Potpourri

A Pier Worth Peering From

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I've titled this post "Potpourri" as it's a mix of things because the weather has been so "touristy" lately, meaning clear skies and warm days. Great for tourists, terrible for photographers. So when I read a weather report that shows some interesting things happening, I try to be there but that is not happening with much frequency.

The above photo is from the north east side of Clear Lake looking at Mt. Konocti in the distance. On my way home from work in the Napa Valley which was completely cloudless with lots of haze, I started to see cloud patterns as I entered Lake County.

I drove around the opposite side of the lake as to where I live at the suggestion of a friend, looking for a particular road that would take me way up to a grand overlook of the lake. Well, typically me, I could not find the road but was able to find this wonderful view off this pier.

The View From Up Here

The Spattered Sky

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Again searching the weather reports showed there was possible thunderstorms happening at Table Rock which is at the north end of Napa County. It is the hike in the opposite direction of the Mt. St. Helena area. I was going to go Sunday late afternoon as I had read there was going to be scattered clouds but then mid-day Saturday the weatherman said there was the possibility of thunderstorms on Saturday!! I thought it strange as there was nothing happening around there, just at Table Rock.

I got there about 4:30pm hoping to get a few good sunset shots. It is an approx. 5mi round trip hike and by the time I got to the overlook it was obvious there was not going to be any thunderstorm. Clouds started coming in but stayed to the south which is the view direction of the two photos above.

I stayed as long as I dared and it was a good thing I left when I did as the last half mile I was waking in pitch black. I only see a faint glow of yellow leaves on the main trail and then had to resort to my mini flash light that holds one AAA battery and has one LED bulb. Surprisingly it was pretty bright. I was glad I remembered it as at one point I shut it off and it was so dark, if I had forgot the light, I would have had to just find a place to sit down spend the night as I could not see anything.

The Weeping Wall

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Since the skies have not been so great, I went back to Socrates Falls where I did not need any skies to get a good photo. The creek was still running but a little less than usual.

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Burning Off The Dawn

Burning Off The Dawn

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When checking the weather and scene of a location where I have some commissioned work to be done, I came across this scene in Lower Chiles Valley in Napa County.

The morning sun is silhouetting through the low fog across the vineyard.

The Uncommon Calm

Pt. Arena Lighthouse

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The weekend before the vineyard photo above, I went to Pt. Arena to test out my new camera. It's a Canon 5D Mark II which has the largest sensor of Digital SLR cameras. The sensor has 21 megapixels which is also next to the highest pixel count of DSLR's. The highest pixel count is 24mp but I did not want to spend $8k on a camera. Any larger of a pixel count, a person would have to get a Medium Format digital camera and they run between $15k - $30k and up!! Ouch!!! With the camera I also got an ultra wide angle lens which I'm still getting used to. I have wide angle lenses with my other camera system but not quite this wide

The water was unusually calm this day. Normally I'm fighting strong winds with lots of spray and waves that would really like to take me for a ride. I really liked the no wind part but would have liked to have a little more water action.

Pt. Reyes California

Only 100 More

There are a total of 300 steps going down to the lighthouse. It was fairly easy going down but coming back up was another story. They had resting stations along the way. Did I use them? Is Arnold Schwarzenegger a "Girly Man"? By the time I got to the top I was wishing my lungs were twice their size.

Pt. Reyes Lighthouse

When I got to Pt. Reyes I went straight to the lighthouse and was glad I did. On the way over, the radio said there was going to be very strong winds and there certainly was. The shadows from the clouds and patchy fog on the way over were traveling across the ground so fast it looked like shadows from low flying aircraft.

I was only able to stay about 1/2 hour here and right after taking this shot they yelled for everyone to leave as they were shutting down the lighthouse area as the winds had now gotten over 40mph. Fortunately I had a wind break here to set up my tripod. The sky was changing by the moment from completely fogged over to the break with nice clouds that you see here. A sign said the highest recorded wind here was 133mph !!! It was tricky climbing back up the 300 steps in that wind as with my backpack on, I was blown back and forth against the railing all the way up.

This lighthouse is not tall like most and that is because the fog stays relatively low so they needed to get the lighthouse below that so ships can see it. That's the reason for the 300 steps also.

At Trails End
McClures Beach

After leaving the lighthouse area the wind was still strong but not as much and even here along the creek emptying out at McClures beach the wind was almost nonexistent. The ravine along the creek and trail was almost completely covered with wonderful yellow lupine. I took some photos along the trail but the sunlight was pretty harsh at that direction.

The Sand, The Tree & The Sea
McClures Beach

The trail empties out to the ocean at McClures Beach. I really liked the patterns and colors of the sand as well as the combination/mix of fresh water and salt water plants and birds. I don't think this area is quite large enough to be called an Estuary but it certainly had the plant and animal life of one.

