welcome.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This image is on page 15... I have an introduction, but otherwise the book is sparsely populated by words. [you say:] Thanks.  [I say:] You're welcome.

[boiler-plate]
Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 24 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

1/25 - Photographing Marin County - my new book

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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, I already have my copy, and the first batch of the beautifully printed "Photographing Marin County" will be rolling in late Monday. Excitement is in the air. Christmas is just around the corner. I invite you to cut loose and buy the book. To be honest, I could use the dough.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So, you might be wondering how someone so obscure as me, Donald Kinney could possibly have a book (this is actually my third book in the past three years), but it has all been made possible by modern updates in the printing industry. No longer are huge press-runs necessary to produce an extremely high-quality print job at a reasonable price. In fact, "on demand" publishers like MagCloud, Blurb, and Lulu, have been using million dollar state-of-the-art Indigo presses that have set traditional lithography on its ear. Did I mention that the quality is exceptional?

Okay, okay, I realize that not everybody has $30 to shell out for a book, no matter how much they might want to support me and my work, so for the next 24 days I will be showing images from the book 2 at a time. You can also see exactly what the book looks like in a preview from MagCloud, the publisher, and you can also visit my website, DonaldKinney.com to see the images displayed as an exhibit without the book formatting and more info on how to place your order.


Photographing Marin County - the exhibit and book

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.


 

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.


 

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.


 

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.


 

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.