Head Above Water

Current deadlines threaten to overwhelm me, so why did I decide to take scuba lessons now? Bad timing! Especially since I'm doing my best to keep my head above water. Seems so wrong to breathe under the surface.

I am processing photos for a hotel job right now. They are mostly sepia, so require post processing. I have another project just resizing and processing a client's photos. That's not something I would ordinarily do, but these are unusual times, aren't they?

My pilot boyfriend and I went to San Antonio and the Hill Country over the weekend. It's the week of my dad's 94th birthday so we went for that, but made a side trip to do photographic research for a project. It's bluebonnet season and we expected fields full of blue flowers, plus the red Indian paintbrush. Looked high and low, but it's a bad year for wildflowers in that area. Pretty scarce.

Took my dad up to the Tower of the America's for a birthday lunch. We ate assorted appetizers, and Victor broke from the mold and tried Ahi Tuna for the first time. He liked it! And my Dad liked Victor, so it was a win-win for me.

My projects are all on track, but with a heavy painting schedule for me. I'll be worn out by November when my last project is shipped out. Guess I'll be ready for a dive trip then!

Changing Perspective

One of my photography groups had a meetup today in downtown Dallas. It was 30 min helicopter photo shoot. I've never been in a whirly bird before, so I was excited and anxious as we left the ground. Once we soared into the air I really got into it. The late afternoon light was yellow and warmed up the glass skycrapers, glinting and reflecting back. We made several sweeps around downtown, then around Texas stadium a few times, banking over the opening to shoot directly down. Wish there would have been a game going on -- that would have made a great shot! As it was, the light was perfect, the experience was thrilling. Now I want to do that everytime I travel to a new city. I took hundreds of photos in that short 30 minute segment, so now I'm downloading, deleting and processing. What fun!

Through the Fog

View of the Golden Gate bridge with Full Moon -- in the fog

After visiting with my friend David Arnone, glass artist, I headed up to the Golden Gate bridge. Last night was the night before the full moon, and since I'm here I couldn't bypass the photo op. I like to shoot from the Marin headlands so the moon rises over the San Francisco skyline and the sun sets behind and lights up the bridge.

Well, that's on a good day.

This wasn't one of those days. The sunny blue sky day quickly deteriorated as I headed south on 101 by Corte Madera. The wind driven fog swept across the highway obliterating most of the light. I perservered, as I am known to do, and headed for Hawk Hill hoping I could get above the fogline. Nope.

Forty five minutes later I was back down in Sausalito, where the fog was above me, and there was a clear line allowing the full moon to glisten down into the waters of the marina. I sat there for a minute and just looked. Totally forgot I was supposed to be on a photo shoot!

I headed home.

Today I've been running around town doing last minute things before my vacation ends. And I've got some clothes washing and house cleaning to do before my friends come home tomorrow. It will be so nice to see them and share stories.

Breaking Waves

Northern California beach

I've been on vacation too long -- and haven't accomplished a thing. Oh, you mean I'm supposed to be on "vacation", not hauling my 10 lb camera from here to there and designing artwork on my laptop?

When I left Dallas I had just delivered a 22 pc installation for a hotel registration desk. Apparently it was well-received by the designer, since I have already designed a similar one, and have a meeting set up for a third. I have new ideas now that I'm traveling and refilling my creative reserves.

Sometimes I get lazy, though. Nothing stimulates me more than a looming deadline. In looking at my calendar I see that I have less than a week left here in northern California. With that in mind I went kayaking on Monday, then shooting down in Monterey. Tuesday I went shopping and processed my photos. Wednesday I drove north to some rocky beaches close to Bodega Bay and did the thing that I love the most -- photographed rocks and water with slow shutter speeds. I was alone on the beach, with wind whipping my hair, waves crashing on black rocks and kelp littering the gravelly shore. The sun was low in the sky, plating the water with gold. I took a deep breath and thanked the universe for letting me have that moment.

Dahlia taken with Lensbaby 2.0

Today I returned to the dahlia garden at Golden Gate park with my Nikon, my macro lens and my Lensbaby, just for fun. And on my way home I made a stop at SFMOMA to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

It was spectacular. I've been to a lot of museums, lots of galleries, seen more art than most people. This exhibit moved me like no other. I wanted to spend more time in front of every painting, examining each stroke, and empathizing with the emotions shown on the canvases. ...sigh...

Point Reyes Photo Shoot

Point Reyes Seashore

I bundled up all my gear, old and new, and took it hiking. It was foggy, breezy and quite cool at the beginning, but after a few minutes of hiking in sand with a 10 pound backpack plus my 6 pound camera and zoom lens around my neck, and my tripod -- well you can imagine how fast I warmed up. Since the light was diffused it was good conditions for macro wildflowers and seed pods. They create nice abstract patterns when there's a short focal range. The light wasn't much good for anything else, though.

Had I been to the beach at Abbott's Lagoon before I wouldn't have hauled my tripod with me at all. Since it's in close proximity to McClure's beach, I was hoping for rocks, but there weren't any. After making my way (huff puff) back to the car, I realized how close I was to the Tule Elk preserve, and thought I'd give it a look. The road up there travels along the ridge, and it's desolate as can be. The photo above is of the elk. Can't see them? Me neither! I turned around and headed home about 7:00pm.

By the time I arrived back in Berkeley the sun was out, new fog was rolling in and there was another fabulous sunset.

In the Moment

At the request of Kesha Bruce I am posting one of the photos from Saturday's meditative shoot. This was one of 20 that I shot of a rapidly decomposing pile of corrugated cardboard. Lots of abstract patterns and texture. I loved it! I was working with a macro lens and a very shallow depth of field. Why this photo fits the theme? If I went back to this location today everything would be different. The strong winds today may have sent some of this pile down the alley, the light is different, and even I am different and may see this in a new way. Since the point of the shoot was to be in the moment and document that moment, I think this particular series (more than the requisite wildflower shots) are particularly appropriate.

But that's not all I've been doing. I finished two 48 x 48 abstract paintings in the Red Circles series. They are commissions for a local hotel project.

Cleaning Frenzy

My tables are clear, my slant wall is empty. My printer is covered and sleeping. All my clothes are washed, my bathroom is neat. All are those are definite signs that I'm leaving town. The other thing on that list is that I always clean my camera and lenses before I go on a photo shoot.

I'm packed, and will leave early morning for New Orleans. I have a long list of must-see things, and I'm prepared for the blast of cold air headed that way.

Meeting up with my friend, fellow photographer Nancy. woo hoo!