Monument To Memories Past
McClures Beach
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Not sure who or for what reason this was set up but I liked the combination of items here and how it really did make me think how I need to remember these places that I come across. I tried to give this the dreamy effect of a memory.

Socrates Falls - Revisited

Socrates Falls - 5th Fall


Socrates Falls - 4th Fall
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Had some nice filtered light this day so I thought I would revisit the falls. The trail to the falls has gotten worse since last year. Much more loose gravel. Especially the trail leading to the 5th fall where you are walking laterally across an approx 70% slope and your 1' wide foot path is slightly sloped and pretty much nothing but loose gravel. Fortunately it was not that long of a trail.

When I got down to the 5th and lowest fall a helicopter came over the area and hovered for a moment. There was one other car at the clearing up top where people park so I wondered if perhaps someone got hurt. The helicopter moved on and did not return. Hmmm.........these falls are up by the Geysers where there's lots of seismic activity and ...................you know what? None if the above really happened. What happened was there was a very strong but pinpoint earthquake which only I felt and a wall of lava came down the falls and the helicopter pulled me up on the rescue ladder just as my tripod and camera burst into flames and disappeared into the lava flow. Yeah, that's what happened. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

If life was only half that exciting.

Stay tuned next time for more highly embellished photo excitement.

Emplazamiento Del Mar

Emplazamiento Del Mar

(The Summons of the Sea)

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There was a weekend where the weather wasn't any good for going out for photos so I went thru some folders of photos from past trips. This is from last year (feb '08) at the Mendocino Headlands. I don't know why I did not process this on earlier. I've been back here many times but have not gotten quite this dramatic of skies since. I stayed here on this rock until I could hardly see anymore. It made for an interesting trip back to the shore while trying not to fall in. This is the same spot as my "Hesitant Beckon" shot. The ocean sure was summoning and beckoning me. It draws you in but getting too close certainly lets you know how powerful it is.

The Natives are Restless

These are native grasses on the banks of Detert Reservoir which is across from the winery formerly known as Guenoc but is now called Langtry Estate.

When Goodbye means Hello

Some people feel sunsets make them sad as if it's the end to something. Certainly it's the end of the day but for me, when I say goodbye to the last bit of light from a beautiful sunset, I'm saying hello to another possibly beautiful day with it's own unique sunset. This also is on the banks of Detert Reservoir

Hello Again

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My case in point. This is from the same spot the next evening. Another goodbye, another hello.

Hennessey Dawn

Hennessey Dawn

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Took the back way to work this day. Wonderful low fog and clouds over Lake Hennessey. The two weekends before this shot I was hiking in knee high grass & weeds and had no ticks. About a half hour after this shot back at my office there was a tick crawling on my arm. I did not even walk thru grass. Must have dropped on me from a tree.

Slalom Course

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I had not been out shooting for a few days and was getting stir crazy so I took a drive up Big Canyon Creek between Cobb and Middletown. At this spot there were ants on every tree and rock. I had to find a rock in the middle of the creek to put my backpack down. The mosquitoes were thick and huge too. I'm surprised none showed up in the image. View the photo larger in the gallery and check out the detail of the water.

Under the Tuscan Sun

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You might ask "what sun"? Well there was plenty. This is from a hike sponsored by the Land Trust of Napa County and is an annual hike hosted by John Tuteur of his ranch and surrounding lands of which this is one. The day was hot, sunny and relatively cloudless which does not lend itself to fantastic photography so there is nothing super "fine art" here. I wanted to record this event but have something interesting to look at so I played around with the Infrared filters in Photoshop. It has perked my interest in getting an actual on-lens IR filter.

Rector Ridge Trail

Storm Breaker

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Lupine on the Incline

Rector Ridge is in the middle of Napa Valley on the east side of Silverado Trail across from Paraduxx Winery. The trail starts off pretty easy but then gets real steep real fast as you can see from the photo above.

The wildflowers were out in abundance but as I started this hike about 5:30pm they had already started to fold up for a nights rest. The grass was fairly high but because of the rain the last few days, there were no ticks. Not even one!! I'm reminded of favorite campfire song:(to be sung in your best Neil Sedaka voice)

"There ain't no ticks on me. There ain't no ticks on me. There may be ticks on some of you chicks, but there ain't no ticks on me" (I could never figure out why that song never went over with the girls)

Once you make it to the top, the trail splits in two with the left taking you to overlook Napa Valley and the right taking you to overlooking Rector Reservoir and continues on for a few miles. I did not have time to explore the Reservoir or continue much on the rest of the trail, just stuck to where I could see the valley.

8 photos uploaded from this outing.

Until next time, be good and "Watch the Light"