Spring is Here!

Finally, the equinoctial light at the end of the tunnel.

 So everybody get outside.

Might I suggest Point Bonita lighthouse?

Postcards and Not Postcards

Is there any possible way to take a picture of a cable car that doesn't look like either a unimaginative tourist snapshot or cheap postcard? I don't think there is. I've tried.

Nope.

So here's the story. A month ago I started a new job in San Francisco with a commute in which a train drops me off at the Powell Street cable car turnaround, where tourists line up to watch their novelty ride arrive and get rotated until its nose points dutifully up the hill, and from there, past the kiosk where they all bought the tickets they now protectively hold, I walk up four blocks alongside humming cable tracks, then left half a block to the office. In the heart of the city!

And every weekday for the past month I've been taking pictures on my way to and from work, at lunchtime, morning and afternoon walks, random meanderings around the block just to avoid the unhealthy trap of sitting at a desk all day. Since I always have my little digital shooter handy (the Ricoh GR II, a DSLR sensor in my pocket! tack-sharp prime lens! film simulation effects!), I thought this might be a great opportunity to expand my pictorial horizons and try what's known as "street photography." Imagine every day a photo walk, exploring new scenes, making interesting-looking compositions that tell a story, capturing city life like a wannabe Garry Winogrand, and-- hey! look! a streetcar!

 

People riding streetcars!

No, it's all very postcard. Hardly worth noticing. Who would bother?

Just keep your eye on your phone.

Walk on by.

Don't. Help.

Wow a trolley!

Now wouldn't that make a nice postcard?

And I figure as long as you're here. Why not.

Next thing you know it's getting to the point where lunch is a selfie and girls with cameras in coffee shops make pretty picture windows.


There are a lot of restaurants, a lot of coffee shops, and a lot of cameras.

I shouldn't be so cynical. 

It can be quite beautiful.

And people are having a good time.

So who am I to judge?

Flying out of Chicago

through the airport

and into the air 

up up and away

Just Somebody that I Used to Know

Memories fade with time, photos fade with time, digital pictures don't fade unless you do it on purpose in photoshop, and you can do that any time.

Cataract Falls Loop Trail on a less-than-perfect Sunday

Hey let's meet for a hike! How's the weather forecast? Rain and storms again? Eh, that isn't always accurate. Look, I found a different weather app with a better forecast. Only "mostly cloudy!" Surely we won't get rained on, snowed on, hailed on, find the road closed, and stand around wondering what to do.

So what to do what to do... check the AllTrails app and...


Another trailhead! We found our way into the forest.

We came to a river.

We crossed the river.

We went up, we went down. Many, many times. It was muddy, it was steep, there were stairs, in some places there was a guardrail. That's some good trail work. Thanks, park people!

We climbed over and under fallen trees. 

We saw waterfalls.

Waterfalls, plural.

The sun came out.

And we ascended into the light.






We took a group photo.

We took another group photo.

That feeling of accomplishment after an epic hike? Yeah, it's like that.

Happy Friday

Here's to the weekend. 

Canon 6D, 50mm f/1.2

at the Majestic Hotel in Yosemite National Park

The "Decisive Moment" in Family Snapshots

Henri Cartier-Bresson described photography as trying to capture the "decisive moment," where all the pieces of a scene come together to be expressive as a whole. An instant before or after just isn't the same and I've missed enough shots by a fraction of a second to teach me to keep my eyes open and my camera on continuous shooting mode. 

As a simple illustration of this principle, let's look at the contact sheet of one composition at a recent family gathering. I was originally going to take a picture of my niece playing piano when the scene changed into a girl and her aunt playing together. 

So I shoot a bunch and later choose-- which one? I like where she has her finger on a piano key and they're both smiling at each other. One shot out of seven and I will gladly throw away six (or more!) to get that one. Funny thing I've found that more often than not my favorite is either the first one (spontaneous!) or the last one (where I'm finally happy and stop shooting). In this case, I liked the second-to-last.

And maybe I'm biased, but it helps that she's cute as a button.