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"

Upcoming Photo Exhibit April thru June

Sundown at Big Bend - Zion National Park

I am having an exhibit at the Lake County Arts Council gallery in Lakeport running from April thru June. The above photo will be displayed as a 30x40 gallery wrap canvas print. There will be other large prints and many smaller ones. I did not get as much wall space as I wanted so each month I will be rotating the smaller prints (is 11x14 in 16x20 frames small?)

On the first Friday of every month, the gallery has what they call First Friday Fling where all the displaying artists (including me) will be at the gallery. There will be hors d'ouvres and wine as well as a local guitarist providing some musical ambiance. For the April Fling the wine will be provided by Moore Family winery. May's Fling will have wine from Tulip Hill Winery and June's will be from Shannon Ridge Winery. I do not believe I will be there for June's Fling as I have another engagement out of town. I'll let you know if that changes though.

The Fling dates are:

• April 3
• May 1
• June 5

There will be special low prices for the event. Be there or be square.

So the first "Fling" is this Friday (April 3rd) at 6pm. The address is 325 N. Main St. Lakeport. Here's a Google Map Link

Cannon Beach - Oregon Coast

Double Vision - Cannon Beach

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Cannon Beach is another area along the Oregon coast that is both a beach and a town. Very nice town with interesting shops and lots of art galleries. These "haystack" rocks are just magnificent as they stand out in the open sand. My big adventure here other than just seeing this beautiful beach was getting out of bed at 6:00 in the morning at the motel as I was sicker than a dog with a raging cold. So I go out on this beach (the morning before the above shot) with my knee high rubber boots on and everything is sort of fine until one wave softly rolls in and just tips over the rim of my boots filling them up with water. Back at the parking lot several people got to watch me pour out my boots with numb hands and toes.

I got to hike around in Ecola State Park just north of here. There is definitely no drought going on here as the forest was sloppily wet.

Realto Beach - Washington Coast

Realto Beach was interesting as it's very stark and raw. There is the "boneyard" of huge, dead, bare redwood trees that have washed up and are lining this beach that you have to crawl over to get to the water. I wish I had more time here with more drama in the sky.

I stayed in the town of Forks which was close by and the sign on the motel I stayed at said "Home of Twilight" and all the restaurants and stores had signs saying "Welcome Twilighters". There was also a little shop called Dazzled by Twilight and looked like a Goth style clothes shop. I asked a busboy at a restaurant what was all this Twilight stuff was and was told that a Teen/Romance/Vampire movie was filmed here. Actually he said just a few scenes were actually filmed here but the story was based in Forks with the majority of filming done in Oregon.

Jurassic - Olympic National Forest - Washington

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I was on my way to Sol Duc Falls which ended up being closed due to snow so I continued on to Crescent Lake as there was the Marymere Falls. I walked the trail and found the falls but I don't know if it's global warming or if I did not hike far and long enough or what, but there were so many downed trees that it was very hard to find a part of the forest that was pristine, as was the case when I got to the falls. The falls themselves were nice but they were so junked up with downed trees at the base that it was just not attractive. I took a few shots but they're not worth posting. The night before I was doing research on the Sol Duc Falls which are beautiful and found out recently there was a huge tree that fell across and is straddling the creek at the base of those and ruins the scene.

It certainly is a small world as after I finished shooting the above photo I got back on the trail from the falls and three women were on the trail coming toward me. Now mind you, I'm in the remote northwest corner of Washington in the middle of a forest and as these women get close enough for me to see their faces, one of them is Capri Porter !!! (some of you know her). Absolutely crazy. She's doing very well and says hi to everyone.

Eleven photos total uploaded to website

Until my next photo trip.................Be Good.

Bandon Beach - Oregon Coast

Bandon Beach

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Foam at Low Tide

Bandon Beach is about mid way up the Oregon Coast. What I like about the Oregon coast is how flat the beaches are. At low tide you can walk at times up to about 100 yards straight out into the surf and the water is still only knee to waist high. The surf softly rolls in. This is at "low" tide mind you. High tide is a different story.

Bandon is not only a beach but a coastal town. Very quaint and geared to tourism and retirement. I would like to do both.

The day before I left for this trip I came down with a raging cold so I did not have my "Man vs. Wild" attitude. The weather was hit and miss. There was lots of rain which gave good clouds but sometimes it was too much with constant rain and/or totally overcast skies.

"Sea Lion Cave"

Sea Lion Cave is the largest natural ocean cave in the world. The cave was found in the late 1800's when a sailor shipwrecked here and spent a few days stranded in the cave having to kill and eat one of the sea lions.

There was supposed to be about 150 sea lions here this day. It was pretty cool to see so many in one place and hear the commotion they make. Also the "aromatherapy" was INTENSE!! I can't believe the alternative medicine people have not caught on to this as the smell has got to cure something ;-)

It was actually snowing at sea level when I got here.

Use the first link above to see more of Bandon Beach and Sea Lion Caves.

More photos to come.

Step Into Blue

"Step Into Blue"

Clear Lake California

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I've had a few short outings since my last post. The above photo is taken from the north end of Clear Lake. There was a particular calm over the lake that day even though there was an approaching storm. Two more shots from this area can be viewed from the link above as well as two shots I took on the way here called "Fire Water" and "Pastoral Sunset".

"The Way Home"

Anderson Marsh

The above photo was taken on my way back from a venture into Anderson Marsh which is at the south end of Clear Lake. I had my knee high rubber boots with me as I was all jazzed up to go into the toolies and get some water/toolie/sunset shots but as the trail became more indistinct and the dry marsh grass got thicker and thicker until I just could not go any further I realized that with the lack of rain, Global Warming, etc. there was simply no marsh at this time!! The area was completely dry with the only water being once you made it to the lake itself. Even on my way back where I went over some boardwalks which are supposed to be over the deepest fingers of the lake, they were bone dry. I made up for it with the wonderful clouds and light-play on the way back. A total of 6 photos were added from this trip and can be viewed from the link at the beginning of this post.

"Silver & Gold"

Little River area of Mendocino Coast

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I made a trip to Little River which is a small community just south of Mendocino. I was told there is an ocean blow hole (of sorts) in that area. Sure enough, I found it. If you park in front of the Little River Cemetery and walk through the middle of the cemetery (be sure to read some of the interesting headstones but don't step on someone's grandma in the process) and follow the short trail that starts and separation in the fence, you come to what I would say is a hole about 40 yards across and the same distance deep with a flat bottom. There is a series of ropes to help you get down the very steep path to the bottom where there is a tunnel that is probably about 100' long and opens directly to the ocean.

At high tide the water can come all the way into the bottom of the hole but on this day it was just at the end of the tunnel but high enough so I could only stand about 10' into it. I ended up with a black & white shot called simply "Ocean Tunnel" and can be viewed thru the "Silver & Gold" link above.

On my way over here I stopped in some redwoods along the Navarro River to shoot some close ups of ferns and such. As I got close to the river which was only running like a small creek at the time, I heard something sloshing up the water. It was a pair of large River Otters. Before I could adjust my camera to get some shots of them, they saw me and quickly hightailed it back the way them came.

Next weekend I will be going up the Oregon/Washington coast for about a week. This will be a new adventure for me. So stay tuned in a couple weeks for hopefully some more good shots. So until then, be good.