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March 15, 2010January 14, 2013

City By The Bay (Photo of the week)

Note: Click image below to view a larger size.

This week’s photo is a slight departure from the usual natural history themed shot. This panorama of San Francisco was taken from the Marin Headlands with a 400mm telephoto lens. Shots were taken vertically and stitched together, creating an image in excess of 70 megapixels. A low fog had settled over the bay, hiding the water and giving the city the look of floating, as it so often has.

This image worked well as a black and white, as the tonality of the fog below the city and the sky above matched well, balancing the top and bottom of the image. The high contrast of the buildings partnered with the natural feathering provided by the fog is reminiscent of a pencil sketch.

March 3, 2010January 14, 2013

Creativity tip #1 – Shoot close to home

After The Storm — Turning orange and yellow at sunset, clouds are reflected in the still waters of the San Francisco Bay. The sky has been cleansed by a passing storm. Foster City, California.

Don’t wait for the weekend or vacations to get out the camera. Take one along with you as you go about your every day life. You never know when you might have an opportunity to capture something unexpected.

Even when I don’t have my camera with me (which isn’t TOO often!), I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting ideas for photographs. I get especially excited when I see opportunities for shots that are outside of the subject I normally shoot (nature, landscape, wildlife, etc). This helps keep my creativity going, especially when I’m stuck close to home for long stretches of time.

Moonrise Over The Bay — The moon rises over the San Francisco Bay at sunset.

While working one afternoon last week I could see out my window that there were some pretty interesting looking clouds lining up over the bay after a particularly wet winter storm had passed through. I quickly checked my tide chart and saw that it would be low tide right around sunset. It was a quick 5 minute drive out to the edge of the bay, and only 30-40 minutes out of my day. By being on the lookout for something that caught my eye during my day-to-day life, I was able to capture some beautiful colors in the heart of an urban environment of over six million people.

October 7, 2009January 14, 2013

Watch your speed!

Policeman uses a radar gun to catch speeders crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

I took this photo last month when my wife Kerry and I were heading up the coast north of San Francisco. The officer casually walked up to the wall and whipped out his radar gun (or perhaps it was laser). It wasn’t long before he was radioing the descriptions of cars to other CHP officers further up the highway. I was impressed at the distance the speed gun could cover.

So next time you’re headed out for the weekend, beware. You never know who’s watching you. Above all, drive safely!