A very interesting feature of the Steinhart Aquarium is a clear tunnel under a moat in the Rain Forest. Looking up, you see fish, trees, people and sky.
I had a wonderful chance to visit Adobe headquarters in San Jose recently and saw a presentation by the emminent Dr. Russell Preston Brown on a “kinder, gentler approach to HDR“. I tried his techniques on a series of shots from early December and like the results very much. Shot from Treasure Island with 1 stop exposure under and over blended in PSCS5 HDR Pro.
Just to the north of San Francisco’s Tranamerica building lies an area called North Beach, and it has a decided Italian feel. Just into the neighborhood lies the Sentinel Building, a Flatiron kind of building on a tight corner. It houses Cafe Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola’s cafe that houses momentos of his long carrer in film. It makes a nice contrast of old and new up against the TA tower.
As seen from Treasure Island, the Bay Bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge’s lesser appreciated sister. In the right light however, it can be very pretty indeed.
Shot from TI, the waxing moon sets over San Francisco.
Early morning at Ft. Baker.
This is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Baker before sunrise. I find it hard to believe that I’ve lived here for 28 years and this is the first time I’ve been this close.
A group of us got up at O-Dark-Thirty and made our way to Fort Baker in Sausalito to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge in early light. That produced some iconic (boring) photos. As I looked around for whatever else was hiding in the glare of the bridge, I saw this section under the north approach. The play of light and forms was interesting to me.
Last Saturday I joined 56 other ardent photographers at 0-dark thirty in Sacramento to photograph in the California State Railroad Museum. It was one of over 1100 groups (32,000+ people) in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk. Our leader had secured permission for us to be in the museum before the public and therefore able to use tripods. This lends itself to some interesting possibilities especially HDR. This shot is of the galley in a dining car. As I began to work on it, it moved (of its own accord) from being photorealistic to more like an illustration. Norman Rockwell’s paintings come to mind.